THE EU FISH MARKET
2020 EDITIONHIGHLIGHTSTHE EU IN THE WORLD
MARKET SUPPLYCONSUMPTIONIMPORT – EXPORTLANDINGS IN THE EU
AQUACULTURE

THE EUFISH MARKET
Maritime affairs
and fisheries

W W W.EUMOFA.EU

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PDF

ISBN 978-92-76-15377-1

ISSN 2363-4154

FOR M ORE INFORM ATION AND COM M E NTS:
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
B-1049 Brussels
Tel: +32 229-50101
E-mail: contact-us@eumofa.eu

doi: 10.2771/664425

Scope“The EU fish market” aims at providing an economic description of the whole
European fisheries and aquaculture industry. It replies to questions such as what is
produced/exported/imported, when and where, what is consumed, by whom andwhat are the main trends.
A comparative analysis allows to assess the performance of fishery andaquaculture products in the EU market compared with other food products. In thisreport, value and price variations for periods longer than five years are analysed by
deflating values using the GDP deflator (base=2015); for shorter periods, nominal
value and price variations are analysed.
This publication is one of the services delivered by the European Market Observatory
for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA).
This edition is based on data available as of June 2020. The analyses included inthis report do not take into account possible updates occurred in the sources used
after this date.
More detailed and complementary data are available in the EUMOFA database: byspecies, place of sale, Member State, partner country. Data are updated daily.
EUMOFA, developed by the European Commission, represents one of the tools of
the Market Policy in the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy. [Regulation (EU)No 1379/2013 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery andaquaculture products, Article 42].
As a market intelligence tool, EUMOFA provides regular weekly indicators, mo nthly
market trends and annual structural data along the supply chain.
The database is based on data provided and validated by Member States andEuropean institutions. It is available in all 24 EU languages.
EUMOFA website, publicly available as from April 2013, can be accessed atwww.eumofa.eu.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Methodological background1

Highlights

13

1 / The EU in the world
1.1 Production
1.2 Import – Export
1.3 Expenditure and consumption

2 / Market supply
2.1 Supply balance and self-sufficiency overview
2.2 Analysis by main species

3 / Consumption
3.1 Overview for total fishery and aquaculture products
3.2 Household consumption of fresh fishery andaquaculture products
3.3 Retail sales and out-of-home consumption
3.4 The organic segment
3.5 EU quality schemes: geographical indications andtraditional specialities

16
16
19
24

25
25
29

33
33
42
47
52
53

4 / Import - Export
4.1 Extra-EU trade balance
4.2 Comparison between imports of fishery andaquaculture products and meat
4.3 Extra-EU imports
4.4 Extra-EU exports
4.5 Intra-EU trade

5 / Landings in the EU
5.1 Overview
5.2 Analysis by main species

6 / Aquaculture
6.1 Overview
6.2 Analysis by main species

56
58
59
60
67
72

76
76
80

90
90
96

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUNDMETHODOLOGICALBACKGROUND
The present report is mainly based on consolidated and exhaustive volume and value data collected throughdifferent sources and published by EUMOFA at all stages of the supply chain. Within EUMOFA, data on fisheries andaquaculture products are harmonised into “Main commercial species”, each referring to “Commodity groups”, inorder to allow comparisons along the different supply chain stages. At the following links, users can view anddownload:The list of EUMOFA Main commercial species and Commodity groups
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/24415/Metadata+2+-+DM++Annex%2B1_%2BList%2Bof%2BMCS%2Band%2BCG.pdf/0d849918-162a-4d1a-818c-9edcbb4edfd2



The correlation table used for harmonizing data on fish species at ERS 1 code level (data on catches,
landings, aquaculture production) to the EUMOFA standards
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/24415/Metadata+2+-+DM++Annex+3+Corr+of+MCS_CG_ERS.PDF/1615c124 -b21b-4bff-880d-a1057f88563d



The correlation table used for harmonizing data at CN-8 code level2 (data on EU trade) to the EUMOFA
standards
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/24415/Metadata+2+-+DM+-+Annex+4+Corr+CN8-CGMCS+%282002+-+2014%29.pdf/ae431f8e-9246-4c3a-a143-2b740a860291

MAIN SOURCES OF DATACATCHESEUMOFA, EUROSTAT, national administrations of the EU, FAO, OECD, Federation ofEuropean Aquaculture Producers (FEAP), Europanel, Euromonitor. The sections below inthis Methodological background provide detailed information on the sources used.
Catches include all products fished by a country’s fleet in any fishing area (both marine
and inland waters), independently from the area of landing/sailing. Catches data areprovided in this report in live weight equivalent.
The sources of data on catches are FAO (for non-EU countries) and Eurostat (for EU28 Member States, online data code: fish_ca_main).
For the purpose of properly conducting an analysis on EU-28 catches, since Eurostat
does not provide data on catches in inland waters, EUMOFA has integrated EU datawith data collected from the FAO database.
In addition, in case data for some species were confidential on Eurostat, figures from
FAO were used. The list below reports such instances (for all other instances n ot
reported in this list, only Eurostat data were used):

1 The acronym “ ER S ” refers to the Electronic R eporting S ys tem es tablis hed by Council R egulation (EU) N° 19 6 6 /20 0 6 .
2 The acronym “ CN” refers to the Combined Nomenclature, i.e. the goods clas sification used within the EU for the purposes of fo reign trade statistics. This classification
is bas ed on the Harmonis ed Commodity Des cription and Coding Sys tem (HS ) managed by the World Cus toms Organis ation (WCO). The HS us es a s ix digit numericalcode for the coding of products and the Combined Nomenclature is further breaking down the coding into a n eighth digit level according to EU needs .

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND-

Denmark: 2018 data on Northern prawn.
Greece: 2016, 2017, and 2018 data on several species.
Ireland: 2018 data on several species.
Latvia: 2017 and 2018 data on several species.

Moreover, data include FAO forecasts for almost all non-EU countries, while for some
EU Member States, Eurostat data include estimates and provisional figures, as below
listed:AQUACULTURE

Bulgaria: 2017 data are national estimates.
Denmark: 2017 data on Northern prawn are national estimates.
Germany: 2017 data for almost all species are provisional.
Ireland: 2017 data on saithe, haddock and “anglerfishes nei” are national
estimates.
France: 2018 data are provisional.
Italy: 2018 data are provisional.
Romania: 2017 data are national estimates.
Finland: 2016 and 2017 data are national estimates.

The main source used by EUMOFA for aquaculture data is Eurostat. For the purpose ofproperly conducting an analysis on aquaculture production in the EU, in some instances
EUMOFA has integrated Eurostat data (online data code: fish_aq2a) with data derivingfrom FAO database, national sources and sector associations. The list be low reportsuch instances, as well as those instances for which data are estimates or provisional
figures. For all other instances not reported in this list, only Eurostat data were used.


Belgium
2010-2016 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with FAO estimates.
2017-2018 data were collected from FAO.



Bulgaria
2010 and 2011 data on catfish and the grouping “other freshwater fish” werecollected from FAO.
2013 and 2014 data on mussel Mytilus spp. and pike were collected fromFAO.
2014 data on freshwater crayfish were collected from FAO.
2016-2017 values for seaweed and eel were collected from FAO.
2018 data for seaweed were collected from FAO.

Czech Republic
2010 and 2011 data on catfish and the grouping “other freshwater fish” werecollected from FAO.



Denmark
Data on salmon were collected from FAO.
2010 and 2013 Eurostat confidential values were estimated by multiplying
the volumes of each main commercial species to its average price (averagecalculated using the price corresponding to year-1 and year+1) if available
within Danish AgriFish Agency.
2013 data for mussel Mytilus spp. were collected from FAO.
2015-2018 data for seaweed were collected from FAO, those of 2015 and2016 being forecasts.
2014, 2015 and 2016 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with figuresfrom FAO (those on eel for 2016 being forecasts).
2011, 2017 and 2018 data for pike-perch were collected from FAO.
2017-2018 data for the groupings “other salmonids” and “other freshwater
fish” were collected from FAO.
2018 data on eel are FAO forecasts.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND

Germany
Data on carp for the years 2008-2012 and 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018 werecollected from FAO.
2011-2018 Eurostat confidential data were collected from FAO, those ofoyster being forecasts.
2010 and 2011 Eurostat confidential data on the grouping “other freshwater
fish” were collected from FAO.
2011 Eurostat confidential data for trout, pike, pike -perch and eel were
integrated with figures collected from the national source (DESTATIS).



Estonia
2012, 2014 and 2015 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with figuresfrom FAO.
2016-2018 Eurostat confidential data on the grouping “other freshwater fish”
were collected from FAO.



IrelandFor 2014, values are National estimates available in Eurostat except fromscallop and the grouping “Other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates”, whose
confidential values were integrated with figures from FAO.
For 2015, Eurostat confidential values of the grouping “Other molluscs andaquatic invertebrates” were integrated with figures from FAO.
2016 data on the grouping “other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates” werecollected from FAO.
2017-2018 data are National estimates available in Eurostat.



Greece2013 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with figures from FAO.
2015 and 2016 Eurostat confidential data on the grouping “other freshwater
fish” were integrated with figures from FAO.
2017 data are National provisional figures available in Eurostat.



Spain
2018 Eurostat confidential data on several species were collected from FAO(those on clam and white seabream being forecasts).

FranceFor sole, data are FAO forecasts.
For salmon, 2015-2017 data are FAO forecasts. 2010 -2014 data were
integrated with figures provided by FEAP and respective values were
estimated by multiplying the volumes to its 2008 unit price, as available inEurostat.
For turbot, 2015-2017 data are FAO forecasts. 2009-2014 data were
integrated with figures provided by FEAP and respective values were
estimated by multiplying the volumes to its 2008 unit price, as available inEurostat.
2012-2013 and 2016-2017 data on carp, catfish and other freshwater fish
are National estimates available in Eurostat.
2018 data on carp, pike, pike-perch and on the grouping “other freshwater
fish” are National estimates available in Eurostat.



Italy
2015 data are National estimates and forecasts available in Eurostat.
2017 data on grooved carpet shell are FAO forecasts.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND

Latvia2014-2015 and 2017-2018 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with
figures from FAO.



Hungary
2016 data for the grouping “other freshwater fish” were collected from FAO.



Netherlands
For eel, catfish and the grouping “other marine fish”, 2012, 2015 and 2018
data are National estimates available in Eurostat.
For mussel, data of 2012 and 2014-2016 are National estimates available inEurostat.
For turbot, 2012 data are National estimates available in Eurostat, and dataof 2008-2010 and 2013-2017 are FAO forecasts.
Data on pike-perch are FAO forecasts.

Austria
2010-2018 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with figures from FAO.
All data on the grouping “other salmonids” were collected from FAO.



Poland2010 data were collected from FAO. Data on pike, freshwater catfish andother freshwater fish are FAO forecasts.
2011 data for freshwater crayfish, pike, trout, salmon and other freshwater
fish are National provisional figures available in Eurostat.
2016 data on tilapia are FAO forecasts.

Portugal2013 and 2014 data on clam are National estimates available in Eurostat.
For 2015, data on trout and clam are National estimates available in Eurostat
while data on all other species are National provisional figures available inEurostat.
2015-2018 data on sea mussels were collected from FAO.



Romania2015 data are National estimates available in Eurostat.
For turbot, 2015-2016 data are FAO forecasts.

Slovenia
2010 and 2012 data on mussel Mytilus spp. were collected from FAO (thelatter being forecasts).
2013- 2016 Eurostat confidential data were integrated with figures from FAO.
2016 and 2018 data on European seabass, and 2015, 2017 and 2018 dataon clam are FAO forecasts.
2017 Eurostat confidential data on the grouping “other salmonids” were
integrated with figures from FAO and those on European seabass with FAO
forecasts.



SwedenData were collected from FAO for eel (2010) and salmon (2013, 2014 and2016).



United Kingdom
2008 values of Atlantic halibut, European seabass, clam, warmwater shrimp,
turbot, great Atlantic scallop and the grouping “Other molluscs and aquatic
invertebrates” were integrated using FAO; value of Queen scallop was
estimated by multiplying the volume to its 2009 unit price, as available inEurostat. 2014-2018 values are National estimates available in Eurostat.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUNDSUPPLY BALANCE SHEETCONVERSION OF NET
WEIGHT INTO LIVEWEIGHT EQUIVALENTThe supply balance is a proxy that allows to follow the evolutions of internal supply
and apparent consumption of fishery and aquaculture products in the EU.
In the light of this, the supply balance and apparent consumption should be used inrelative terms (e.g. analysing trends) rather than in absolute terms.
The supply balance is built on the basis of the following equation, calculated in live
weight equivalent:(catches for food use + aquaculture production + imports) – exports=
apparent consumption
Data included in the supply balance available in EUMOFA are broken down bycommodity group and main commercial species. Possible discrepancies in totals are
due to rounding.
The sources used are as follows:Catches: products caught by fishing vessels of the EU Member States anddestined to human consumption. Amounts of catches not destined to humanconsumption were estimated using proxies based on destination use of
landings (as available in EUROSTAT). Catches data are available in live weightequivalent. Source: EUROSTAT for catches in marine areas (reference dataset:
fish_ca_main), integrated with FAO for catches in inland areas.

Aquaculture production: products farmed in the EU Member States.
Aquaculture data are available in live weight equivalent. Sources: EUROSTAT(reference dataset: fish_aq2a), integrated with data from FAO, FEAP andnational administrations (for sources’ details by year and country, please referto the related section of this methodological background).



Imports - Exports: fishery and aquaculture products imported/exported by the
EU Member States from/to non-EU countries. Non-food use products are notincluded. Import and export data are available in net weight. For the supply
balance purposes, net weight is converted into live weight equivalent in orderto have a harmonized supply balance sheet (for conversion to live weightequivalent, please refer to the specific section below in this methodologicalbackground). Through the assessment of origin of imports and exports interms of production method, it is possible to estimate the share ofimports/exports originating from aquaculture and captures by making use of
FAO data (for the method applied, please refer to the specific section below
in this methodological background). Source: EUROSTAT–COMEXT (reference
dataset: DS-016890).

Apparent consumption (total and per capita): amount of fishery andaquaculture products consumed in the EU. Per capita consumption indicatesthe amount consumed by each individual person in the EU.

Since EUROSTAT provides production data in live weight, import/export n et volumes areconverted by using conversion factors (CF) for the purpose of building a harmonizedsupply balance sheet.
Example of CF for the item whose CN8 code is 03044410: this item corresponds to“Fresh or chilled fillets of cod ‘ Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus’ andof fish of the species "Boreogadus saida’ ”. The CF is set at 2,85, representing an

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND

average of those found for skinned and boned fillets for this species in EUROSTAT and
FAO publications.
For the complete list of CFs used for the EUMOFA purposes, please refer to theMetadata
publishedwithinthe
EUMOFA
websiteatthelink
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/24415/Metadata+2+-+DM++Annex+7+CF+per+CN8_%252707-%252714.pdf/7e98ac0c-a8cc-4223-9114af64ab670532 .
ASSESSMENT OF ORIGIN
OF IMPORTS AND
EXPORTS IN TERMS OF
PRODUCTION METHOD

The objective of the assessment of origin in terms of production methods is to quantify
the role of aquaculture in the EU supply balance analysis. For each EU Member State,on the basis of the total volumes of extra-EU imports and extra-EU exports, theproduction methods of the countries of origin of im ports and destination of exports is
assessed, averaging the latest three years of production volumes in terms of catches
and aquaculture.
Further assessment provides an estimate of a weighted average share of aquaculturein the total production (aquaculture + capture) and it is expressed as a coefficient.
Through this proxy, the origin of imports and destinations of exports in terms of
production methods is determined, i.e. if imports/exports of a given EU Member State
derive from farming or fishery activities.

EXPENDITURE AND
PRICES FOR FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS

EU expenditure data are provided by EUROSTAT. These data are compiled basing on acommon methodology elaborated within the “EUROSTAT – OECD PPP Programme”(http://www.oecd.org/std/prices-ppp/eurostatoecdmethodologicalmanualonpurchasingpowerparitiesppps.htm ).
In “The EU fish market” report, the “Nominal expenditure (in euro)” and the “Nominal
expenditure per inhabitant (in euro)” have been used. The “expenditure” is taken as acomponent of the Gross Domestic Product and concerns the final consumption
expenditures on goods and services consumed by individual households.
Expenditure is provided in Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) which are spatial deflatorsand currency converters that eliminate the effects of the diffe rences in price levels
between Member States/countries, thus allowing volume comparisons of GDP
components and comparisons of price levels. For the countries outside the Euro -zone,
Price Level Indices (PLIs) are used for harmonising different currencies in a single
currency (euro in this case). PLIs are obtained as ratios between PPPs and current
nominal exchange rates, therefore, PPPs and PLIs values coincide in the Euro -zone
countries.
Price indices refer to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices ( HICP) which gives
comparable measures of inflation. It is an economic indicator that measures thechange over time of the prices of consumer goods and services acquired byhouseholds. In other words, it is a set of consumer price indices calculated according
to a harmonised approach and a set of definitions as laid down in Regulations andrecommendations.
“Food” is an aggregate of products, corresponding to COICOP 01.1
(https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nomenclatures/index.cfm?TargetUrl=LST_NOM_D
TL&StrNom=HICP_2019&StrLanguageCode=EN&IntPcKey=43907206&StrLayoutCod
e=HIERARCHIC). It includes all food products purchased for consumption at home. In
this report, analyses are provided for the following items belonging to the “Food”
aggregate:

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUNDoo

HOUSEHOLDCONSUMPTIONOF FRESH FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS“Fishery and aquaculture products” , corresponding to COICOP 01.1.3. It
includes “fresh or chilled”, “frozen”, “dried, smoked or salted”, and “otherpreserved or processed products”, as well as land crabs, land snails and frogs,
as well as fish and seafood purchased live for co nsumption as food.
“Meat”, corresponding to COICOP 01.1.2. It includes “fresh, chilled or frozen,
dried, salted or smoked meat and edible offal” and “other preserved orprocessed meat and meat-based preparations”. It also includes meat andedible offal of marine mammals and exotic animals, as well as animals andpoultry purchased live for consumption as food.

Data are collected from EUROPANEL and refer to households’ purchases of selectedfresh species in 12 EU Member States, which are then aggregated for the EUMOFA
purposes into “Main commercial species”.
Households’ purchases are recorded daily by a sample of households, reporting to
EUROPANEL many information, among which species, quantities and values.
The sample of households (i.e. “panel”) is composed in order to be representative of
the population of each country and to appropriately estimate its characteristics. Below,
specifications regarding panels from which data derive are provided:
M e m b e r Sta te
Denmark
Germany
Ireland
Spain (excluding Canary Islands)
FranceItaly
Hungary
Netherlands
PolandPortugal (excluding Madeira and Azores Islands)
SwedenUnited Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland)

Sa m p le s iz e
(Ho u s e h o ld s )3.000
30.0005.650
12.00020.00010.0004.000
10.000
8.000
4.000
4.000
30.000For each country surveyed (except Hungary), household consumption data cover aselection of most consumed fresh species plus the additional item “other unspecified
products”, aggregating all other fresh species recorded by household panels but notavailable at disaggregated level. Below the complete lists of “main commercial
species” monitored for each country is reported:
De n m ark
Cod
Dab
FlounderHalibut
MackerelMussel Mytilus spp.
SalmonTrout
Other unspecified products

Ge rm an yCarp
CodHerring
ShrimpsMussel Mytilus spp.
PlaicePollack
SalmonTrout
Other freshwater fish

Ire la n d
Cod
Haddock
Hake
Mackerel
ShrimpsSaithe (=Coalfish)
SalmonOther unspecified products

Other unspecified products

7

Sp a in
Cod
European seabass
Gilthead seabream
Hake
MackerelMiscellaneous tuna
Monk
SalmonSardineSole
Other unspecified
products

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND

Fran c e
Cod
Gilthead seabream
Hake
MackerelMonk
Saithe (=Coalfish)
SalmonSardine
Trout
Whiting

Italy
Anchovy
Clam
Cuttlefish
European seabass
Gilthead seabream
Hake
Mussel Mytilus spp.
Octopus
SalmonSquid

Hu n g a ry
Unspecified products

Ne th e rla n d s
CodHerring
MackerelMussel Mytilus spp.
Pangasius
PlaiceSalmonTrout
Shrimp Crangon spp.
Miscellaneous shrimps
Other unspecified
products

Other unspecified products

Other unspecified products

Po lan d
Carp
Mackerel
SalmonTrout
Other unspecified
products

Po rtu g al
Clam
European seabass
Gilthead seabreamHake

Swe d e n
CodFlounderHaddock
Halibut

Un ite d Kin g d o m
Cod
Haddock
MackerelMiscellaneous tuna

Mackerel

Herring

PlaiceShrimps
Octopus
SalmonPike-perch
SalmonOther salmonids
Other unspecified
products

Pollack
SalmonSeabass

Sardine
Scabbardfish
Other unspecified
products

RETAIL SALES AND
OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION

Sole
Trout
Other unspecified
products

Data for retail sales and out-of-home consumption are provided by Euromonitor
International (https://www.euromonitor.com/) whose estimates could be different fromother statistics available at national level, as different methodological approaches may
be used. They refer to “unprocessed” and “processed” products.
Unprocessed products
Data are provided for the category “fish and seafood”, as well as for the subcategories
finfish, crustaceans and molluscs and cephalopods, more detailed below:
Fish and seafood: This is the aggregation of finfish, crustacea ns and molluscs andcephalopods. This category includes packaged and unpackaged unprocessed fishand seafood (fresh, chilled, frozen). Chilled and frozen fish and seafood can becleaned, gutted, peeled/trimmed/filleted/cut to a different extent, but not co oked
and no sauces, herbs or condiments can be added.
-

Crustaceans: Includes all fresh, chilled and frozen but uncooked
crustaceans (i.e. animals living in water with firm body and have a hard outer shell) such as lobsters, shrimps and crabs, whether sold packaged
or unpackaged.

-

Finfish: Includes all fresh, chilled and frozen but uncooked freshwaterand marine finfish (wild caught or farmed), whether sold packaged or
unpackaged, cut or whole.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND-

Molluscs and cephalopods: Includes all fresh, chilled and frozen but
uncooked molluscs (shellfish such as oysters and clams) andcephalopods (such as the octopus, squid, cuttlefish), whether soldpackaged or unpackaged.

Processed products
Data are provided for the category “processed fish and seafood”, as well as for th e
subcategories shelf-stable seafood, chilled processed seafood and frozen processedseafood, more detailed below:
Fish and seafood: This is the aggregation of shelf-stable, chilled and frozen fishand seafood.
-

Shelf-stable: Includes shelf-stable fish, shellfish and seafood typicallysold in cans, glass jars or aluminium/retort packaging. It is also usuallypreserved in oil, brine, salt water or with a sauce (e.g. sardines in tomato
sauce). Pickled fish/seafood sold ambient is also included. Product types
include: cod, haddock, mackerel, sardines, tuna, prawns, crab, mussels,
anchovies, caviar etc.

-

Chilled processed: Includes all packaged processed chilled fish/seafood
products sold in the self-service shelves of retail outlets. Processed
fish/seafood products sold together with a sauce and cooked prawns areincluded. Note: herring products sold in chiller/refrigerator cabinets, andwhich have a shelf-life of more than 6 months are excluded. These
products, which are very common in Scandinavian countries, are included
in shelf-stable seafood as they have similar shelf-life to shelf-stable fish
sold ambient.

- Frozen processed: Includes all processed fish and seafood products
which are further prepared with the addition of other ingredients,
including breading/batter, sauce, seasoning, etc. Product types include:fish fingers, fish pies, battered or breaded fish, fish with any type ofsauce, fish balls, cuttlefish balls, scampi, calamari, etc.
IMPORT-EXPORTThe trade flows of fisheries and aquaculture products are analysed for the items
referring
to
the
list
of
CN-8
codes available
at
the
link
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/24415/Metadata+2+-+DM++Annex+4+Corr+CN8-CG-MCS+%282002+-+2014%29.pdf/ae431f8e-9246-4c3aa143-2b740a860291.
The source used for collecting import-export data is EUROSTAT - COMEXT. For more
information on the methodology and principles behind EUROSTAT’s recording of“country of origin” and “country of destination”, please visit EUROSTAT’s “Quality ReportonInternational
Trade
Statistics”,
athttps://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/7870049/9568307/KS-FT-19-002-ENN.pdf/856f28e5-e9f6-4669-8be0-2a7aa5b1ee67.
It must be specified that data comprehend instances in which volumes or values are
not reported due to confidentiality. The principal of sta tistical confidentiality ofEurostat is explained at the link: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/researchmethodology/statistical-confidentiality.

EXTRA-EU TRADE FLOWS

They encompass all transactions between European Union (EU) Member States andcountries outside the EU (non-member countries).

9EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUNDINTRA-EU TRADE FLOWS

They encompass all transactions declared by Member States of the European Union(EU) with one another. For the analysis of intra-EU trade, only export flows have been
considered.
Actually, intra-EU trade flows as reported by EUROSTAT cover both arrivals (i.e. imports)
and dispatches (i.e. exports). Because of different valuation principle (CIF > FOB)3,
arrivals should be slightly higher valued than dispatches. This is one of the main
reasons explaining asymmetries between import and export figures. In general,bilateral comparisons between MS of intra-EU flows have revealed major andpersistent discrepancies. Therefore, comparisons dealing with intra-EU trade statistics
and related results must be taken into account cautiously and should consider the
existence of these discrepancies.

LANDINGS

Eurostat data regarding landings (fish_ld_main) comprise the initial unloading of any
fisheries products from on board a fishing vessel to land in a given EU Member State.
Landings are made by vessels from EU Member States and from Iceland and Norway.
Data also include landings of species not destined for human consumption andseaweed. The following issues should be mentioned regarding data used for the“Landings in the EU” chapter: Confidentiality. As indicated by national data providers to Eurostat, landings are
confidential when they originate from less than 3 vessels. Therefore, in someinstances, Member States provide data at more aggregated level, in others data
are just not available. Details for these instances, broken down by country, year
and species involved, are listed below:

Denmark
For 2017, some confidential figures are excluded, related to destination use
and/or presentations/preservations of some specific species belonging to thefollowing main commercial species: eel, pike, cod, sole, sardine, bluefin tuna,crab, coldwater shrimps, Norway lobster, oyster, clam and the groupings “otherfreshwater fish”, “other groundfish”, “miscellaneous small pelagics” and“miscellaneous tunas”.
Only totals are available and were collected from Statistics Denmark.



Ireland2018 data are confidential for the following main commercial species: abalone,dab, dogfish, European flounder, grenadier, Atlantic halibut, ray’s bream,
redfish, sardine, scabbardfish, sea cucumber, European seabass, seabreams,
swordfish, bluefin tuna and weever. Furthermore, for all other main commercial
species, some confidential figures are excluded, related to vessels’ flag,
destination use and/or presentations/preservations of some specific species.



Greece2016 and 2017 data are confidential for those landings made by one single
vessel operating in Atlantic, Eastern Central regarding the following maincommercial species: cuttlefish, flounder (other than European flounder), John
dory and the grouping “other flatfish”. Only for 2017, data do not include
confidential figures for frozen deep-water rose shrimp.

Cos t, Ins urance and Freight (CIF) and Free on Board (FOB) are international s hipping agreements used in the trans portation of goods . The CIF rule places an obligationon the s eller to arrange ins urance for the cons ignment. If the FOB rule is us ed, once the goods have been loaded on board, ris k transfers to the buyer, who bears allcos ts thereafter.
3

10

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND

Furthermore, for 2016-2017-2018, some confidential figures are excluded
related to destination use and/or presentations/preservations of some specificspecies. This concerns:- For 2016-2017: some species belonging to the following main commercial
species: octopus, red mullet, seabream (other than gilt-head seabream),squid, and the groupings “other sharks” and “other marine fish”. Only for
2017, data do not include confidential figures for some species belonging to
the grouping “warmwater shrimps”.
- For 2018: some species belonging to the following main commercial species:
crab, John dory, octopus, red mullet, squid, seabream (other than giltheadseabream) and the grouping “other marine fish”.
Malta
Data for the period 2012-2018 regarding landings made by vessels with
Cyprus flag are excluded as they are confidential.

 Provisional dataFrance2018 volumes and values are provisional data available in Eurostat.



Italy
2018 volumes and values are provisional data available in Eurostat.

 Estimates

Bulgaria
2017 volumes and values are national estimates available in Eurostat.



Ireland
Most of 2017 volumes and values are national estimates available in
EUROSTAT. In addition, the following data were collected from SFPA (SeaFisheries Protection Authority):o 2013 and 2014 data regarding hakeo 2014 data regarding mackerelo 2016 data regarding herringo 2018 data regarding blue whiting

Lithuania
2017 volumes and values are national estimates available in EUROSTAT.

Netherlands
Most of 2017-2018 volumes and values are national estimates available inEurostat.

Portugal
Most of 2018 volumes and values are national estimates available in Eurostat.



Romania2017 volumes and values are national estimates available in Eurostat.

11

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM E THODOLOGICAL BAC KGROUND

Moreover, data include estimates for landings expressed in value, produced byEurostat in cases where zero prices were reported by Member States. Countries
and years concerned are listed below:
o Belgium – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015o Bulgaria – 2012o Denmark – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018o Germany – 2009 and 2014o Ireland – 2009, 2010 and 2018
o Netherlands – 2011o Poland – 2011, 2012 and 2016o Portugal – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 and 2016o Sweden – 2009, 2010 and 2011o United Kingdom – 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012

12

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
H IGHLIGHTSHIGHLIGHTSINCREASED EXPENDITURE
OF EU HOUSEHOLDS FOR
PURCHASING FISH AND
HIGHER PRICESThe consumer prices of fishery and aquaculture products have been growing
significantly since 2014 and by 2019, they were 14% higher than eight years before.
As the EU demand is primarily met through imports, the increases were in line with theincreased prices of imported products. From 2018 to 2019, the household expenditure
for fishery and aquaculture products increased in all Member States.

THE EU TRADE DEFICITFOR FISHERIES AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS CONTINUESTO RISEIn 2019, imports and exports of fisheries and aquaculture products between the EU
and the rest of the world totalled 8,55 million tonnes with a value of EUR 33 billion,
making the EU the second largest trader of these products after China. As a net
importer, the EU had a deficit of EUR 21 billion in 2019, which was slightly higher thanthe previous year. In the long run, the deficit grew by 33% in real terms from 2010 to2019.
Extra-EU imports reached a ten-year high of 6,34 million tonnes, almost 460.000
tonnes or 8% more than in 2010. There was also a peak in value, with imp orts reaching
EUR 27,21 billion, which was a significant 38% increase in real terms compared withten years before. From 2018 to 2019, the volume increased a barely perceptible 0,3%(+18.625 tonnes) while value grew by 2% (+EUR 659 million). The value increase wasdriven by prices of the most highly imported products – salmon, cod, tuna, fishmeal
and Alaska pollock.
At the same time, extra-EU exports reached 2,21 million tonnes, growing by 115.275
tonnes or 6%, compared with ten years before. They achieved a ten-year high in value
at EUR 6,17 billion, which in real terms was 58% higher than in 2010. From 2018, thegrowth reached EUR 435 million, for an 8% increase, largely driven by exports ofsalmon.
Intra-EU exports totalled 6,43 million tonnes and EUR 27,41 billion, marking a 170.380
tonnes or 3% decrease from 2018, accompanied by EUR 85 million or 0,3% increasein value. Intra-EU trade almost exclusively concerns exports of salmon from northern
Member States (main entry points of Norwegian products) to other EU countries.

DECREASED SUPPLY AND
CONSUMPTION OFFISHERIES AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTSFROM 2017 TO 2018

Consolidated data regarding EU production of fishery and aquaculture products, andtherefore estimates on EU total supply for EU consumers (production + imports) andEU apparent consumption (supply - exports) are available up to 2018.
In 2018, the EU supply of fisheries and aquaculture products for human consumption
reached 14,72 million tonnes of live weight. Although this was one of the highest
amounts in ten years, it represented a slight 99.884 tonnes or 0,7% decrease from2017, due to declining production from both fishing and aquaculture.
Due to decreased production of salmon in the UK, EU aquaculture production saw areversal of the upward trend experienced in the previous four years, with volume
decreasing 4% to 1,32 million tonnes from 2017 to 2018, and value decreasing 5%
to EUR 4,8 billion. EU catches totalled 5,34 million tonnes, of which 3,99 million were

13

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
H IGHLIGHTS

destined for food use. Food-use catches registered a 5% or 208.288-tonne decrease
from 2017 to 2018, mainly due to reduced catches of mackerel by the UK, Spanish
and Irish fleets.
Yet, in 2018, the EU self-sufficiency ratio 4, which measures the capacity of EU Member
States to meet demand from their own production, remained in line with the ten-year
average. However, a comparison of 2018 data with 2017 data shows a slight decline
caused by the combined effect of the increased imports and decreased production.
Per capita apparent consumption, estimated at 24,36 kg of live weight of mostly wildcaught products, signalled that in 2018 EU citizens consumed, on average, 430 grams
less fishery and aquaculture products than in 2017. Consumption declined for the threemost consumed species, namely tuna, salmon and cod. According to EUMOFA andnational estimates, in contrast with the general trend at EU level 5, Malta observed asignificant per capita consumption growth from 2017 to 2018, largely driven byincreased imports.
Landings of fisheries products, including species not destined for human consumption
and seaweed, decreased 11% to 4,53 million tonnes while their value decreased 3%
to EUR 7,13 billion. The most significant drop was with sandeels destined for industrial
use in Denmark – the same species that contributed to the boost recorded one year
before, from 2016 to 2017. Denmark, however, remained the country with more total
landings in the EU (one quarter of the total), which are mainly for non -food use. On theother hand, landings of skipjack tuna in Spain and scallop in France increased
significantly.
RECENT DYNAMICS FOR
SOME MAIN SPECIES

Salmon. With a growth rate of 5%, the quantity of salmon imported in the EU reached
an all-time high in 2019. Despite a 2% decrease in import prices, total import value
amounted to EUR 6,28 billion, another all-time high. Major drivers behind the increasein import quantity were a combined 8% growth in salmon production in the Faroe
Islands, Iceland and Norway, and strong demand on the EU market. On top of thegrowth in imports, the EU showed an estimated 24% growth in salmon production in2019.

Alaska pollock. In 2019, 305.007 tonnes were supplied to the EU market, the same
quantity reported in 2018, which had been a record year. However, significantly higher
prices on the EU market resulted in import value increasing 25% from 2018 andreaching EUR 838 million in 2019. In the first semester of 2020, the volume of Alaska
pollock imported in the EU decreased by 6% while import prices increased by 7%.

Tuna. After a 7% drop from 2017 to 2018, EU imports of whole tuna continued todecrease, dropping 3% in 2019, while imports of fillets continued an upward trend that
saw annual increases of 10% on average from 2016 to 2019.

Atlantic mackerel. Despite its TAC6 being significantly higher in 2020 than in 2019,prices of Atlantic mackerel exports from EU Member States to non-EU countries wererelatively high in the first seven months of 2020. Export prices of whole mackerel(fresh and frozen) of EU origin sold to non-EU countries averaged 1,62 EUR/kg, up by
4% from the record high price level observed in the corresponding period of 2019.
R atio between EU production and apparent cons umption of the EU market.
It is worth underlining that the methodologies for estimating apparent consumption at EU and M ember S tate levels are different, the firs t based on data and estimatesas des cribed in the Methodological background, the latter als o requiring the adjus tment of abnormal trends due to the higher impact of s tock changes .
6
Total Allowable Catch
4
5

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
H IGHLIGHTS

Seabass and seabream. While EU production of farmed seabass and seabream isrelatively stable, its production in Turkey is still on the rise. On the rise are also EU
imports of both species from Turkey which increased by 15% from 2018 to 2019. At
the same time the import prices of both decreased on average by 4%: farmed seabass
prices decreased 9% to 3,78 EUR/kg, while farmed seabream remained stable ataround 3,90 EUR/kg. However, in the first semester of 2020, EU apparent consumptionof seabass and seabream was down by approximately 6%, with seabass reporting thestrongest decline 7.
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON
THE FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE SECTORSThe COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted the market dynamics of fishery andaquaculture products, albeit to different extents. In the fishing sector, the pandemic
has had negligible impact on products from small pelagics, as they are mainly
processed into frozen products, and their market prices are still relatively low. On theother hand, fisheries targeting species sold fresh have been impacted noticeably. As
for the aquaculture industry, market players targeting the retail sector did not reportmajor losses in the first semester of 2020, while players traditionally targeting thehotel, restaurant and catering (HoReCa) segment suffered the most. The processing
sector also faced the challenge of establishing safe working conditions to avoid the
spread of COVID-19 among its workers. The processing sectors that produce durable
products and target the retail segment have performed the best under the pandemic.
Loss of export opportunities has been challenging for both the aquaculture and thefishery sectors. With no strong demand in export markets, products have been sold in
the EU market at lower prices.
Huge efforts have been made by many market players to adapt to the new market
dynamics and many have succeeded. However, it seems as if the fishery andaquaculture industry must live with the uncertainties from the COVID-19 pandemic for
the foreseeable future.

MACROECONOMIC
TRENDSIn 2018, the Euro (EUR) strengthened against four currencies important to operatorsin the fish and seafood industry – US dollar (USD), Icelandic króna (ISK), British pound(GBP) and Norwegian krone (NOK). However in 2019, the picture was mixed. EUR
depreciated 5% against USD and 1% against GBP. On the other hand, it strengthened
by 3% and 5% against NOK and ISK, respectively. In the first three quarters of 2020,
EUR strengthened a significant 10% against NOK and 11% against ISK, while its
exchange rate with GBP and USD remained unchanged.
The consumer price index for fish and seafood in the EU 8 showed a slight upward trend
through 2019. In the first half of 2020, it rose by 1,5% compared with th e same period
in 2019. This also meant a higher growth rate, with fish and seafood consumer prices
rising by 0,9% in the first semester of 2019.
In 2019, spot prices of crude oil, which is the main price driver for marine fuel prices,
remained stable, as did marine fuel prices in the EU. In 2020, a drop in crude oil prices,highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in lower fuel cost for the fishingfleet. In the first three quarters of 2020, the spot price for marine fuel averaged 30%
lower than in the corresponding period in 2019 9.

789

S ource: Kontali Analys e, monthly s eabass and s eabream report, S eptember 20 20
S ource: EUMOFA macroeconomic das hboard

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLD

1/ THE EU IN THE WORLD
1.1 PRODUCTION
In 2018, total world catches 10 and aquaculture production achieved a 10 -year high.
With a 3% increase from 2017, their combined totals moved from 206 million tonnes
to 212 million tonnes. In that time, catches continued to increase, rising from 94 million
tonnes to 97 million tonnes, and farmed production grew from 112 million tonnes to
115 million tonnes.
Peru was the main contributor to the growth, thanks to the boost registered by its
catches of “anchoveta” ( Engraulis ringens ) designated for fishmeal production.
TABLE 1
TOP-15 PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN 2018 (1.000 TONNES)
Source: Eurostat (online data codes: fish_ca_main and fish_aq2a) and FAO. More details can be found in the Methodological background.

10

Co u n try

Catc h e s

Aq u acultu re

To ta lp ro d u c tio n% o f to ta l

% e vo lu tio no f total production
20 18/20 17

China

14.83166.13580.96638%+1%

Indonesia

7.261

14.77222.033

10%

-4%

India

5.343

7.071

12.414

6%+6%

Vietnam

3.347

4.153

7.500

4%

+5%

Peru

7.208

104

7.312

3%

+71%

E U-28

5.337

1.319

6 .6 56

3%-2%

Russia

5.117

204

5.321

3%

+5%

United States

4.757

468

5.225

2%

-5%

Philippines

2.053

2.304

4.357

2%

+6%

Bangladesh

1.871

2.405

4.276

2%

+3%

Japan

3.207

1.033

4.240

2%

-1%

Norway

2.658

1.355

4.013

2%

+4%

Chile

2.369

1.287

3.656

2%

+3%

Republic of Korea

1.345

2.279

3.624

2%

-2%

Myanmar

2.033

1.132

3.165

1%

-1%

Others

28.4948.440

36.93418%+3%

To tal

9 7.231114 .4 6 1

211.6 9 2

10 0 %+3%

Catches include all products fis hed by a country’s fleet in any fis hing area (both marine and inland waters ), independently from the area of landing/s elling.

16EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLD

From 2017 to 2018, aquaculture production grew for almost all major producers. The
exceptions were the EU, mainly due to reduced production of salmon in the UK,
Indonesia and the Republic of Korea, which both had reduced production of algae.
Catches showed different trends across the world – the most remarkable being that ofPeru.
Since 2000, aquaculture’s share of total world production has increased continuously
and, since 2013, aquaculture production has been h igher than that of catches. This
trend was driven by Asia, where aquaculture production represented more than 90%of the world’s total farmed production in 2018. Asia is also the only continent where
farmed production exceeds wild production. In fact, in e ach of the world’s top four
producing countries – China, Indonesia, India and Vietnam – the majority of production
originates from aquaculture: more than 80% in China, 67% in Indonesia, and morethan half in India and Vietnam. By contrast, only 20% of EU p roduction originates fromaquaculture.
CHART 1WORLD PRODUCTION BY CONTINENT IN 2018
Source: Eurostat (online data codes: fish_ca_main and fish_aq2a) and FAO. More details can be found in the Methodological background.

Asia
73%
Continent
Asia
Americas
EuropeAfricaOceania
Total

Volume(1.000 tonnes)
155.005
24.46218.18312.4081.634
211.692% catches% aquaculture

32%
84%
83%
81%
87%
46%

68%
16%
17%
19%
13%
54%

Americas11%

Europe9%

Africa6%
Oceania1%

ASIA Asia leads the world in both farmed and wild production. In 2018, Asia’s farmed
production amounted to 105 million tonnes, up 2% from 2017, and its wild production
reached 50 million tonnes, which was a 3% increase from 2017. China alone accounted
for close to 60% of global farmed production and 15% of global wild -caught
production. The country mainly produces seaweed and carp – both from aquaculture –with production reaching 19 million tonnes and 18 million tonnes, respectively, in 2018.
If compared with world production of these two species, Chinese production covered
almost 60% of the total for seaweed and 85% for carp. By comparison, the EU
produced only 85.940 tonnes of carp and 44.596 tonnes of seaweed in 2018. However,EU seaweed production originates mostly from wild harvesting for non -food purposes,
which limits the relevance of the comparison with Chinese production.

AMERICA In the Americas – including North, Central and South America – catches grew to 21
million tonnes in 2018, up 16% from 2017. The increase was driven by the boost
registered by Peruvian catches of anchoveta which rose from 3,30 million tonnes to
6,19 million tonnes. This was affirmed when the combined quota for the two seasonsof 2018 achieved the highest amount since 2011, confirming the normalization ofclimate conditions and favourable biomass of anchovy on that coast 11. Thanks to sucha boost, Peru became the top American fishery producer in 2018, a position the United
11

S ource: FAO – Globefis h http://www.fao.org/in-action/globefis h/market-reports/resource-detail/en/c/118 9963/.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLD

States had held since 2014 due to its catches of Alaska pollock which had amounted
to around 1,5 million tonnes each year.
Aquaculture production in the Americas grew as well, reaching 3,8 million tonnes with
a 6% increase from 2017. Chile leads the sector and drove the growth, with its
production of 1,3 million tonnes representing a 6% increase from 2017. This mainly
included salmon, which increased 4% to 809.659 tonnes and marked a continuing
steady recovery from the algal bloom mortalities of 2016, and mussels, which had an
8% increase and reached 368.916 tonnes. By comparison, EU farmed production of
salmon totalled only 171.351 tonnes, but its production of mussels surpassed theChilean one, as it amounted to 515.863 tonnes. On the other hand, as specificallyconcerns salmon, Chilean production was 37% lower than Norway’s 1,28 million
tonnes.

EUROPE Three non-EU countries accounted for almost 60% of total European production in
2018: Russia with 5,32 million tonnes, Norway with 4,01 million tonnes, and Icelandwith 1,30 million tonnes.
Russian production mainly comprises catches of Alaska pollock which totalled 1,68
million tonnes in 2018, 3% less than in 2017. In Norway, two thirds of production
comes from aquaculture and consist more specifically of salmon, whose production
grew 4% from 2017. Norwegian catches mainly include herring with 498.041 tonnes
in 2018, blue whiting with 438.426 tonnes, and cod with 373.924 tonnes. While its
catches of cod and blue whiting were higher than those of the EU, the Norwegian fleet
caught much less herring than the EU’s total of 869.566 tonnes. As for Iceland,
production increased by 6% from 2017 to 2018 thanks to increased catches of thetwo most fished species: blue whiting, which totalled 292.952 tonnes for a 28%
increase, and cod, which totalled 274.958 tonnes for a 10% increase.
Looking more specifically at the EU level, the combined production of EU countries
totalled 6,65 million tonnes. Production in the EU is more focused on pelagic anddemersal fish than in the rest of the world. Pelagic fish cover more than half anddemersal fish cover one-third of the total EU fisheries production, whereas they
represent lower shares in non-EU countries. On the other hand, crustaceans,
cephalopods and freshwater fish have a limited impact on the EU production, with a
combined share of around 5%, while in non-EU countries, they have a combined shareof around 25%.

AFRICA In Africa, the main producers are Egypt, which mainly farms Nile tilapia, Morocco, whichmainly catches sardine, and Nigeria, which mainly catches wild tilapia.
In 2018, Moroccan production of sardine amounted to 967.131 tonnes, which was
almost five times higher than that of EU Member States.

OCEANIA In Oceania, almost 90% of total production is wild caught. The main species caught
are skipjack tuna, mainly fished by Papua New Guinea and Kiribati, and grenadier,mainly fished by New Zealand. In 2018, catches of skipjack tuna reached 577.848
tonnes, and, grenadier reached 141.808 tonnes. By comparison, Oceania production ofskipjack tuna was double that of the EU, while its catches of grenadier were more than
20 times higher than catches by the EU.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLD

1.2 IMPORT - EXPORT12
EU-28 The EU trade of fisheries and aquaculture products, which comprises both imports andexports with third countries, totalled EUR 33,37 billion and 8,55 million tonnes in 2019,making the EU the second largest trader of these pro ducts in the world after China.
Imports, which accounted for around 80% of the total, amounted to EUR 27,21 billion
and 6,34 million tonnes.
Detailed analyses on imports and exports of EU Member States can be found in Chapter
4. This section focuses on the trade flows of the top-5 non-EU world traders of fisheries
and aquaculture products – China, United States, Japan, Norway and Thailand ranked
in value terms – and compares them with the EU.

CHINA With a total flow of 10,38 million tonnes valued at EUR 34,37 billion, China ranked
first in the world for total trade of fisheries and aquaculture products in 2019. China
is a net exporter in terms of value, while a net importer in terms of volume. A significant
share of its surplus comes from its large processing sector, which processes bothinternally produced and imported products for export.
The main destinations for Chinese exports are Japan, the US and the EU (ranked indecreasing order in volume terms), with Japan mainly rec eiving frozen fillets of marine
fish 13, the US mostly receiving prepared/preserved fish 14, and the EU mainly importing
frozen fillets of Alaska pollock.
From 2018 to 2019, Chinese exports decreased by a slight 1% in volume and 3% invalue) to reach 4,18 million tonnes and EUR 18,02 billion. Despite decreasing, Chinese
exports were still twice as large in volume and three times as large in value as EU
exports.
On the other hand, China’s imports increased by a considerable 20% in volume and
31% in value, reaching peaks of 6,20 million tonnes (nearly as much as EU imports)
and EUR 16,36 billion (around two thirds of EU imports). Consequently, the Chinese
trade surplus plummeted to EUR 1,66 billion, 72% lower than in 2018. As tradeexchanges are expressed in USD, this was also due to a 4,4% appreciation of the USD
against the CNY during 2019.
China saw increased imports from all its main suppliers – Russia, Peru, Vietnam,
Ecuador and India – with the most significant growth regarding shrimps coming from
Ecuador and India. The increase in imports, especially from Ecuador and India, is a
result of these trade flows “shifting”. In the past, they were going through third
countries (such as Vietnam) and were registered into limited degree, while they now
directly involve the actual importer and exporter.

12
13
14

S ources used in this chapter are Eurostat for EU -28 (online data code DS-0 168 90), S tatBank Norway and Global Trade Atlas - IHS Markit for non-EU countries .
No detail is available in terms of s pecies .

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLDUNITED STATES The total amount of imports and exports of fisheries and aquaculture products to/from
the US in 2019 was 4,36 million tonnes worth EUR 24,99 billion. The US is a net
importer of these products and, in 2019, the trade balance reached its lowest level ofthe five years analysed.
The value of US imports increased 3% from 2018, reaching a five -year peak of EUR
19,84 billion for 2,81 million tonnes, which was 3% less than 2018. The value increase
was mainly driven by increased imports of shrimps from India, salmon from Chile, andcrab from Canada and Russia. On the other hand, imports from China, the top supplier,largely including tilapia, declined.
The US exports showed a 1% decrease in volume and value from 2018, bringing their2019 total to 1,55 million tonnes and EUR 5,15 billion. Its top destinations were China,
which received mainly frozen whole salmon, flatfish and other marine fish 15; the EU,
receiving frozen fillets of Alaska pollock; Canada, receiving salmon, both fresh or
frozen, and whole or filleted; and Japan and the Republic of Korea which received
frozen fillets of marine fish 16.

JAPAN In 2019, Japan’s imports and exports of fisheries and aquaculture products totalled
3,04 million tonnes and EUR 15,59 billion. Japan, the EU and the US are the major net
importers of these products in the world, but Japan’s trade deficit is half as much as
the EU’s and around 20% lower than the US’s.
With a 4% increase in volume and value from 2018, imports in Japan reached a five year value peak at EUR 13,60 billion for 2,44 million tonnes. The volume increase wasmainly due to supplies of non-food use products – mostly used as fishmeal in theaquaculture sector – from China and Peru with the latter mainly exporting fishmeal.
Value increased mainly due to imports of coho salmon and trout from Chile.
Japanese exports dropped 16% from 2018, reaching 598.153 tonnes, which was still
higher than the five-year average. The decline was due to decreased exports ofmackerel to Ghana, Egypt and the Philippines. In value terms, with a 0,5% increase,
Japanese exports reached a five-year peak at EUR 1,99 billion, mainly driven by exports
of frozen fillets of marine fish 17 to the US.

NORWAY Norway’s total trade flows of fisheries and aquaculture products reached 3,25 million
tonnes worth EUR 11,94 billion in 2019, for a trade surplus of EUR 9,55 billion – thehighest in the last five years.
Norwegian exports of these products rank second in the world after those from China,
due to the significant amount of salmon it exports all over the world. The EU, its main
destination, absorbs 60% of total Norwegian exports.
From 2018 to 2019, total exports from Norway decreased by 5% in volume, reaching
2,64 million tonnes, mainly driven by a decline in exports of blue whiting to the EU andfresh whole marine fish 18 to Iceland. In value terms, however, they increased by 4%

IbidemIbidem17
Ibidem18
Ibidem15
16

20

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLDand achieved a five-year high of EUR 10,74 billion, thanks to increased exports ofsalmon to the EU.
Supplies from abroad were at almost the same level as 2018, amounting to 612.510
tonnes in 2019. Their value, however, increased by 10% to reach EUR 1,19 billion, due
to increased imports of fish oil from Peru, which is its major supplier together with the
EU and Iceland.

THAILAND The total amount of imports and exports of fisheries and aquaculture products to/fromThailand in 2019 was 3,29 million tonnes worth EUR 8,50 billion. The country is a net
exporter of these products, with a 2019 surplus close to EUR 1,80 billion. The trade
surplus decreased each year from 2015 to 2018, but recovered in 2019.
From 2018 to 2019, exports showed opposite, slight changes, decreasing 1% in volume
and increasing 1% in value, reaching 1,30 million tonnes worth EUR 5,15 bi llion.
Thailand’s exports are mostly destined for Japan and the US, which mainly receive
shrimps and tuna.
Imports in Thailand declined by 7% in volume and 1% in value in the same period due
to decreased supplies of frozen marine fish 19 from India. However, it registered
increased imports from Myanmar and China, its main suppliers.

19

Ibidem21

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLDTABLE 2EXPORTS OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS OF MAIN WORLD TRADERS (VOLUME IN MILLION TONNES AND NOMINAL VALUE IN EUR BILLION)
AND % OF EXPORTS DESTINED FOR THE EU ON TOTAL IN 2019
Source: EUMOFA elaboration of data from EUROSTAT (for EU trade flows, online data code DS-016890), StatBank Norway and Global Trade Atlas - IHS Markit (for other non-EU countries)

Co u n try

20 15
Volume Valu e

20 16
Volume Va lu e

20 17Volume Va lu e

20 18
Volume Va lu e

20 19
Va lu e20 19 /20 18
Volume Va lu e

China

3,98

17,86

4,16

18,31

4,26

18,21

4,23

18,48

4,18

(12% to the EU)

18,02(11% to the EU)

-1%

-2%

Norway

2,57

8,21

2,45

9,77

2,61

10,06

2,76

10,29

2,64

(60% to the EU)

10,74(60% to the EU)

-4 %

+4 %

E U-282, 0 65, 0 1

1, 9 9

5, 24

2, 13

5, 6 7

2, 20

5, 73

2, 21

6 , 17+0 , 5%

+8%

US

1,65

5,45

1,59

5,35

1,70

5,46

1,57

5,20

1,55 (21% to the EU)

5,15(19% to the EU)

-1%

-1%

Thailand

1,48

5,07

1,44

5,25

1,28

5,26

1,31

5,08

1,30

(4% to the EU)

5,15(5% to the EU)

-1%

+1%

Japan

0,53

1,73

0,51

1,85

0,57

1,82

0,71

1,98

0,60

(1% to the EU)

1,99(2% to the EU)

-15%

+1%

Vo lu m e

TABLE 3
IMPORTS OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS OF MAIN WORLD TRADERS (VOLUME IN MILLION TONNES AND NOMINAL VALUE IN EUR BILLION)
AND % OF IMPORTS ORIGINATING FROM THE EU ON TOTAL IN 2019
Source: EUMOFA elaboration of data from EUROSTAT (for EU trade flows, online data code DS-016890), StatBank Norway and Global Trade Atlas - IHS Markit (for other non-EU countries)

Co u n try

20 15
Volume Valu e

20 16
Volume Va lu e

20 17Volume Va lu e

20 18
Volume Va lu e

E U-285, 9 422, 806 , 1024 , 85

6,07

25, 9 8

6 , 32

US

2,64

17,03

2,72

17,77

2,80

19,22

China

4,04

7,84

3,98

8,15

4,84

Japan

2,47

12,28

2,36

12,73

Thailand

1,60

2,33

1,85

Norway

0,63

1,12

0,63

Vo lu m e

Va lu e20 19 /20 18
Vo lu m e Va lue

26 , 55

6 , 3427, 21+0 , 3%

+2%

2,88

19,26

2,81 (3% from the EU)

19,84 (3% from the EU)

-2%

+.3%

9,70

5,16

12,45

6,20 (2% from the EU)

16,36 (2% from the EU)

+20 %

+.31%

2,46

13,52

2,36

13,12

2,44 2% from the EU)

13,60 (4% from the EU)

+3%

+.4 %

2,85

1,92

3,24

2,13

3,39

1,98 (1% from the EU)

3,35 (1% from the EU)

-7%

-1%

1,15

0,66

1,08

0,61

1,08

0,61 (43% from the EU)

1,19 (39% from the EU)

=

+10 %

22

20 19

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLDCHART 2
MAIN TRADE FLOWS OF FISHERY AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD (2019, NOMINAL VALUES)
Source: EUMOFA, based on elaboration of data from EUROSTAT (for EU trade flows, online data code DS-016890), StatBank Norway, and Global Trade Atlas - IHS Markit (for trade flows of other non-EU countries)

23

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
TH E EU IN THE WORLD

1.3 EXPENDITURE AND CONSUMPTION20
In 2017, the EU as a whole reported the highest expenditure on fish in the world.
However, when looking at per capita expenditure, it ranked 8 th after Iceland, Japan,
Korea, Norway, Australia, Israel and Switzerland.
On the other hand, according to the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook forecasts for 2019,
the EU ranked 13th in terms of per capita consumption, amounting to less than half ofthe forecast for the top-3 ranked countries – Malaysia, Korea and Norway.

TABLE 4
EXPENDITURE ON FISH,
TOP 10 OECD COUNTRIES,
2017
Source: OECDTABLE 5
CONSUMPTION OF FISH,TOP OECD COUNTRIES,
2019 (FORECASTS)
Source: OECD

Iceland

Pe r c a p ita n o m in a le x p e n d itu re(E UR p e r c a p ita )398

To ta l n o m in a le x p e n d itu re(E UR m illio n )
137

Japan

368

46.634Korea

201

10.349Norway170

899

Australia

144

3.548

Israel124

1.080

Switzerland

119

1.002

E U-2810 6

54 .26 2

New Zealand

97

469

Canada81

2.955

Co u ntry

Malaysia

Pe r c a p ita
c o n s u m p tio n
(Kg )
58,52

Korea

57,41

3.192.406

Norway54,56

1.024.442

Japan

46,74

6.394.872

Viet Nam

40,73

4.844.249

China

40,42

60.386.185

Indonesia

38,98

11.981.150

Thailand

28,07

2.447.870

New Zealand

27,58

186.702

Philippines

26,47

2.861.286

Australia

25,07

666.555

Egypt

24,07

2.435.000

E U-2823, 8211.30 7.720

Co u n try

To ta l c o n s u m p tio n(To n n e s )1.985.624

Data in this s ection are collected from the OECD webs ite (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). More details available at the links
https ://s tats .oecd.org/Index.as px?DataSetCode=PPP2017 (for expenditure) and https ://s tats .oecd.org/viewhtml.as px?datasetcode=HIGH_AGLINK_20 19&lang=en (forcons umption).
20

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLY

2/ MARKET SUPPLY
2.1 SUPPLY BALANCE
AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY OVERVIEW
In 2018, the EU supply for human consumption of fishery and aquaculture products,
including both domestic production and imports, amounted to 14,72 million tonnes inlive weight equivalent. This was 99.884 tonnes less than in 2017, but still one of thehighest supplies of the 2009–2018 decade.
From 2017 to 2018, both catches and aquaculture production decreased, although thedrop in aquaculture production was to a much lesser extent. The decrease of total
production was only partially offset by an import increase. As a result, the total
available supply declined. More in detail, catches dropped 5% or 208.288 tonnes andaquaculture production decreased 4% or 50.330 tonnes, while imports grew 2% or
158.734 tonnes.
Consequently, and also due to a 5% or 96.337-tonne export increase, apparent
consumption 21 decreased 2%, dropping from 12,68 million tonnes to 12,48 million
tonnes in live weight equivalent, which amounted to a drop of 196.221 tonnes.
CHART 3EU SUPPLY BALANCE(2018, LIVE WEIGHT
EQUIVALENT,FOOD USE ONLY)
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources and on
the methodological approach
used for assessing the
production method of imports
and exports can be found in the
Methodological background.

TOTAL FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
Production

Import5,31 mln tonnes

9,41 mln tonnes

Supply14,72 mln
tonnesExport2,24 mln tonnes

Apparent
consumption
12,48 mln
tonnes21

The definition of “ apparent consumption” is available in the “ Supply balance s heet” s ection of the Methodological background.

25

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLYFISHERIES PRODUCTS
Production

AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
Import3,99 mln tonnes

7,30 mln tonnes

Production
1,32 mln tonnes

Import2,10 mln tonnes

Supply11,29 mln tonnes

ExportSupplyExport0,21 mln tonnes

3,42 mln tonnes

2,02 mln tonnes

Apparent consumption

Apparent
consumption

3,21 mln tonnes

9,27 mln tonnes

Catches of the EU fleet can be destined for human consumption or non -food use. While
catches for food use decreased from 2017 to 2018, non-food catches 22 recovered,registering a 10% increase from 2017, mainly thanks to sprat fisheries in Denmark.
Wild-caught products account for 74% of total apparent consumption. The average EU
citizen consumed 24,36 kg of fish and se afood in 2018, of which 18,09 kg originatedfrom catches and 6,27 kg from aquaculture. Consumption of both wild and farmed
products decreased 2% and 1%, respectively, from 2017, when total per capita
consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products was 24 ,79 kg. Lower catches,increased exports of wild products and reduced production of farmed fish led to thedecline of supply for EU consumers.
More detailed analyses on apparent consumption are included in Chapter 3.

TABLE 6
EU PRODUCTION DETAILS (TONNES, LIVE WEIGHT)
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data codes: fish_aq2a, and fish_ca_main), FAO and FEAP data.
Details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Catches

4.534.510

4.204.237

4.269.062

4.197.520

3.989.231

Aquaculture

1.236.808

1.267.645

1.296.485

1.369.822

1.319.492

T o tal production
5 .7 7 1 .3 1 8
d estined for food use

5 .47 1 .8 8 2

5 .5 6 5 .5 47

5 .5 6 7 .3 42

5 .3 0 8 .7 2 3

1.056.128

857.683

1.227.268

1.347.531

F ood use

N on-food use

22

Catches959.569

S ource: Eurostat. For the s pecies considered not to be destined to human consumption, please refer to the Methodological back ground.

26

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLYTABLE 7EU SUPPLY BALANCE FOR FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS BY COMMODITY GROUP
AND PRODUCTION METHOD (2018, LIVE WEIGHT EQUIVALENT, FOOD USE ONLY)
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data codes: fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main and DS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.
Co m m o d ity g ro u p

Pro d u c tio n (to n n e s )Im p o rt (to n n e s )E x p o rt (to n n e s )Ap p are n t c o n s u m p tio n (to n n e s )Ap p are n t c o n s u m p tio n
p e r c ap ita (kg )W ild

Farm e d

W ild

Farm e d

W ild

Farm e d

W ild

Farm e d

To talW ild

Farm e d

To talBivalves and other molluscs andaquatic invertebrates

229.741623.916113.782

168.35940.72715.791302.796776.485

1.079.280

0,59

1,52

2,11

Cephalopods

92.5940686.893048.6281730.8590730.858

1,43

0

1,43

Crustaceans

194.469461

472.209399.907123.731995

542.947

399.373942.320

1,06

0,78

1,84

Flatfish164.289

11.544147.921843

71.458342

240.752

12.045252.797

0,47

0,02

0,49

Freshwater fish

95.447101.500

84.578261.495

8.596

4.669

171.429358.326

529.755

0,33

0,70

1,03

Groundfish

680.46102.943.089

340

448.65103.174.898

340

3.175.238

6,20

0

6,20

Miscellaneous aquatic products

40.759582

322.402040.5190322.642582

323.224

0,63

0

0,63

Other marine fish

288.770

190.196409.410109.666127.252

19.049570.928280.813851.740

1,11

0,55

1,66

Salmonids

16.170363.103931

1.165.118

1.891

167.159

15.211

1.361.063

1.376.274

0,03

2,66

2,69

Small pelagics

1.687.7360650.3160726.54601.611.506

01.611.506

3,15

0

3,15

Tuna and tuna-like species

498.795

28.18930

384.096

6.828

1.585.339

21.3911.606.730

3,09

0,04

3,14

To tal3.9 89 .231 1.319 .4 9 2

214 .833 9 .26 9 .30 6 3.210 .4 17 12.4 79 .722

18, 0 96 , 27

24 , 36

1.470.639
7.30 2.170

2.10 5.757 2.0 22.0 9 6

Data as of June 20 20. Data may differ from those currently available on the EUMOFA website as these are constantly updated .
P ossible discrepancies in totals are due to rounding. For more details, see the Methodological background.

The EU is able to maintain a high level of fish and seafood apparent consumption
mainly by sourcing it from other regions of the world through imports. Self -sufficiency,
which is the capacity of EU Member States to meet demand from their own production,
can be calculated as the ratio of domestic production over domestic consumption.
Imports prevail for tuna, salmon, cod, Alaska pollock and shrimps – the top 5 species
consumed in the EU and for which EU self-sufficiency averaged only 14% in 2018.
TABLE 8
SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATESOF MOST CONSUMEDPRODUCTS IN THE EU(2018)
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

Pro ducts 23 an d s h are o f to ta l
ap p a re n t c o n s u m p tio n

Pe r capita c o n s u m p tio n(kg, live weight equivalent)

Se lf-suffic ie n c yra teTuna (13%)

3,05

33%

Salmon (9%)

2,24

15%

Cod (9%)2,14

8%

Alaska pollock (7%)

1,68

0%

Shrimps (6%)

1,58

13%

Mussel (5%)

1,21

81%

Herring (5%)

1,18

98%

Hake (4%)

1,00

37%

Squid (3%)

0,66

12%

Mackerel (2%)

0,60

106%

Surimi24 (2%)

0,59

n/a

Sardine (2%)

0,57

74%

Trout (2%)

0,42

90%

Sprat (=Brisling) (2%)

0,40

111%

Saithe (=Coalfish) (1%)

0,34

20%

S ome s pecies are grouped in a s ingle product, namely: mus s el ( Mytilus s pp. + other mus s els ), tuna (s kipjack, yellowfin, albacore, bigeye, bluefin and mis cellaneous ) and s hrimp(warmwater s hrimps , coldwater s hrimps , deep -water ros e s hrimps , s hrimp Crangon s pp. and mis cellaneous s hrimps ).
24
As s urimi is made of different s pecies and there are no s tatis tics s pecifically referring to s urimi production, the s elf-s ufficiency rate cannot be calculated for this product.
23

27

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLY

50,0%

12,00
45,0%

10,00
8,00

40,0%

6,00
4,00

35,0%

2,00
0,00

SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATE

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890), FAO, national
administrations and FEAP data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

14,00

APPARENT CONSUMPTIONCHART 4EU APPARENTCONSUMPTION AND
SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATESFOR FISHERIES AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS

30,0%
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Apparent consumption (million tonnes)

2017

2018

Self-sufficiency rate

TABLE 9SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATES BY COMMODITY GROUP
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data codes: fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main and DS-016890), FAO, national administrations and FEAP
data. Details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.

Co mmodity groups
and share of total apparent
consumption in 2018
Groundfish(25%)
Small pelagics(13%)
Tuna and tuna-like species(13%)
Salmonids(11%)
Bivalves and other molluscs
and aquatic invertebrates(9%)
Crustaceans(8%)
Other marine fish 25(7%)
Cephalopods(6%)
Freshwater fish
(4%)
Miscellaneous aquatic products(3%)
Flatfish(2%)
T o talS elf-s u ffi ci en cy rates
2 0 092 0 102 0 112 0 122 0 132014

2 0 152 0 162 0 172 0 18

23%

23%

19%

20%

22%

24%

25%

23%

24%

21%

109%

118%

113%

119%

116%

132%

119%

107%

107%

105%

20%

21%

23%

26%

29%

34%

27%

28%

28%

33%

34%

35%

33%

31%

31%

29%

28%

29%

31%

28%

63%

60%

59%

64%

61%

61%

65%

68%

76%

79%

23%

22%

21%

21%

22%

22%

22%

22%

21%

21%

55%

55%

56%

68%

67%

65%

63%

61%

59%

56%

17%

17%

18%

21%

21%

22%

20%

16%

14%

13%

25%

22%

24%

27%

28%

31%

34%

36%

39%

37%

8%

7%

13%

13%

20%

17%

6%

16%

13%

13%

94%

97%

98%

77%

79%

75%

76%

70%

73%

70%

42,7%

42,5%

41,7%

43,5%

43,6%

45,8%

44,0%

43,5%

43,9%

42,5%

In the long term, self-sufficiency remained at almost the same level from 2009 to
2018. However, a comparison of 2018 data with 2017 data illuminated a decline inself-sufficiency. The decline was caused by the combined effect of the increased
imports and decreased production of both aquaculture and fisheries, which amounted
to a drop of almost 260.000 tonnes.

S pecies belonging to this group are gilthead s eabream and other s eabreams , s eabas s, monk, s harks , ray, red mullet, gurnard, s cabbardfis h, cus k -eel, dogfis h, picarel, John Dory,s melt, ray’s bream, weever, cobia, and marine species not included in other commodity groups. For more information, please consult the “Harmonisation” page of the EUMOFA website
at the link http://www.eumofa.eu/harmonis ation.
25

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLY

2.2 ANALYSIS BY MAIN SPECIESGROUNDFISH
COD, ALASKA POLLOCK,HAKE, SAITHE

Four groundfish species, namely cod, Alaska pollock, hake and saithe, had a combined
per capita consumption total of 5,16 kg in 2018, accounting for one-fifth of the total
EU apparent consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products . For them, the EU helda low degree of self-sufficiency, averaging 16%.
As all Alaska pollock available in the EU is imported, Member States are completelydependent on non-EU countries to meet their demand.
For cod, which is one of the most highly consumed species in th e EU, the EU selfsufficiency in 2018 was 8%, the lowest level of the 10 -year period analysed. The
decrease from the 11% registered in 2017 was due to a drop in UK catches. EU selfsufficiency for saithe also dropped from the 28% registered in 2017 to 20% in 2018,its lowest of the 2009–2018 period. In this case, the decline was caused by bothdecreased catches and, more importantly, increased imports.
On the other hand, thanks to increased Spanish production, the EU self -sufficiency forhake remained high, averaging 38% for the last five years.

CHART 5
SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATEFOR MOST CONSUMEDGROUNDFISH

100%

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online datacodes fish_ca_main andDS-016890). Details on thesources used can be found in the
Methodological background.

60%

90%
80%
70%
50%

40%

29%

33%

30%

38%

39%

37%

30%

28%

37%

30%

25%

26%

20%

24%

10%

14%

22% 25%
15%
14%

15%

13%

12%

12%

11%

11%

8%

2009

2010

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

29%

30%

0%

2011

Cod

TUNA

38%

Hake

29%

30%

20%

Saithe (=Coalfish)

Apparent consumption of the commodity group “tuna and tuna -like species” includes
97% tuna and 3% swordfish. Overall, the self-sufficiency rate of this category was at
33% in 2018.
Specifically for tuna, Autonomous Tariff Quotas (ATQ) increased in 2014. This followed
the establishment of Free Trade Agreements with major producing countries which
contributed to the higher imports. Consequently, due to increased imports of yellowfin
and skipjack tuna, the level of self-sufficiency dropped in 2015 and remained stable
at an average of 27% until 2017. In 2018, it rose again to reach 33%, driven byincreased catches of skipjack tuna by the Spanish and French fleets, and also thanks
to reduced imports.

29

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLYCHART 6
SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATEFOR TUNA

100%

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

70%

90%

80%
60%
50%

40%
30%
20%
10%

19%

20%

22%

2009

2010

2011

25%

2012

28%

34%

26%

28%

27%

2015

2016

2017

33%

0%

SM ALL PELAGICSHERRING, MACKEREL
SARDINE, SPRAT

2013

2014

2018

Of all fisheries and aquaculture products produced in the EU, small pelagics accountfor one third. If considering total EU catches only, they account for more than 40% 26.
This, combined with low imports, makes the EU fully capable of meeting the overall
EU demand for these products.
As for herring, during the decade under analysis, the EU was completely independent
in terms of supplies from abroad in 2014 and 2015, as the self-sufficiency was 100%or higher. The lower self-sufficiency rates were registered from 2009 to 2011,
because of lower production and higher imports. In 2018, the EU self-sufficiency forthis species was at 98%, slightly higher than the previous year.
As for mackerel and sprat, each year the EU proves to be fully capable of meeting theoverall EU demand – with its self-sufficiency always being much higher than 100%.
For sprat in particular, imports are negligible compared with production , thus the selfsufficiency is only based on the balance between production and exports. Consideringthat sprat production was stable at around 200.000 tonnes from 2010 to 2018, thedownward trend of self-sufficiency in this period was merely due to reduced exports
causing increased availability of sprat for EU consumers and a minor weight ofproduction in the self-sufficiency ratio. On the other hand, the downward trend of selfsufficiency for mackerel from 2014 to 2018 was due to increased imports and reduced
catches.
For sardine, the EU self-sufficiency has been declining from the peak achieved in 2011,
due to halving production – with main reductions in the Netherlands, Lithuania,
Portugal, Poland and Spain.

CHART 7
SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATEFOR MOST CONSUMEDSMALL PELAGICS

200%

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online datacodes: fish_ca_main andDS-016890). Details on thesources used can be found in the
Methodological background.

120%

180%
160%
140%
100%

174%

176%

158%

159% 157%

136%

100%

110%

116%
87%
87%

80%
60%

128%

119%

116%

66%

63%

65%

2009

2010

2011

40%

163%

145%
124%
95%

111%
91%

71%

150%

134%

120%
112%

100% 93%

95%

111%
106%
98%

76%

74%

75%

74%

2015

2016

2017

113% 110%20%0%Herring

26

2012
MackerelP ercentage calculated on total catches destined for food us e.

30

2013

2014
SardineSprat (=Brisling)

2018

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLYSALM ONIDSSALMON, TROUT

In 2018, 15% of the salmon consumed in the EU was produced internally. This was
the lowest level of self-sufficiency shown for this species in the 10-year period
analysed. Salmon’s decrease from 2017 was due to the combined effect of a drop in
production and increase in imports.
For trout, the EU has maintained 91% of self-sufficiency on average during the same
decade. The highest levels were in 2009 and 2010, when production wa s at its
maximum.

CHART 8
SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATEFOR MOST CONSUMEDSALMONIDS

100%

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890), FAO, national
administrations and FEAP data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

60%

95%

95%

92%

92%

90%

90%

89%

90%

91%

90%

18%

19%

19%

17%

17%

17%

16%

16%

18%

15%

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

90%
80%
70%
50%
40%

30%
20%
10%
0%

SalmonOTHE R PRODUCTSSHRIMPS, MUSSELS,SQUID, SURIMI

Trout

Other highly consumed products in the EU, which each belong to a different commodity
group, include shrimps (crustaceans), mussels (bivalves), squid (cephalopods) andsurimi (miscellaneous aquatic products).
As concerns surimi, there are no statistics specifically referring to its production
because it is made of different species, thus the self-sufficiency rate cannot becalculated.
Mussel is one of the few most consumed species for which the EU holds a high levelof self-sufficiency. It averaged 80% from 2009 to 2018, with its lowest level of 75%
registered in 2011, the year when imports of mussels were at their maximum.
On the other hand, the EU is highly dependent on imports of shrimps and squid.
The self-sufficiency for shrimps averaged 11% in the 10-year period analysed, without
showing notable variations. The most consumed shrimp species (mainly supplied
through imports) were warmwater shrimps and Argentine red shrimp, in the form offrozen or prepared/preserved products.
As for squid, the self-sufficiency was at 12% in 2018, slightly lower than the 13%
registered one year before. During the 10-year period analysed, its highest level wasin 20% in 2014 and the lowest was 9% in 2016. This drop was due to the combined
effect of decreased production and increased imports. However, a recovery occurredin 2017, raising self-sufficiency to 13%, as production and imports followed opposite
trends with respect to the previous year. The evolution of this rate was driven by
catches of the main squid species, namely Patagonian squid ( Loligo gahi), by the
Spanish fleet. In 2015 and 2016, the catches were significantly lower than in 2014,
but they rose again in 2017.

31

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONM A R KET S UPPLYCHART 9SELF-SUFFICIENCY RATEFOR OTHER MOSTCONSUMED PRODUCTS

100%

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

60%

90%
80%

83%

80%

20%

13%

10%

11%

12%

70%

75%

82%

79%

17%

16%

80%

82%

82%

80%

81%

50%

40%
30%

0%

2009

2010

13%

20%

16%

10%

10%

11%

11%

10%

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Mussel

Squid

32

13%

9%

10%
2016

2017

Shrimps

13%
12%
2018

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

3/ CONSUMPTION
3.1 OVERVIEW FOR TOTAL FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
APPARENT In 2018, apparent consumption 27 of fishery and aquaculture products in the EU
CONSUMPTION amounted to 12,48 million tonnes in live weight equivalent, which was 2% below
the 10-year peak of 12,78 million tonnes recorded in 2016.

From 2017 to 2018,
on average,
EU citizens consumed
430 grams less offishery andaquaculture products.

From 2017 to 2018, per capita consumption decreased from 24,79 kg to 24,36 kg,
which means that on average, EU citizens consumed 430 grams less of fishery andaquaculture products.
Wild-caught products accounted for three-quarters of total apparent consumption.
In 2018, per capita consumption of wild-caught products amounted to 18,09 kg,
351 grams lower than in 2017 and slightly below its 10 -year average.
Although it showed a slight 1% or 80-gram decrease from 2017, the 2018consumption of farmed products in the EU was 6,27 kg per capita, whichcorresponded to its decade average.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890), FAO, national
administrations and FEAP data.
Details on the sources and on
the methodological approach
used for assessing the
production method of imports
and exports can be found in the
Methodological background.

APPARENT CONSUMPTIONBY MEMBER STATE

25

kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

CHART 10PER CAPITA APPARENTCONSUMPTION
OF FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS

20

Fisheries
products

15

10

Aquaculture
products

5

0
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

According to EUMOFA and national estimates, in contrast with the general trend at
EU level28, Malta observed a significant per capita consumption growth from 2017
to 2018, largely driven by increased imports.

The definition of “ apparent cons umption” is available in the “ S upply balance s heet” s ection of the Methodological background.
It is worth underlining that the methodologies for estimating apparent consumption at EU and M ember S tate levels are different, the firs t bas ed on data and estimatesas des cribed in the Methodological background, the latter als o requiring the adjus tment of abnormal trends due to the higher impact of s tock changes .
27
28

33

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 11
PER CAPITA APPARENTCONSUMPTION
OF FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS BY MEMBERSTATE IN 2018 AND %VARIATION 2018/2017
Source: EUMOFA estimates.
*Data are provided by the following
National s ources : BMEL-S tatistik(Germany), CZS O Czech S tatis tical
Office (Czech R epublic), Centrālās tatis tikas pārvalde (Latvia), Dutch
Fis h Marketing Board (Netherlands )and S tatis tics Poland (Poland).
For the Netherlands , the Nationals ource has not developed estimatesfor 20 17; however, bas ed on deadweight figures , there was a decreas eby 1-3%.
**Es timates for Denmark were notconfirmed by the National contact
point.

Malta

85,95 +41%

Portugal

60,92 +1%

Spain

46,01 -1%

Denmark**

39,83 +14%

Luxembourg

33,78 -0,2%

France33,52 +1%

Italy

31,02 +1%

Sweden26,61 -4%

Finland25,56 -2%

EU-28

24,36 -2%

Cyprus23,86 +1%

Ireland23,13 -3%

Belgium

22,86 +2%

UK

22,10 -5%

Netherlands*

20,90

Greece19,85 +4%

Croatia

19,19 +6%

Germany*

14,50 +3%

Lithuania

13,78 +6%

Austria

13,12 -0,2%

Poland*13,02 +1%

Slovenia

11,69 +2%

Estonia

9,71 +72%

Slovakia

9,27 +1%

Romania

7,99 +4%

Bulgaria

7,00 +3%

Latvia*6,80 =

Hungary

6,12 +3%

Czech Rep.*

5,60 +4%

0,00

10,00

20,00

30,00

40,00

50,00

60,00

70,00

80,00

90,00

kg live weight / capita / year

ANALYSIS
BY MAIN SPECIESTABLE 10APPARENT CONSUMPTION
OF MOST CONSUMEDPRODUCTS (2018)
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources and on
the methodological approach
used for assessing the
production method of imports
and exports can be found in the
Methodological background.

The 15 products listed in Table 10 accounted for 72% of apparent consumption in
2018. From 2017 to 2018, Alaska pollock’s 9% increase in apparent consumption
was the highest. The most significant decrease was the 17% registered for cod,even if the 2018 level corresponded to its decade average.

P ro d u cts

P er capita cons u m p ti o n(kg, live weight equivalent)

Tuna
SalmonCod
Alaska pollock
ShrimpsMusselHerring
Hake
Squid
Mackerel
Surimi 29
Sardine
Trout
Sprat (=Brisling)
Saithe (=Coalfish)
T o tal

3,05
2,24
2,14
1,68
1,58
1,21
1,18
1,00
0,66
0,60
0,59
0,57
0,42
0,40
0,34
2 4,3 6

Consumption
ev o lu ti o n
2 0 18/2 0 1 7
-1%
-0,2%
-17%
+9%
+7%
-7%
-0,2%
+6%
-1%
-8%
+6%
-2%
-1%
+3%
+3%
-2 %

% wild% farmed

98,63%
0,16%
99,97%
100%
52,34%
6,29%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
2,05%
100%
100%
7 4,27%1,37%
99,84%
0,03%
0%
47,66%
93,71%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
97,95%
0%0%
2 5 ,73%

S urimi is made from wild-caught s pecies (mainly Alas ka pollock, blue whiting, blue grenadier, and Pacific hake). It is worth underlining that surimi apparent consumption
is calculated as import minus export, as there are no s tatis tics specifically referring to s urimi production, neither estimating s hares of catches of these s pecies us ed forits production. In fact, the s upply balance s heet is broken down by s pecies , and calculating it for s urimi would generate dou ble counting.
29

34

CHART 12
APPARENT CONSUMPTION
OF MOST CONSUMEDPRODUCTS,
THREE-YEAR TREND
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

Kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

3,50
3,00
2,50
2,00
1,50
1,00
0,50
0,00

2016

TUNA

2017

2018

During the 2009–2018 decade analysed, none of the fishery and aquaculture
products consumed in the EU reached a level of annual apparent consumption
higher than 3 kg per capita until 2017–2018, when tuna achieved peaks of 3,06
(2017) and 3,05 (2018) kg per capita. This largely included canned products ofskipjack and yellowfin tuna.

CHART 13APPARENT CONSUMPTION
OF TUNA
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

GROUNDFISH
COD,
ALASKA POLLOCK, HAKE,
SAITHE (=COALFISH)

kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

EU consumption of tuna is largely supported by imports, but there is also internal
production, mainly consisting of Spanish and French catches. However, a significant
share of these catches is landed abroad close to fishing areas, further processed
there and then re-exported. The 2017 increase from 2016 was indeed driven byboth increased imports and catches.
3,50
3,00
2,50
2,00

2,31

2,33

2009

2010

2,52

2,67

2,95

2,75

2,78

2015

2016

3,06

3,05

2017

2018

2,36

1,50
1,00
0,50
0,00

2011

2012

2013

2014

Four groundfish species account for more than one fifth of EU consumption offishery and aquaculture products: cod, Alaska pollock, hake and saithe (= coalfish).
Cod consumption followed an upward trend during 2009–2018. However, it has
been decreasing in the last two years, due to both a decline in imports, which are
the largest suppliers of cod in the EU, and in catches.
As for Alaska pollock, there was reduced availability in the EU market in 20 09 and2010, due to US fishing quotas being reduced to around 950.000 tonnes on
average. However, the US fishing quota recovered in 2011, increasing to 1.367.000
tonnes, and apparent consumption in the EU returned to its 2008 level, averaging
1,63 kg per capita during 2011–2018.
Consumption of hake remained almost stable from 2009 to 2018, at an averageof almost 1,00 kg per capita, in line with a flat trend of both imports and production.

35

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 14APPARENT CONSUMPTION
OF MOST CONSUMEDGROUNDFISH
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online datacodes fish_ca_main andDS-016890). Details on thesources used can be found in
the Methodological background.

Kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

Saithe, the least consumed groundfish species, showed a slight downw ard trend
during the decade, due to a reduced supply from production and imports.

2,50

2,22

2,25

2,00
1,75
1,50

1,87

1,81
1,46

1,46

0,96

0,94

1,00
0,75
0,50
0,25

0,46

1,69

1,64

0,96

1,62

1,63

1,59

0,93

1,01

1,00

2,40

2,31

2,14
1,59

1,68

1,59

0,86

0,99

0,94

1,00

0,41

0,35

0,30

0,32

0,28

0,29

0,27

0,31

0,34

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

0,00

Cod

HERRING, MACKEREL,SARDINE, SPRAT

1,97

2,31

1,25

2009

SMALL PELAGICS

1,98

2,38

Alaska pollock

Hake

Saithe (=Coalfish)

The availability of small pelagics in the EU market is mostly linked to the evolutionof their catches over time.
Herring is the most consumed small pelagic species. From 2009 to 2018, EU
citizens ate an average of around 1,14 kg per capita of herring annually. The low
in 2014 was due to the combined effect of German catches decreasing by 18.502
tonnes from 2013 to 2014, and, most importantly, of exports increasing by 85.886
tonnes from 2013 to 2014.

CHART 15APPARENT CONSUMPTION
OF MOST CONSUMEDSMALL PELAGICS
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online datacodes: fish_ca_main andDS-016890). Details on thesources used can be found in
the Methodological background.

Kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

As for mackerel, sardine and sprat, their annual consumption per capita during thedecade remained lower than 1 kg. Sprat, in particular, has shown a constantconsumption increase since 2012, linked to stability of catches and decreased
exports.
1,50
1,25
1,00
0,75
0,50
0,25

1,16

1,14

1,13

0,70

0,70

0,70

0,52

1,26
1,11

0,68

1,11
0,93
0,68

0,55

0,35

0,47

0,47

0,52

0,30

0,24

0,23

0,27

0,29

0,31

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

0,37

0,69
0,55

1,18
0,68
0,59

0,53

0,53

0,35

0,35

0,37

2015

2016

2017

1,18

0,60

0,57
0,40

0,00

Herring

SALMONIDS

1,18

MackerelSardine2018

Sprat (=Brisling)

Salmon is by far the most-consumed farmed species in the EU. In 2018, it
accounted for 36% of the total apparent consumption of aquaculture products.

SALMON, TROUT
After it reached a decade high of almost 2,30 kg per capita in 2015, its apparent
consumption began slowly decreasing, as did salmon imports from Norway.

36

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 16
APPARENT CONSUMPTION
OF MOST CONSUMEDSALMONIDS
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

Kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

Apparent consumption of trout in the EU remained around 400 grams per capita
each year of the decade analysed, in line with an almost flat trend of the volumes
farmed in main producing Member States.
2,50
2,25
2,00
1,75
1,50

2,21

2,02

2,00

2,29

2,25

2,24

2,24

1,79

1,80

1,83

0,44

0,44

0,41

0,41

0,42

0,41

0,41

0,44

0,43

0,42

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

1,25
1,00

0,75
0,50
0,25
0,00

SalmonOTHER PRODUCTSSHRIMPS, MUSSEL,SQUID, SURIMI

Trout

Shrimps consumption includes equal shares of wild-caught and farmed products. It
largely relies on supplies from Ecuador, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia,
Argentina and Greenland.
After salmon, mussels are the main farmed product consumed in the EU , mostly
supplied by Spanish production. Indeed, the recovery of total mussels consumption– from fishery and aquaculture – started in 2014 with Spain’s aquaculture
recovering from a collapse caused by “red tide” or algae blooms in 2013.
Nonetheless, although Spanish production increased from 2017 to 2018, theconsumption decreased in 2018, mainly due to lower Danish catches of blue
mussels and decreased imports from Chile and New Zealand.
As for squid, apparent consumption in 2018 of 660 grams per capita was thelowest of the 10-year period analysed, reflecting the decrease of Spanish catchesof Argentine shortfin squid.

CHART 17
APPARENT CONSUMPTIONOF OTHER MOSTCONSUMED PRODUCTS
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data codes:
fish_aq2a, fish_ca_main andDS-016890) and FAO data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.

Kg per capita (live weight equivalent)

Finally, for surimi, no statistics specifically referring to its production are available,
as it is made of different species. Thus apparent consumption is assum ed to be theresult of imports minus exports. As the US is by far the largest supplier of surimi to
the EU, the increase of EU apparent consumpion from 2017 to 2018 is aconsequence of increased imports.
1,75

1,57

1,59

1,60

1,47

1,50
1,25

1,19

1,00
0,75
0,50

1,36

1,25
0,81

1,44

1,51

1,46
1,27

1,24

1,52

1,51

1,28

1,28

1,20

1,21

1,09
0,76

1,58

0,46

0,56

0,71
0,62

0,56

0,74
0,56

0,74
0,56

0,71
0,57

0,72
0,58

0,67
0,53

0,66
0,59

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

0,70

0,25
0,00

MusselShrimps

37

Squid

SurimiEUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONHOUSEHOLD In 2019, the EU household expenditure on fishery and aquaculture products
EXP ENDITURE reached EUR 56,6 billion, representing a 3% increase from 2018. When compared30
AND PRICES with ten years before, with inflation effects taken into account , the increase wasstill 3%.

From 2018 to 2019, households of all EU countries spent more for buying fisheryand aquaculture products. In absolute terms, Spain recorded the highest increaseof total expenditure, posting a growth of EUR 228 million.
Italy has always been the Member State with the highest level of total expenditureand Portugal has had the highest per capita expenditure.
It is worth noting that in 2019, the amount spent for buying fishery and aquaculture
products by individuals in Portugal (EUR 371) was m ore than triple the EU averageof EUR 110.

CHART 18
HOUSEHOLD NOMINAL
EXPENDITURE ONFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS IN 2019 AND% VARIATION 2019/2018(out-of-homeconsumption is excluded)
Source: EUROSTAT(online data code: prc_ppp_ind)
P urchasing Power Parities
P PPs – nominal expenditure

Italy

11.686 + 1%

Spain

10.055 + 2%

France8.724 + 2%

Germany

5.562 + 3%UK

4.429 + 3%

Portugal

3.810 + 3%

Belgium

1.661 + 3%

Sweden1.354 + 1%

Netherlands

1.319 +4%

Greece1.313 + 1%

Poland

1.054 + 5%

Romania

1.023 + 8%

Austria

714 + 3%Finland660 + 2%

Denmark

655 + 3%

Czech Republic

In 2019,
households of all
EU countries spent
more for buying
fishery andaquaculture
products than in2018.

402 + 6%

Lithuania

386 + 5%

Ireland308 + 5%

Croatia

276 + 5%

Slovakia

270 + 8%

Bulgaria

189 + 8%Hungary

150 + 7%

Estonia

144 + 5%

Luxembourg

140 + 5%

Latvia133 + 6%

Slovenia

84 + 4%

Cyprus84 + 4%Malta

54 + 6%

0

2.000

4.000

6.000

8.000

10.00012.000

million euros

In this report, value and price variations for periods longer than 5 years are analys ed by deflating values us ing the GDP deflator (bas e=20 15); for s horter periods,
nominal value and price variations are analys ed.
30

38

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 19
PER CAPITA HOUSEHOLDNOMINAL EXPENDITURE
ON FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS IN 2019 AND% VARIATION 2019/2018(out-of-homeconsumption is excluded)
Source: EUROSTAT(online data code: prc_ppp_ind)
P urchasing Power Parities
P PPs – nominal expenditure per
inhabitantPortugal

371+ 3%Luxembourg

225 + 3%Spain

213 + 1%Italy

194 + 2%

Belgium

145 + 2%

Lithuania

138 + 5%

Sweden132 =France130 + 2%

Greece123 + 2%Finland

120 + 3%

Denmark

113 + 3%

EU-28
EU-28

110 + 2%Estonia

109 + 6%

Malta

108 + 3%

Cyprus95 + 2%Austria

80 + 3%

Netherlands

76 + 3%

Latvia70 + 6%

Croatia

68+ 5%

Germany

67 + 3%UK

66 + 2%

Ireland

63 + 5%

Romania

53 + 8%

Slovakia

50 + 9%Slovenia

40 + 3%

Czech Republic

38 + 6%

Poland27 + 4%

Bulgaria

27+ 8%

Hungary

15 + 7%0

FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
P RODUCTS VS. MEAT
AND FOOD IN
GENERAL

50

100

150

200
250
euros / capita / year

300

350

400

In none of the EU countries the expenditure on fishery and aquaculture products ishigher than that for meat. In 2019, on average, households spend around onequarter of the amount spent on meat – which was EUR 229 billion – for purchasing
fishery and aquaculture products.
Of all the Member States, the ratio between the two categories is most balancedin Portugal. In 2019, Portugal’s expenditure on fishery and aquaculture products
represented 47% of the total amount spent on both fishery and aquaculture
products and meat. The greatest imbalances were seen in Hungary, which spent
5% for fishery and aquaculture products, and Romania, which spent 8% for fisheryand aquaculture products.
In the top-3 fish consumers – namely Italy, Spain and France – different patterns
were observed. In Italy, expenditure on fishery and aquaculture products was threetimes lower than for meat, in Spain, it was twice lower, and in France, it was fourtimes lower.

39

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 20
HOUSEHOLD NOMINAL
EXPENDITURE ONFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS VS. MEAT IN
THE EU IN 2019
(out-of-homeconsumption is excluded)
Source: EUROSTAT(online data code: prc_ppp_ind)
P urchasing Power Parities
P PPs – nominal expenditure

Italy
Spain
FranceGermany
UK
Portugal
Belgium
SwedenNetherlands
GreeceFishery and aquaculture products

PolandRomania

Meat

Austria
FinlandDenmark
Czech Republic
Lithuania
Ireland
Croatia
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Hungary

Estonia
Luxembourg
LatviaSlovenia

Cyprus
Malta

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

billion euros

From 2010 to 2019, consumer prices of fishery and aquaculture products increased
by 3% per year on average, a higher growth rate than the 2% recorded for the
prices of meat and of food in general.
From 2011 to 2013, the prices of fishery and aquaculture products, meat and foodin general increased at similar rates, but starting from 2014, they drifted apart.
Those of fishery and aquaculture products began to grow significantly and, in 2019,
they were 14% higher than in 2013. This was in line with increased prices ofimported products, as the EU demand is primarily met through imports . During thesame period, the prices of meat and food grew as well, but at much lower rates.
It is also interesting to note that from 2018 to 2019, expenditure on f ishery andaquaculture products grew by 2,5%, which was higher than the 1,7% inflation forfishery and aquaculture products. This was not the case in 2018, when the 1,8%
growth of expenditure compared to 2017 was lower than the 2,2% inflation. This
could suggest that EU households purchased more fishery and aquaculture
products in 2019 than in 2018, while the expenditure increase that was seen from2017 to 2018 could have been mainly linked to inflation effects. This is confirmedby the decrease of EU apparent consumption of fishery and aquaculture products
from 2017 to 2018, as estimated by EUMOFA.

40

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONTABLE 11EVOLUTION OF
CONSUMER PRICES
Source: EUROSTAT(online data code: prc_fsc_idx)
Harmonised index of
consumer prices
HICP

CHART 21
CONSUMER PRICESINDICES(2015=100)
Source: EUROSTAT(online data code: prc_fsc_idx)
Harmonised index of
consumer prices
HICP

Se ctor

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2 0 19/2 0 1 5

Food+ 0 ,0 4%+ 0 ,3 %+ 2 ,2 %+ 1 ,9 %+ 2 ,1 %+ 6 ,6 %Meat-1 ,0 %

-0 ,6 %

+ 1 ,8 %+ 1 ,4%+ 2 ,4%+ 5 ,1 %Fishery andaquaculture
products+ 1 ,1 %+ 2 ,9 %+ 3 ,6 %+ 2 ,2 %+ 1 ,7 %+ 1 1 ,2 %

115
110
105
100
95

90
85
2010

RELEVANCE BY
P RESERVATION
STATE

2011

2012

2013

Food

Meat

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Fishery and aquaculture products

As for statistics concerning household expenditure for fishery and aquaculture
products, Eurostat provides “shares of the total household final monetaryconsumption expenditure”31 for four preservation states, which are listed in Table
12.
Of all goods and services purchased by EU households, fishery and aquaculture
products covers less than 1%, which means it is four times lower than the relevanceof meat.
From 2018 to 2019, the shares of expenditure on both fishery and aquaculture
products and meat saw a slight decrease, contributing to the decline of the shareof expenditure on food in general.
As specifically regards fishery and aquaculture products, only the frozen category
recorded an increased share. This was mainly seen in Hungary and, to a lesser
extent, Slovakia and Malta. The reduction of the share for fresh or chilled products,
which are the most relevant, was mainly felt in Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Poland
and Luxembourg.

31

Metadata are available at https ://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/prc_hicp_esms .htm.

41

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONTABLE 12ITEM WEIGHTS OF EU
HOUSEHOLD
EXPENDITURE ON “TOTALGOODS AND SERVICES”
Source: EUROSTAT(online data code: prc_hicp_inw)
Harmonised index of
consumer prices
HICP

Category

20 18

FOOD (Meat + FAP s + Other food)

20 19

14,069%13,672%Meat

3,364%

3,253%

Fishery and aquaculture products

0,859%

0,832%

Fresh or chilled

47%

47%

Frozen19%

20%

Dried, smoked or salted
Other preserved or processed andpreparations

10%

9%

24%

24%

9,846%

9,587%

Other food
OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES

85,931%

86,328%TOTAL GOODS AND SERVICES

100%

100%

3.2 HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION OF FRESHFISHERY AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTSOVERVIEW The household consumption 32 of fresh fishery and aquaculture products is analysedfor 12 EU Member States, namely Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Together, they accounted for 87% of total EU expenditure on fishery andaquaculture products33 in 2019.
During 2015–2019, household consumption in these countries decreased each year
until 2018, but showed a very slight but still encouraging 4.780-tonne or 0,3%
increase from 2018 to 2019, The trend in value terms fluctuated, remaining almost
unchanged from 2015 to 2016, then dropping by 20% one year later, to recoveragain, posting a 24% increase from 2017 to 2018. Between 2018 and 2019, it
grew at a slower pace, increasing by 3% or EUR 362 million) thanks to increases inall surveyed countries.

From 2018 to 2019,
householdconsumption of
fresh salmon
increased in all In 2018, 8 of the 12 analysed countries recorded negative trends compared withthe previous year. In 2019, consumption continued to decrease in three countries
countries surveyed.

only: Poland, which saw a decrease of 4% or 2.282 tonnes; Spain which decreased
2% or 10.708 tonnes; and France, with a 2% or 3.270 -tonne decrease. Germany
was almost stable with a 0,2% or 101-tonne decrease.
Of fresh products consumed by EU households, salmon prevails in all countries
surveyed 34. From 2018 to 2019, consumption of fresh salmon grew in all of them,and the total average increase was 11% in volume and 10% in value. This led topeaks of 181.184 tonnes and EUR 2,65 billion during the five years analysed. The
average 2019 price of 14,65 EUR/kg was slightly lower than in 2018.

Data analys ed in this chapter originate from repres entative household panels that record volumes and values of every item purchas ed. More details can be found in
the Methodological background.
33
EU expenditure data are provided by EUROSTAT. Thes e data are compiled based on a common methodology elaborated within the “ EUROSTAT – OECD P P P
P rogramme”(http://www.oecd.org/s td/prices -ppp/eurostat-oecdmethodologicalmanualonpurchas ingpowerparitiesppps.htm). More details can be found in the Methodologicalbackground.
34
Data for Hungary are not available at s pecies level, s o s pecific data for s almon are colle cted for 11 countries ins tead of 12.
32

42

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

Hake consumption continued the decline it started in 2017 in all five countries
surveyed – Spain, Italy, Portugal, France and Ireland, The greatest decrease was
11%, registered in Spain.
TABLE 13
HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION OF FRESH FISHERY AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS,
IN VOLUME (TONNES) AND IN NOMINAL VALUE (1.000 EUR)
Source: EUMOFA, based on Europanel dataM e m b e r State

20 15
Valu e20 16
Vo lu m e

Valu e20 17
Vo lu m e

Valu e20 18
Vo lu m e

Valu e20 19
Vo lu m e

Valu e20 19 / 20 18
Vo lu m e

Valu eVo lu m e

Denmark

162.598

11.068158.014

10.579169.169

10.737183.761

11.465199.94212.177 +9%Germany748.852

57.850791.580

58.727818.078

60.353812.065

58.308862.326

58.208 +6%

 - 0,2%+6%

Ireland182.568

13.595

192.502

13.667177.548

12.319187.605

12.799192.81713.948 

+3%



+9%

Spain

4.951.108

686.097

4.913.212

666.055

4.826.921

629.3174.644.167

601.2674.696.180

590.559 

+1%



- 2%

France2.290.295

222.7612.394.845

221.808

2.407.543

217.641

2.320.901

208.444

2.375.842

205.174 

+2%



- 2%

Italy

2.879.212

317.369

2.983.628

308.509325.122336.7993.140.154

312.1623.207.944

319.488 

+2%



+2%

14.8573.079

29.0155.931

26.1544.839

29.4405.326

32.6406.086 +11%  +14%

Hungary
Netherlands

446.70932.995457.02932.448487.126

33.396488.91932.338520.569

33.307 

+6%



+3%

Poland335.54266.009317.63962.839308.378

57.399305.938

53.469315.073

51.186 

+3%



- 4%

Portugal

365.568

62.435373.20460.401362.287

54.548334.358

50.035371.026

57.005 

+11%  +14%

Sweden139.942

11.187130.0029.400

132.430

9.135

117.650

8.803

124.172

9.310 

+6%



+6%

United Kingdom

764.080

48.061

706.12148.075695.40944.573735.42247.073763.800

49.821 

+4%



+6%

To tal13.281.331

1.532.50 6

13.4 4 6 .79 1

1.4 9 8.4 39

10 .736 .16 5

1.4 71.0 56

13.30 0 .380

1.4 0 1.4 89

13.6 6 2.331

1.4 0 6 .26 9 +3%

+0 , 3%

FOCUS ON THE TOP Spain, Italy and France are the top three consumers, accounting for close to 80%
THREE CONSUMING of the total volume of fresh fishery and aquaculture products consumed by
COUNTRIES households in the 12 countries under review.
SPAIN Spain accounts for the EU’s largest household consumption of fresh fishery andaquaculture products. Its consumption totalled 590.559 tonnes in 2019, for a total
value of EUR 4,70 billion, corresponding to around 40% of total household
consumption in the 12 countries surveyed.
Consumption had been following a decreasing trend for the last five years, but from2018 to 2019, Spain saw a value-recovery of EUR 52 million.
With 78.283 tonnes consumed in 2019, hake remains the most consumed species.
That said, hake consumption has been diminishing since 2016, and from 2018 to
2019, it declined by 11%. While the price reached a peak of 7,90 EUR/kg, total
values dropped by 10% to reach EUR 618 million, the lowest level of the five -year
period analysed.
Between 2018 and 2019, of the major species, only salmon, gilthead seabreamand sole recorded increased consumption, growing by 11%, 12% and 2%,
respectively. Prices increased, even if slightly, for sardine (+8%, from 4,65 EUR/kg
to 5,03 EUR/kg, linked with a 12% volume-decrease) Prices also increased for sole(+4%, from 9,67 EUR/kg to 10,09 EUR/kg, and for hake (+2%, from 7,77 EUR/kg to
7,90 EUR/kg). Slight price decreases were observed for salmon (-3%, from 10,49
EUR/kg to 10,18 EUR/kg) and for gilthead seabream (-1%, from 7,85 EUR/kg to 7,75
EUR/kg).

43

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 22TOP-5 FRESH SPECIES (IN VOLUME AND NOMINAL VALUE) CONSUMED BY HOUSEHOLDS IN SPAIN
Source: EUMOFA, based on Europanel data

120

1.000

100

800

80

EUR million

1.000 tonnes

TOTAL CONSUMPTION IN SPAIN, 2019590.559 tonnes and EUR 4,70 billion

60
40
20

600
400
200
0

0

Hake

Sardine2015

2016

Salmon2017

Giltheadseabream
2018

Hake

Sole

Salmon2015

2019

Sardine

Sole

2017

2018

2016

Giltheadseabream
2019

ITALY Household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products in Italy accounts
for almost one quarter of the total of the 12 countries surveyed. Since 2015, it has
been following a volatile trend. From 2018 to 2019, it increased by 2% in bothvolume and value, the latter reaching a five-year peak of EUR 3,21 billion for319.488 tonnes.
Consumption of the two most popular fresh species, gilthead seabream andmussel, increased very slightly from 2018 to 2019. For gilthead seabream, thisincrease represented the highest amount of the five years analysed and caused
the price to decline by 3%, from 9,56 EUR/kg to 9,23 EUR/kg. Salmon consumption
and salmon price both reached 5-year highs, with consumption increasing by 5%,
and the price increasing 2% to 14,92 EUR/kg.
A 3% consumption decrease observed for anchovy, which reached the lowest
amount of the last five years, was linked to the price increasing 3%, from 6,17
EUR/kg to 6,39 EUR/kg. For European seabass, 4% decreases were observed in bothvolume and price, with the price dropping from 9,95 EUR/kg to 9,55 EUR/kg.
Squid and octopus are also worth mentioning, as they are among the top -5 valued
species consumed in Italy. Both saw increased consumption and growing prices
from 2018 and 2019, with squid’s total value growing by 12% and octopus value
growing by 31%.
CHART 23
TOP-5 FRESH SPECIES (IN VOLUME AND NOMINAL VALUE) CONSUMED BY HOUSEHOLDS IN ITALY
Source: EUMOFA, based on Europanel data

TOTAL CONSUMPTION IN ITALY , 2019319.488 tonnes and EUR 3,21 billion
400

35

300

25

EUR million

1.000 tonnes

30
20
15
10
5

200
100
0

0

GiltheadMusselEuropeanseabream Mytilus spp. seabass
2015
2016
2017

Anchovy
2018

Giltheadseabream

SalmonSalmon

2015

2019

44

Octopus

2016

2017

Europeanseabass
2018

Squid
2019

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONFRANCE Household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products has been on a
downward trend in France for the past five years, while total values havefluctuated. In 2019, it reached 205.174 tonnes, which was a 2% decrease from2018, but at the same time, the value increased 2%, reaching EUR 2,38 billion.
In 2019, consumption of cod and monk reached their lowest levels of the last five
years , dropping by 10% and 16%, respectively, from 2018. However, the prices forboth species increased 5% and both reached five-year peaks – 16,68 EUR/kg forcod and 17,92 EUR/kg for monk.
Among most consumed species, consumption increased for salmon and trout from2018 to 2019, with salmon increasing 7% and trout increasing 5%. Both species
also saw price increases. Salmon grew by 2%, from 18,28 EUR/kg to 18,73 EUR/kg,
while trout grew by 4%, from 13,81 EUR/kg to 14,40 EUR/kg, which was a five -year
peak. As for saithe, consumption decreased a slight 2% and the price grew by 6%,
from 9,50 EUR/kg to 10,09 EUR/kg. Consumption of gilthead seabream declined by
8% and the price increased by 2%, reaching a five -year peak of almost 12,00
EUR/kg.
CHART 24
TOP-5 FRESH SPECIES (IN VOLUME AND NOMINAL VALUE) CONSUMED BY HOUSEHOLDS IN FRANCE
Source: EUMOFA, based on Europanel data

25

500

20

400

EUR million

1.000 tonnes

TOTAL CONSUMPTION IN FRANCE, 2019
205.174 tonnes and EUR 2,38 billion

15
10
5

300
200
100
0

0

SalmonCod
2015

Saithe(=Coalfish)

2016

2017

Trout
2018

SalmonGiltheadseabream

Cod
2015

2019

Saithe(=Coalfish)

2016

2017

Trout

Monk

2018

2019

MAIN TRENDS INOTHER COUNTRIESGERMANY The decreasing volume trend that started in 2017 continued in 2018 and 2019 but
slowed. The decline from 2018 to 2019 was a slight 0,2% (-101 tonnes) but, incontrast, it registered a 6% or EUR 50 million growth in value in 2019, driven by
the increase recorded by salmon and cod.
In 2019, the value of salmon and cod, which make up almost half of the total valueof household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products, continued toincrease.
Salmon increased 18% and cod 15% from 2018. For cod, this growth was linked
to a five-year peak of the price, which reached 18,56 EUR/kg, while for salmon it
was due to increased volumes, as the price decreased slightly to 17,89 EUR/kg .

45

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONUNITED KINGDOM Since 2018, household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products has
been recovering from the drop seen in 2016–2017. In 2019, consumption
increased by 6% or 2.748 tonnes in volume compared with 2018, reaching a five year peak, accompanied by a 4% value increase of EUR 28 million.
Salmon drove the overall trends, being by far the most consumed species in the
UK where it accounts for two thirds of the total.

NETHERLANDS Household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products in the
Netherlands remained stable during the five years analysed, varying between
32.338 tonnes and 33.396 tonnes. In 2019, it increased by 3% or 969 tonnes from2018, after registering a decrease in 2017-2018. In value, it reached a five-year
peak, thanks to a 6% or EUR 32 million growth.
Salmon, the main consumed species of the Netherlands, drove the overall trends,
with its consumption continuing an upward trend over the last five years, increasingby 15% from 2018 to 2019. Despite its 3% price decrease, its value grew 12%, toreach a five-year peak.
Although shrimp is not a very popular species in the Netherlands, covering around
5% of total volume, increased shrimps consumption is worth mentioning. In
particular, consumption of Crangon grew by 54% in volume and 31% in value,
while that of other species of shrimps rose by 22% in both volume and value .

PORTUGAL Both volume and value of household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture
products grew from 2018 to 2019: volume by 14% or 6.970 tonnes, and value by
11% or EUR 37 million.
The volume increase concerned all main species, especially scabbardfish, which
increased 50%, and octopus, which increased 48%. Further, g ilthead seabream, themost popular, increased by 10%, accompanied by a 3% decrease in value. The
value decrease was linked to a 12% price decrease – from 6,38 EUR/kg in 2018 to
5,65 EUR/kg in 2019 – reaching the lowest recorded since 2015.

POLAND In 2019, household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products reachedthe lowest level of the last five years, due to a 4% or 2.282-tonne decrease from2018. At the same time, value increased by 3% or EUR 9 million. All most consumed
species – namely mackerel, salmon, carp and trout – registered their highest pricesof the 2015-2019 period.

IRELAND During 2015–2019, household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture
products reached the highest amounts of volumes and values in 2019. This
included a 9% volume increase of 1.149 tonnes, and 3% value increase of EUR
5 million, from 2018, which was mainly driven by the most consumed species,
salmon.
Alone, salmon accounted for more than half of the total value and 43% of total
volumes in 2019. Despite a slight price decrease, its consumption increased by 6%
in volume and 5% in value from 2018. Also of note, Ireland recorded the mostsignificant increase of shrimp consumption from 2018 to 2019 of the EU countries

46

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

analysed 35. In fact in 2018, these products only represented 5% of total volumesof Irish consumption but in 2019, their share grew to 10%, as their consumption
increased 145% or 860 tonnes.

SWEDEN The highest level of household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture
products in Sweden – in volume and value – had been in 2015. However, after
three years of decreasing, volumes of household consumption of fresh fishery andaquaculture products recovered in 2019 with an increase of 6% or 507 tonnes
from 2018. Consumption also grew in value terms, increasing 6% or EUR 7 million.
More than 60% of total consumption includes salmon, whose consumption
increased by 16% in volume and 15% in value.

DENMARK Household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products achieved fiveyear peaks in both volume and value in 2019, with volume growth of 6% or 713
tonnes and value growth of 9% or EUR 16 million from 2018. All products recorded
increases in value from 2018 to 2019, except for a slight decrease registered fortrout.
More than two thirds of total consumption includes salmon, which had aconsumption increase of 11% in volume and 14% in value.

HUNGARY Household consumption of fresh fishery and aquaculture products achieved fiveyear peaks in both volume and value in 2019 . From 2018, volumes increased by
14% or 760 tonnes, while values grew by 11% or EUR 3 million.

3.3 RETAIL SALES AND
OUT-OF-HOME CONSUMPTION
The fishery and aquaculture industry supplies fish and seafood to consumers
through different sale channels: retail, which includes fishmongers and large -scaleretailers (LSR); foodservice, which includes catering and restaurants; andinstitutional channels, which include schools, canteens, hospitals and prisons.
Foodservice and institutional channels are referred to as “out-of-homeconsumption 36”. This section of “The EU fish market” analyses retail sales and outof-home consumption of unprocessed 37 fishery and aquaculture products in the
top-five EU consuming countries, namely Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the UK.
In addition, it analyses the out-of-home consumption of processed 38 products
through the foodservice in all EU countries.

Cons umption of s hrimps is monitored in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and P ortugal.
Out-of-home cons umption data are collected from Euromonitor international ( https ://www.euromonitor.com/). For more details , s ee the Methodologicalbackground.
37
Unproces sed products are defined as the aggregation of fres h, chilled and frozen finfis h, crus taceans, mollus cs and cephalopods, packaged and unpackaged.
For more details , s ee the Methodological background.
38
P roces s ed products are defined as the aggregation of s helf-s table, chilled proces s ed and frozen finfis h, crus taceans, mollus cs and cephalopods. For moredetails , s ee the Methodological background.
35
36

47

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONRETAIL SALES OF Retail is the main sales channel for unprocessed fishery and aquaculture products
UNP ROCESSED in all five countries surveyed.
P RODUCTS

CHART 25
SALES OF UNPROCESSEDFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
BY CHANNEL IN 2019(% OF TOTAL VOLUME)
Source: Euromonitor
International

100%

1%

2%

3%

90%

19%

18%

20%

80%

3%

5%
23%

34%

70%
60%
50%
40%

80%

80%

77%

30%

72%

63%

20%
10%

0%
FranceItaly

RetailSpain

Germany

Foodservice

United Kingom

Institutional **(schools, canteens,hospitals and prisons)

The highest amount of unprocessed fishery and aquaculture products sold throughthe retail channel in 2019 was recorded in Spain, with 790.400 tonnes.
Nonetheless, this represented a 4% decrease from 2018, as well as the lowest
level registered by the country in the last 15 years. The decrease was due to a 26%
or 180.000-tonne drop in finfish retail sales since 2005.
From 2018 to 2019, retail sales of unprocessed fishery and aquaculture products
also decreased a slight 1% in Germany and 0,2% in France. On the other hand, UK
sales remained steady, increasing a mere 0,2%. Italy, which saw retail sales grow2%, was the only country registering an increase, continuing the upward trend
started in 2014.

TABLE 14RETAILS SALES OFUNPROCESSED FISHERYAND AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS(1.000 TONNES)
Source: Euromonitor
International

M e mber State

20 15

20 16

Spain

929,2

898,8

854,9

821,5

790,4  - 4%

Germany

487,8

512,8

495,9

482,4

477,8  - 1%

UnitedKingdom

445,5

449,5

452,5

453,8

454,6

Italy

398,9

394,1

409,3

416,2

424,7 France

258,1

256,2

253,6

251,8

251,2 ↘ -0,2%

48

20 17

20 18

20 19

20 19 /20 18↗ +0,2%+2%

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 26
UNPROCESSED FISHERYAND AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS SOLD
THROUGH THE RETAILCHANNEL IN 2019,SHARES OF TOTALVOLUME
Source: Euromonitor
International

1%

89%

United Kingdom

10%Germany

81%

9% 10%

Italy

75%

19% 6%

65%

Spain

57%

France0%

Finfish

20%

40%

21%

14%

38%

5%

60%

Molluscs (including cephalopods)

80%

100%

Crustaceans

Finfish have a pivotal role in the retail channel for fishery and aquaculture products
in all five Member States surveyed, followed at distance by cephalopods and othermolluscs and crustaceans. Molluscs play a significant role in the southern Member
States: Spain with retail sales of cephalopods and mussels, France (oysters andmussels), and Italy (clams, mussels and cephalopods).
As specifically concerns finfish, the highest retail sales of unprocessed products in2019 were recorded in Spain, which reached 511.000 tonnes. However, they havebeen declining for 11 years, and 2019 sales were 28% less than in those in 2009.
In the UK, sales reached 403.500 tonnes, or 0,1% higher than 2018. Germany’s
sale of 387.100 tonnes marked a decrease of 1%, while Italy’s 318.100 tonnes
was a 2% increase. The lowest level was recorded in France, namely 143.200
tonnes, which were slightly higher than 2018 but represented a 9% decrease fromthe peak registered in 2012.
Retail sales of cephalopods and other molluscs have been very high in Spain.
Nevertheless, they have been declining since 2013, and the 169.900 tonnes
registered in 2019 was Spain’s lowest since 2005.
Crustaceans covered relatively low shares of total retail sales of fishery andaquaculture products in all five countries surveyed. Retail sales always reachsignificant amounts in Spain, even if the 109.600 tonnes it registered in 2019represented its lowest level since 2005.

OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION OF
UNP ROCESSEDP RODUCTS

39

Out-of-home consumption of unprocessed fishery and aquaculture products has adifferent relevance in each of the five surveyed countries. The UK prevails, asconfirmed by the report “EU consumer habits regarding fisheries and aquaculture
products” carried out by Eurobarometer in 2018 39. The report found that 45% of
UK consumers eat fisheries and aquaculture products out-of-home at least once amonth, while in Italy and France, for instance, this percentage reaches 35% and37%, respectively.

https ://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/s urvey/gets urveydetail/ins truments/s pecial/s urveyky/220 6

49

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONTABLE 15
OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION OF
UNPROCESSED FISHERYAND AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS(1.000 TONNES) AND %VARIATION 2019/2018
Source: Euromonitor International

OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION OF
P ROCESSEDP RODUCTS(T HROUGH THE
F O ODSERVICE ONLY)TABLE 16
OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION OF
PROCESSED FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
THROUGH THE
FOODSERVICE(1.000 TONNES)
Source: Euromonitor
International

Consumption ofprocessed fisheryand aquaculture
products throughthe foodservice inthe EU has been
increasing in the lastten years.

M e mber State

20 15

20 16

20 17

20 18

20 19

20 19/2018

United Kingdom

294,2

288,3

279,6

273,3

268,4  - 2%

Spain

266,7

272,9

258,3

248,5

238,4  - 4%

Germany

195,2

204,1

197,4

191,7

189,4  - 1%

Italy

102,6

101,2

104,2

105,7

107,3 +2%

France

55,7

57,2

59,6

61,3

63,0 

+3%

In 2019, out-of-home consumption of processed fishery and aquaculture products
through foodservice in the EU totalled 734.800 tonnes, which was the highest levelin more than ten years. The top 10 consuming countries accounted for 92% of thetotal. Among them, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Austria (the only landlocked country)
and Denmark reached their 15-year peaks in 2019, while the UK and Greece
touched their lowest amounts since 2005. To be noted, consumption of processed
products through the foodservice is lower than that of unprocessed products in all
top-5 EU consuming countries except Germany 40.

Member State
Germany
United Kingdom
Spain
France
Italy
SwedenAustria
Portugal
Belgium
Denmark
GreecePolandCzech Republic
FinlandNetherlands
Ireland
Croatia
Slovakia
Lithuania
Bulgaria
Romania
LatviaHungary
Estonia
Slovenia
CyprusMalta
Luxembourg
Total

2015

2016

246,0
175,3
116,8
38,8
26,3
16,9
9,0
9,9
10,5
9,6
11,0
8,3
5,3
4,8
4,6
3,5
2,7
2,5
2,1
2,2
1,9
1,4
1,2
0,7
0,7
0,7
0,5
0,5
713,7

245,4
173,6
120,2
38,9
26,6
17,2
9,5
10,2
10,5
9,7
10,6
8,5
5,4
5,0
4,7
3,5
2,8
2,5
2,2
2,2
1,9
1,4
1,2
0,8
0,7
0,7
0,6
0,5
717,0

2017
245,0
172,0
124,8
39,2
26,8
17,4
10,1
10,6
10,6
9,9
10,4
8,8
5,5
5,1
4,8
3,5
2,8
2,5
2,3
2,3
2,0
1,5
1,3
0,8
0,7
0,7
0,6
0,5
722,5

2018
246,0
170,7
129,3
39,1
27,1
17,7
10,8
10,9
10,6
10,0
10,2
9,1
5,6
5,2
4,9
3,5
2,8
2,6
2,3
2,3
2,1
1,5
1,3
0,8
0,7
0,7
0,6
0,5
728,9

2019

2019/2018

246,6 169,4 133,6 39,0 
27,3 
17,9 
11,5 
11,2 
10,7 
10,2 
10,0 
9,3 
5,6
5,4 
5,0 
3,6 
2,8
2,6
2,4 
2,3
2,2 
1,5
1,3
0,8
0,8 
0,7
0,6
0,5
734,8 + 0,2%- 1%+ 3%- 0,3%
+ 1%
+ 1%
+ 6%
+ 3%
+ 1%
+ 2%
- 2%
+ 2%
+ 4%
+ 2%
+ 3%

+ 4%
+ 5%

+14%

+ 1%

Italy: 78 % unproces sed, 22% processed; France: 6 1% unprocessed, 39 % processed; Spain: 6 1% unprocessed, 39 % processed; UK: 59 % unprocessed, 41% processed;
Germany: 38 % unproces s ed, 6 2% proces s ed. Data referring to 20 19 .
40

50

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

Shelf-stable products 41 have the highest consumption, followed by frozen andchilled products. Nonetheless, shelf-stable products’ relative share of total
processed fishery and aquaculture products varied a lot among countries in 2019,
ranging from 7% in Sweden, where frozen products are preferred, to 81% in Spain.
400+1%
349.500 tonnes+1%
265.400 tonnes

300

1.000 tonnes

CHART 27
15-YEAR TREND OF EU
OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION OF
PROCESSED FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
THROUGH THE
FOODSERVICE BY
CATEGORY,
2019 VOLUMES AND %VARIATION 2019/2018

200+1%
119.900 tonnes
10002005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Source: Euromonitor
International

CHART 28
EU OUT-OF-HOME
CONSUMPTION OF
PROCESSED FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
THROUGH THE
FOODSERVICE IN TOP-10
COUNTRIES BY CATEGORY
IN 2019, SHARES IN
VOLUME (% OF TOTAL)
Source: Euromonitor
International

Shelf-stable

FrozenSpain

81%Portugal

77%

Germany

Chilled

13%
4%

64%

Italy
Denmark

42%

France42%

Belgium

4%

33%
25%
32%

34%

United Kingdom

20%

32%

55%

12%
32%
27%

48%

19%

14%

54%

Austria

8%

67%

25%

Sweden

7%

70%

22%

0%

20%

Shelf-stable

40%

6%

32%

60%

Frozen80%

100%

ChilledThe out-of-home consumption of shelf-stable products in 2019 was highest inGermany and Spain. In Germany, it totalled 156.800 tonnes, which was a 1%
decrease from 2018, while Spain showed a 4% increase and reached 107.700
tonnes – marking a 15-year peak.
Frozen processed products were mainly sold in the UK and Germany – 91.100
tonnes in the UK and 79.700 tonnes in Germany. For the UK, this was the lowest
amount since 2005, while Germany reached a 15-year peak, continuing an upward
trend started in 2013.
The out-of-home consumption of chilled processed fishery and aquaculture
products is relatively low in all EU countries. In absolute terms, the only exception
in 2019 was the UK, where consumption of these products amounted to 55.000
tonnes in 2019.

S helf-s table products include products typically s old in cans , glas s jars or aluminium/retort packaging and us ually pres erved in oil, brine, s alt water or with as auce. P ickled products s old ambient are als o included.
41

51

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3.4 THE ORGANIC SEGMENT
Organic fishery and aquaculture products represent a niche market in the EU. In
the main EU countries surveyed – Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the UK – the46.500 tonnes of unprocessed 42 fishery and aquaculture products consumed in2019 originated from organic production. This was a 3% increase from 2018, but
it represented a 20% growth from 2015, thus indicating an increase of the shareof organic products within overall unprocessed fishery and aquaculture products
consumption.
In absolute terms, the UK and Germany lead EU consumption of organic fisheryand aquaculture products.
All countries surveyed reached their five-year peaks in 2019. Compared with 2015,
the most significant increase was the 48% recorded by France. It was followed byincreases of 21% in Germany, 18% in Italy, 15% in Spain and 13% in the UK.
​​ ​Source: Euromonitor
International+1%​18.400 tonnes

20

​

+2%
16.600 tonnes

15

1.000 tonnes

CHART 29
5-YEAR TREND OF
CONSUMPTION OF
ORGANIC FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS
IN TOP-5 COUNTRIES,
2019 VOLUMES AND %VARIATION 2019/2018

10+9%5.900 tonnes

50=3.000 tonnes+13%2.600 tonnes
2015

2016

FranceGermany

2017

Italy

2018

Spain

2019

United Kingdom

According to Eurostat, overall EU production of organic aquatic organisms
amounted to 69.000 tonnes of live weight in 2018.
Due to increasing consumption demand for salmon, the most important organic
fish species produced and consumed in the EU, organic salmon production hasreached remarkable levels in the EU.
The main producers of organic salmon are Ireland and, in the UK (Scotland and, toa lesser extent, Northern Ireland).
According to estimates 43 for 2018, Irish organic salmon production dropped toapprox. 11.900 tonnes, which was 35% less than in 2017. Production value fell by
14%. All consumer-ready products, mainly whole-round or head-on-gutted, arefarmed according to organic certiﬁcation standards and their exports are destined

It s hould be underlined that the most important organic species in these countries are s almon and trout, and to a les ser extent tropical s hrimp s and mus sel, which
are for a large s hare marketed as proces s ed products (s uch as s moked s almon, s moked trout, cooked s hrimp, etc. ), s o not included in the data analys ed in thisreport.
43
S ource: BIM, National S eafood S urvey, Aquaculture R eport 20 19 , http://www.bim.ie/media/bim/content/publications /aquaculture/BIM -National-S eafood-S urveyAquaculture-R eport-20 19 .pdf.
4252

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

for diverse markets: 90% to the EU, 7% to North America, and the Near and Far
East (3%).
Irish exports in 2018 amounted to 8.000 tonnes in whole fish equivalent. The dropin overall value was less severe than the drop in volume from 2017, due to anincrease in salmon price, which reached an average of 9,55 EUR/kg for whole-roundproducts 44.
Scottish production of farmed Atlantic organic salmon was 4.200 tonnes in 2018,
down 400 tonnes from 201745.
Since Irish and UK production are not sufficient to satisfy the EU market demand,internal demand of organic salmon is fed with products imported from Norway,
which had a 2018 production estimated at 16.000 tonnes, compared with around15.000 tonnes produced in the EU.
Organic salmon achieves a price premium in the market. Research from 2015 and2016 suggests a price premium of between 20 and 30% on prices paid to farmers,
while price premium on retail level is higher 46. Input from stakeholders indicatesthat the premium price paid to farmers has increased over the last years, but inrelative terms, it varies depending on the spot price 47 level in the market.

3.5 EU QUALITY SCHEMES: GEOGRAPHICALINDICATIONS AND TRADITIONAL SPECIALITIESThere are 53 products registered with EU quality schemes in the seafood sector.
They refer to geographical indications (GIs), Protected Designations of Origin(PDOs) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs), and to traditional aspects,
the Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG). Two-thirds of the names (36) are
PGIs, about one-quarter (14) are PDOs and 6% (3) are TSGs.48
The number of GIs and TSGs increased greatly over the last decade, growing from
21 names in 2010 to 53 in 2020. The most recent addition is the PGI “ Bulot de laBaie de Granville ” (France), which was registered in February 2019.
Among the 53 names registered, 36 of them, or 68%, are registered in EU MS and
32% originate from third countries. The MSs where most of the names areregistered include Germany, France, Italy and Spain, with 5 to 7 names registeredin each. They are followed by Czechia, Finland and Romania with 2 names
registered in each, and then the Netherlands, Latvia, Portugal, Poland, Sweden,
Ireland and Greece with one name registered in each. A total of 17 registerednames originate from third countries: 14 in the UK and 1 each in China, Norway
and Vietnam.
Among the 53 current denominations, 41 (77%) cover finfish, 11 (21%) covermolluscs, and 1 (2%) covers crustaceans. Moreover, 26 (59%) refer to marine
S ource: BIM, 20 18 , Annual Aquaculture S urvey, http://www.bim.ie/media/bim/content/publications /aquaculture/BIM-Annual-Aquaculture-S urvey-20 18 .pdf.
S cottis h fis h farm production s urvey 20 18
46
EUMOFA, ” Fres h organic s almon packed fillets in the EU” , 20 20 https ://www.eumofa.eu/documents /20 178 /36 79 33/P TAT_Organic+s almon.pdf
47
The s pot price is the current price in the marketplace at which a product can be bought or s old for immediate delivery.
48
P DOs and P GIs als o refer to non-EU products .
44
45

53

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTION

species, 19 (36%) to freshwater, and the remaining 8 (15%) refer to migratory
species whose life cycles alternate between the marine environment and fresh
water. The main species covered by GIs and TSGs include carp , with 9 products,
notably in Germany, Czechia and Poland; mussels, with 5 products in France, Italy,
Spain and the UK; salmon with 5 products, of which 4 are in the UK and 1 in Ireland;
and anchovy, cod, oyster, tuna and vendace which have 3 products each.
TABLE 17QUALITY SCHEMESREGARDING FISHERIESAND AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS REGISTEREDUP TO AUGUST 2020
Source: eAmbrosia, DG AGRI

Co u n try

Pro te c te d De s ig n a tio n s o f
Orig in(PDO)
Nu m b e r

Czech
Republic1

Sp e c ie s
c o n c e rn e dCarp

Pro te c te d Ge o g ra p h ic a l
In d ic a tio n s(PGI)
Nu m b e r

Sp e c ie s
c o n c e rn e d

Tra d itio n a l Sp e c ia litie s
Gu a ra n te e d(TSG)
Nu m b e r

TOTAL

Sp e c ie s
c o n c e rn e d

1

Carp

2

Germany

7

Carp (5 PGIs),
Herring, Trout

7

Ireland1

Salmon1

Greece1Grey mullet(roes)

Spain

1

Mussel4

France1

Mussel

4

Italy

2

Mussel, Tench

3

1

Latvia1

Tuna (mojama)(2 PGIs), Tuna,
Mackerel
Oyster,Anchovy,
Scallop, Whelk

1

1

MusselTrout, Arctic
char, Anchovy
Lamprey

Netherlands
Poland

5

6
5
1

1

Herring

1

Cod

Carp

1
1

Portugal
Romania
Finland1

Vendace

Sweden1Vendace (roes)

1

2

Carp, Pontic
shad

2

1

Vendace

2
1

China

1

Freshwater
crayfish1

Norway

1

Cod

1

10

Salmon (4PGIs), Sea
trout, Eel,
Sardine,
Cod/Haddock,
Haddock,
Oyster14

UnitedKingdom

4

Pollan, Mussel,
Oyster, Scallop

Vietnam1

Anchovy(sauce)

TOTAL

14

1
36

3

53

More than half or 58% of the products covered by GIs/TSGs are wild caught,
including mainly anchovy, cod, tuna and vendace, and 42% are farmed, including
mainly shellfish, carp and salmon. Each GI/TSG may cover unprocessed orprocessed products. Unprocessed products, representing 43% of thedenominations, cover most of the shellfish and some finfish. The processed
products account for 36% of the denominations: this includes, for instance, the PGI“Mojama de Barbate ” in Spain which covers cured dried and seasoned tuna loins or
the PGI “Glückstädter Matjes ” in Germany which covers ripened herring. Some
GIs/TSGs cover both processed and unprocessed products (21% of thedenominations, for instance whole or filleted fish).

54

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONC O NS UMPTIONCHART 30
TYPES OF PRODUCTS UNDER EU QUALITY SCHEMES IN THE SEAFOOD SECTOR (AUGUST 2020)
Source: eAmbrosia, DG AGRI

Farmed42%
Processed andunprocessed
21%
Processed
Unprocessed36%
43%

Unprocessed

P rocessed

P rocessed andunprocessed

Total

Wild

8

17

6

31

Farmed

15

2*

5

22

23

19

11

53

Total

Wild
58%

*The P GI “ London Cure Smoked Salmon” (20 17, the United Kingdom) is based on
both wild caught and farmed products .

The sales of fish, molluscs and crustaceans under GI/TSG reached an estimated246.709 tonnes and EUR 1,42 billion in 2017 for GIs/TSGs originating from EU-28.
This represented an increase of 83% from 2013 49, 50 and accounted for about 4%of the sales value of the EU seafood sector 51. Most of the sales value (62%, EUR
0,88 billion) was on the domestic market, followed by intra-EU trade (28%, EUR
0,4 billion) and extra-EU trade (10%, EUR 0,14 billion). PGIs accounted for thelargest share (71%), followed by TSGs (22%) and PDOs (7%).
In 2017, the UK and France were the leading MS in terms of sales, with the PGI“Scottish Farmed Salmon”, TSG “Moule de Bouchot”, PGI “Huîtres Marennes Oléron”and PDO “Moules de Bouchot de la Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel” 52 .
The average economic size of each TSG and PGI tended to be higher than the
average size of each PDO, respectively EUR 36 million, EUR 32 million and EUR 8
million in 2017.
CHART 31SHARE OF SALES VALUE
BY MARKET FOR FISH,
MOLLUSCS AND
CRUSTACEANS UNDER
GI/TSG IN 2017
Source: Study on economic valueof EU quality schemes,
Geographical Indications (GIs)and Traditional Specialities
Guaranteed (TSGs), AND
International for DG AGRI, 2019

Extra-EU
trade
10%

Intra-EU
trade
28%

Domestic
market62%

S ource: S tudy on economic value of EU quality s chemes , Geographical Indications (GIs ) and Traditional S pecialities Guaranteed (TS Gs), AND International for DG
AGR I, 20 19 - https ://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/a728 179 4-7ebe-11ea-aea8 -0 1aa75ed71a1
50This covers the 43 GIs /TS Gs regis tered at EU -28 level before 20 17.
51
Bas ed on Euros tat and EUMOFA data, s ales value of the s eafood s ector at EU level can be es timated between EUR 28 billion (proces sing and preserving activities
only) and EUR 40 billion (proces s ing and pres erving activities + landings + aquaculture; this is an overes timate with double counts ).
52
S ource: S tudy on economic value of EU quality s chemes , Geographical Indications (GIs ) and Traditional S pecialities Guaranteed (TS Gs), AND International for DG
AGR I, 20 19 and INAO - https ://www.inao.gouv.fr/Nos -actualites /P ublication-de-la-brochure-chiffres -cles -20 17
49

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IM P ORT-EXPORT

4/ IMPORT - EXPORT53

The total value ofEU trade flows offishery andaquaculture
products in 2019was 44% higher
than 10 years
before.

The total value of EU trade flows 54 of fishery and aquaculture products in 2019 was
EUR 60,78 billion, 2% higher than in 2018. In real terms, it was 44% above the levelof 10 years before 55. During the 2010–2019 decade, trade flow value had increased
at a compound annual growth rate of 4%.
Extra-EU imports account for almost half of all fishery and aquaculture products
traded both within the EU and with third countries. The extra-EU exports were on an
upward value trend in the decade, growing 58% in real terms, but they play a far lessimportant role, which makes the EU a net importer. The other half is made up of intraEU exchanges, mostly exports from northern Member States to other EU countries, andmainly salmon and cod originating from Norway and Iceland .
This chapter provides detailed data and analyses of extra-EU imports, extra-EU exports
and intra-EU exchanges, focusing on major species traded and countries involved.

CHART 32
EU TRADE FLOWSOF FISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS, IN VALUE(EUR BILLION)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

30,0
25,0

20,0
15,0
10,0
5,0

0,0
2010

2011

2012

Extra-EU export

2013

2014

2015

Extra-EU import

2016

2017

2018

2019

Intra-EU exchanges

In line with the approach adopted by EUMOFA following BR EXIT, the United Kingdom is cons idered part of the EU till 20 19 and its data until that year are available inall tables , charts and analys es at EU level. In addition, EU data has included Croatia s ince 20 13, which is when it became an EU Member s tate.
54
S um of extra-EU imports , extra-EU exports and intra-EU exchanges . Intra-EU exchanges are bas ed on intra-EU exports . For more details , pleas e refer to the
Methodological background.
55
In this report, value and price variations for periods longer than 5 years are analysed by deflating values using the GDP deflator (base=20 15); for s horter periods,
nominal value and price variations are analys ed.
53

56

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTCHART 33
MOST RELEVANT EXTRA-EU TRADE FLOWS IN 2019, IN NOMINAL VALUE (EUR BILLION)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration of Eurostat-COMEXT data (online data code: DS-016890).

CHART 34
MOST RELEVANT EXTRA-EU TRADE FLOWS BY MEMBER STATE IN 2019, IN NOMINAL VALUE (EUR BILLION)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration of Eurostat-COMEXT data (online data code: DS-016890).

57

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4.1 EXTRA-EU TRADE BALANCE
The extra-EU trade balance 56 deficit in 2019 was worth EUR 21 billion, slightly higher
than the previous year. In a longer perspective, the deficit in real terms grew by 33%
from 2010 to 2019.
Among the EU countries, Sweden is the main net importer from non-EU countries, since
it is the major entry point for high-value Norwegian products destined for the internalmarket.
A worsening of the trade balance was also seen in the US and Japan, the two main
importers of fishery and aquaculture products after the EU (see a comparative analysis
of EU trade and trade of other main players in the world in section 1.2).

TABLE 18
TRADE BALANCE FORFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS OF MAJOR
NET IMPORTERS(NOMINAL VALUE IN
EUR BILLION)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT(online data code: DS-016890)
and Global Trade Atlas - IHS
Markit data.

Tra de b a la n c e
20 18

Tra de b a la n c e
20 19

Va ria tio n
20 19 -20 18

European Union-20,81-21,04-0,22

United States-12,54-14,68

-2,15

Japan

-11,14-11,61-0,47

Tra de b a la n c e
20 18

Tra de b a la n c e
20 19

Va ria tio n
20 19 -20 18

Sweden

-4,22

-4,18

+0,04

Spain

-3,78

-3,65

+0,13

Italy

-2,21

-2,09

+0,12

United Kingdom

-1,88

-1,94

-0,06

Denmark

-1,73

-1,83

-0,10

Netherlands

-1,70

-1,79

-0,10

France

-1,69

-1,68

+0,01

Co u n try

TABLE 19
TRADE BALANCE FORFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS OF MAIN EU
NET IMPORTERS( NOMINAL VALUE IN
EUR BILLION)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

56

E U M embe r Sta te

Extra-EU exports minus extra-EU imports .

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Almost half of the 2019 EU deficit – 49%, corresponding to EUR 10,2 billion – was due
to frozen products. As for fresh and prepared-preserved products, “fresh” with a valueof EUR 6,1 billion accounted for 29% of the 2019 deficit, while prepared -preservedwith a value of EUR 3,6 billion accounted for 17%. Compared with 2018, all of thethree major preservation categories showed a worsening trade balance.
CHART 35
EXTRA-EU TRADE BALANCE FOR FISHERY AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS BY PRESERVATION STATE, (EUR BILLION)EXPORT

Source: EUMOFA elaboration of Eurostat-COMEXT data (online data code: DS-016890). Values are deflated by using the GDP deflator(base=2015).
6
4

2
0
-2

-4
-6

IMPORT

-8

-10
-12

-14
-16
-18

-20
-22
-24

-26
-28

2010

2011

2012

Fresh-Live-Boiled-Cooked

2013

Frozen2014

2015

Smoked - Salted - Dried

2016

2017

Prepared - Preserved

2018

2019

Unspecified

Balance

4.2 COMPARISON BETWEEN IMPORTS OF FISHERYAND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS AND MEAT
In 2019, the combined value of total EU imports of agri-food, and fishery andaquaculture products was EUR 146,49 billion 57. Of this, fish accounted for 15% andmeat for 2% 58.
The EU is a net importer of fishery and aquaculture products, while it is a net exporterof meat. Chart 36 compares the values of imports of fish and meat from 2010 to2019, excluding prepared and non-edible products. The chart’s blue line represents theevolution of the ratio between the value of imports of fish and meat. In 2019, the ratiorose to 5,99, meaning that the imported fish was almost six times higher in value thanimported meat. This was due to the increasing value of fish imports, since the va lue ofimports of meat was quite stable during the 10 -year period.

This total amount includes extra-EU imports of the items referring to fis hery and aquaculture products monitored by EUMOFA ( lis t by CN-8 code available at the link
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents /20 178 /24415/Metadata+2+-+DM+-+Annex+4+Corr+CN8 -CG-MCS +%28 20 02+-+20 14%29 .pdf/ae431f8 e-9 246-4c3a-a1432b740 a8 6 0 29 1) and extra-EU imports of agri-food products (s ource: DG AGR I).
58
For the s ake of clarity, the comparis on refers to “ Fis h” (which includes all items reported under chapter “ 0 3 - Fis h and crus taceans , mollus cs and other aquatic
invertebrates ” of the Combined Nomenclature commodities ) and “Meat” (which includes all items reported under chapter “ 02 - Meat and edible meat offal” of S ection I“ Live animals ; animal products ” of the Combined Nomenclature commodities ).
57

59

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
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5,99

20

6

2010

5

3,97

4

15

3
10

2

5
0

IMPORTED FISH-TO-MEAT
VALUE RATIO

25(EUR billion)

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT(online data code: DS-016890)
and DG AGRI data.
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

2019

EXTRA-EU IMPORTS

CHART 36
EXTRA-EU IMPORTS
TREND AND RATIO OFIMPORTED FISH VS. MEAT,IN VALUE (EUR BILLION)

1
2010

2011

2012

fish

2013

2014

meat

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

0

imported fish-to-meat value ratio

4.3 EXTRA-EU IMPORTS
In 2019, extra-EU imports of fishery and aquaculture products reached a 10-year highof 6,34 million tonnes, almost 460.000 tonnes or 8% more than in 2010. From 2018
to 2019, the increase was a barely perceptible 18.625 tonnes or 0,3%. There was alsoa peak in value, with imports reaching EUR 27,21 billion. This was nearly EUR 659
million or 2% higher than in 2018, but 38% higher if compared with 10 years before
in real terms.
30,0
27,5

6,0

25,0

5,5

22,5

5,0

VALUE

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

6,5

VOLUMECHART 37
EXTRA-EU IMPORTS OFFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS

20,0

4,5

17,5

4,0

15,0
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

volumes (million tonnes)

2016

2017

2018

2019

values (EUR billion)

The EU’s main suppliers of fishery and aquaculture products cover the same shares of
the total, both in value and volume. More than one -quarter of extra-EU imports
originates from Norway, the main supplier. China is second, but far behind, accounting
for less than 10% of the total, while Iceland, Ecuador, Morocco, Vietnam and the UnitedStates follow, each covering 5%. The most imported products are salmon, mainly from
Norway, shrimps from Ecuador and Vietnam, cod from Norway and Iceland, skipjack
tuna from Ecuador, Alaska pollock from China and the US, and fishmeal not destinedfor human consumption from Norway. As for shrimps, they mostly include warmwater
shrimps (more specifically frozen shrimps of the genus Penaeus ), as well as
miscellaneous shrimps and prawns other than Pandalidae, Crangon , deep-water rose
shrimps (Parapenaeus longirostris ) and Penaeus .

60

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Chart 38 illustrates the trend in average import prices for these products in the last
five years. The most significant changes from 2018 to 2019 are price increases for
cod and Alaska pollock, due to slight decreases in volumes imported.

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

8,00+ 0,2%
7,02 EUR/kg

7,00

IMPORT PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 38NOMINAL PRICES OF TOPVALUED IMPORTED MAIN
COMMERCIAL SPECIES
AND % VARIATIONS
2019/2018- 2%
6,50 EUR/kg

6,00

+ 13%
5,63 EUR/kg

5,00
4,00

- 4%
3,81 EUR/kg

3,00

+ 25%
2,75 EUR/kg

2,00

+ 7%
1,41 EUR/kg

1,00
0,00

2015

SalmonCHART 39
TOP EXTRA-EU
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN IN
2019 (IN VALUE)

2016

Cod

Shrimps

Ecuador5%

Iceland5%

Skipjack tuna

2018

2019

Alaska pollock

Fishmeal

Morocco5% Vietnam
4%United States
4%
India
3%
Faroe Islands
3%

China
8%

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

2017

Russia3%

Norway26%

Other 134
countries
34%

As a premise, it is important to underline that, while imports are reported as such by
Eurostat-COMEXT according to flows recorded by national customs, in most cases the
EU Member States are not the actual destinations. Rather, they are “points of entry”
for the fisheries and aquaculture products imported to the EU, which are then tradedwithin the internal market59.
Bearing this in mind, the top-five EU “importers” are Spain, Sweden, Denmark, the UK
and the Netherlands. Each of them imported from third countries over 500.000 tonnes

59This phenomenon is known as “ the R otterdam effect”.

61EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTand EUR 2,5 billion of fishery and aquaculture products in 2019 (precise amounts for
the EU’s main importing Member States are in charts 41 and 42 below).
Of all extra-EU imports of fishery and aquaculture products, one fifth is destined for
Spain, which is mainly supplied by Morocco, Ecuador and China, all of which increased
their exports from 2018 to 2019. On the other hand, the total value of Spain’s imports
from non-EU countries in the same period decreased, due to a 27% shrinkage of theimport price of octopus from Morocco.
CHART 40VALUE OF EXTRA-EU
IMPORTSPER MEMBER STATE(EUR BILLION)

26
24

Spain

22

VALUE (EUR BILLION)

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

28

Sweden20
18

United Kingdom

16

Denmark

14
12

Netherlands

10

Italy

8
6

France4Germany202010

CHART 41NOMINAL VALUE OF
EXTRA-EU IMPORTS BY
MEMBER STATE IN 2019
AND % VARIATION
2019/2018
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

Others
2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Spain

4,72 - 3%

Sweden4,27 - 1%

Denmark

2,99 + 7%

Netherlands

2,77 + 9%

United Kingdom

2,74 + 9%

Italy

2,25 - 5%

France2,06 - 1%

Germany

1,84 + 4%

Poland0,89 + 34%

Belgium

0,74 - 0,5%

Portugal

0,67 - 4%

Greece0,36 + 12%

Finland0,28 - 10%

Lithuania

0,16 + 1%

Czech Republic

0,06 + 17%

Others0,41 + 6%

0,0

0,5

1,0

62

1,5

2,0

2,5
3,0
EUR billion

3,5

4,0

4,5

5,0

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTCHART 42
VOLUME OF EXTRA-EU
IMPORTS BY MEMBERSTATE IN 2019 AND %VARIATION 2019/2018

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

Spain

1.187 + 2%

Denmark

878 - 7%

Sweden735 + 1%

Netherlands

581 + 6%

United Kingdom

547 + 4%Germany

477 - 5%

France454 + 0,4%

Italy

446 - 2%

Poland260 + 12%

Portugal

172 - 6%

Belgium

126 - 3%

Greece121 + 19%

Ireland

103 + 1%

Lithuania

59 + 0,2%

Finland58 - 18%

Others140 + 2%
0

200

400

600

800

1.000

1.200

1.400

1.000 tonnes

4.3.1 ANALYSIS BY MAIN SPECIESSALMONIDS Salmon, the main species imported in the EU, accounted for 15% of total volume ofextra-EU imports of fishery and aquaculture products in 2019, and close to one
quarter of the total in value terms. Among imports of salmonids, which also include
trout and other salmonid species, salmon represents 98% of the total.

SALMON In 2019, salmon imports reached a 10-year peak of 966.220 tonnes and EUR 6,28
billion, marking a 5% increase in volume and a 3% increase in value from 2018.
Imports of salmon mainly consist of fresh whole products originating from Norway,
amounting to 753.041 tonnes worth EUR 4,56 billion in 2019, with neighbouring
Sweden as the first point of entry.
Over the last 10 years, fresh whole salmon imports from Norway grew at a yearly
average of 6% in volume and 8% in value. It is worth mentioning that while from 2010
to 2015 the average import price was around 4,60 EUR/kg, it averaged 6,30 EUR/kg
from 2016 to 2019. The increase from 2015 to 2016 was due to the 40.000 -tonne
drop in imports linked to decreased production due to treatments against sea lice,
which led to higher mortalities, poorer growth and lower harvest weights of specimens,
and lower harvest volumes. The price increase could be also explained by the slightdecrease of harvest volumes from 2015 to 2016 in the UK and Ireland.
5,00

700
600

4,00

500

3,00

400
300

2,00

200

1,00

100

0

0,00
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

63

2016

2017

2018

values (EUR billion)

2019

VALUE

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

800

VOLUMECHART 43FRESH WHOLE SALMONIMPORTED IN THE EU
FROM NORWAYEUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTCRUSTACEANS In 2019, EU imports of crustaceans reached 632.875 tonnes with a value of EUR 4,74
billion, which represented a slightly decrease from 2018. Shrimps represented close
to 90% of total value and 94% of total volume, mostly including warmwater shrimps
and miscellaneous shrimps and prawns not related to " Pandalidae ", "Crangon ", deepwater rose shrimps " Parapenaeus longirostris " and " Penaeus ".

WARMWATER Warmwater shrimps imported in the EU consist of frozen shrimps of the genus
SHRIMPS Penaeus. In 2019, the supply of these species from non-EU countries amounted to284.270 tonnes and EUR 1,99 billion. This represented an almost stable 1% decreasein volume from 2018 but a 4% decrease in value, due to decreased import prices.

More than one third of EU imports of warmwater shrimps came from Ecuador,followed by Vietnam and India, which together accounted for another 30%. However,shrimps from the two Asian countries were imported at higher prices than those from
Ecuador, as Ecuador only produces white leg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei), while India
and Vietnam also export the higher-valued giant tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon).
Decreased import prices were due to the increased share of imports from Ecuador
and the different product mix from the main suppliers: most of shrimps exported from
Ecuador are head on-shell on (HOSO), while the majority of shrimps exported from
India are peeled.
The main destinations for Ecuadorian warmwater shrimps are Spain, France and Italy,
while exports from Vietnam and India are mostly destined for the UK, the Netherlands
and Belgium. To be noted, however, that Rotterdam (NL) and Antwerp (BE) are
important ports for landings of frozen seafood from Far East suppliers. However,these ports act as “hubs” for shrimps arriving in the EU, while the “actual” destinations
might be other countries.

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

10,00

IMPORT PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 44NOMINAL IMPORT PRICESOF WARMWATERSHRIMPS IN THE TOP FIVEEU IMPORTERS AND %VARIATIONS 2019/2018

9,00

- 1%
8,65 EUR/kg- 3%
8,15 EUR/kg

8,00

7,00

- 4%
6,57 EUR/kg- 2%
5,99 EUR/kg- 1%
5,63 EUR/kg

6,00

5,00

2015

2016

United Kingdom

2017
Netherlands

2018France

2019
Italy

Spain

MISCELLANEOUS In 2019, shrimps and prawns not related to " Pandalidae ", "Crangon ", deep-water rose
SHRIMPS shrimps "Parapenaeus longirostris " and "Penaeus " imported in the EU totalled
248.351 tonnes and EUR 1,89 billion, a decrease of around 2% from 2018. The
downward trend was driven by decreased imports from their three main suppliers,
namely Argentina, which covered 30% of total supplies and exported frozen wildcaught red shrimps (Pleoticus muelleri ), and Vietnam and India, each of which
accounted for around 10% of total supplies. The 2019 Vietnamese import prices of
8,52 EUR/kg were highest as they mostly included prepared -preserved products, while
shrimps from Argentina and India were imported at 6,06 EUR/kg and 5,66 EUR/kg,
respectively. Supplies from Argentina were mainly destined for Spain and Italy, while

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Vietnam and India mainly exported to the Netherlands, the UK and Belgium. However,in this case, it should be considered that Rotterdam (NL) and Antwerp (BE) are
important ports for frozen seafood from Far East suppliers, so the Netherlands andBelgium might not be the main final destinations.

GROUNDFISH In 2019, groundfish imported in the EU from third countries totalled 1,32 million tonnes
and EUR 5,15 billion. This represented a 2% volume decrease from 2018 but a 12%
or EUR 544 million growth of total values, which was driven by imports of cod andAlaska pollock.

COD From 2018 to 2019, decreased entries from Norway, Iceland and Russia, the top three
suppliers, partially offset increased imports from other relevant origins, namely China,
the US and the Faroe Islands. Overall, extra-EU imports of cod decreased 2%, from503.784 tonnes to 495.887 tonnes, but their average import price increased 13%,reaching a 10-year high of 5,63 EUR/kg. At the same time, the total value of cod
imports also reached a 10-year high, increasing 11%, from EUR 2,51 billion to EUR
2,79 billion. Both the increase in price in real terms, and the 10-year peak wereobserved for all main countries of origin, apart from the US.
While imports from Russia, China, the US and the Faroe Islands largely include frozen
products, those coming from Norway and Iceland are more diversified, comprisingsimilar shares of fresh and frozen products, as well as salted and dried products.

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

VOLUMECHART 45
COD IMPORTED IN THE EU

600

3,00

500

2,50

400

2,00

300

1,50

200

1,00

100

0,50

0

VALUE

The first point of entry of extra-EU imports of cod, the Netherlands received one
quarter of the total in 2019, mainly from Iceland and, to a lesser extent, from Norway
and Russia. The UK extra-EU imports of cod were second to the Netherlands, with 17%of the total, mainly from China and Iceland. Denmark and Sweden were next, each with
14% of the total and both mostly receiving cod from Norway.

0,00
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

2016

2017

2018

2019

values (EUR billion)

ALASKA POLLOCK More than half of EU imports of Alaska pollock comes fro m China, and close to one thirdof the total comes from the US. From 2018 to 2019, supplies from China increased by
9%, reaching 164.553 tonnes, and the average import price touched a 10 -year peak at
2,64 EUR/kg, thus generating a peak in terms of total value. For both countries, Germany
is the main EU destination. Indeed, the overall trend was driven by the entries inGermany coming from China increasing 11% in volume to 82.302 tonnes and increasing
26% in value to 2,63 EUR/kg, thus totalling EUR 216 million. US supplies to Germany,on the other hand, decreased by 4% to 36.578 tonnes, while their price grew 30% to a
10-year peak of 2,89 EUR/kg.

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IM P ORT-EXPORTTUNA AND Tunas imported in the EU in 2019 amounted to 787.613 tonnes worth EUR 3,17 billion.
TUNA-LIKE SPECIES This consisted almost entirely of processed products, of which 72% was canned and

28% was frozen. In terms of species, skipjack tuna accounted for more than half of EU
imports of tuna, followed at distance by yellowfin tuna.

SKIPJACK TUNA Almost all skipjack tuna is imported as prepared-preserved products. Ecuador is themain supplier, shipping 128.587 tonnes in 2019, followed by the Philippines whichshipped 51.686 tonnes, and Mauritius which shipped 40.113 tonnes. These include tunacaught by the EU fleet, landed in these countries for processing and then re-imported
in the EU.
EU imports of prepared-preserved skipjack tuna have been increasing since 2015 fromall the three main origins in both volume and value terms.
Spain, the main recipient of imports from Ecuador, received 46.378 tonnes in 2019,59% or 17.182 tonnes more than in 2018, at an average price of 3,84 EUR/kg. Thanks
to such a boost in volume, and despite a 12% decrease in price, the total value of theseflows grew by 41% from 2018 to 2019 to reach EUR 178 million.
The UK, the main destination of supplies from Mauritius, imported 14.249 tonnes in2019 with a price of 4,20 EUR/kg, which was comparable in both volume and value to2018. Supplies from the Philippines are mainly destined for Germany, which imported
19.880 tonnes in 2019 at 3,48 EUR/kg, which represented 25% volume growth from2018 and, as the price remained almost unchanged, a 22% growth in value.

NON-FOOD USE Extra-EU imports of non-food use products in 2019 totalled 833.348 tonnes, with a
P RODUCTS value of more than EUR 1 billion. These products include fishmeal, fish oil and otherproducts (mainly fish waste and seaweed) not destined for human consumption.
Fishmeal accounted for almost half of their value.

FISHMEAL In 2019, the EU imported 309.885 tonnes of fishmeal, marking a 15% volume increase
from 2018. As for value, it showed a 23% increase, achieving a 5-year peak of EUR 438
million. The increase was mainly due to the average import price, increasing 7% from2018, reaching 1.414 EUR/tonne.
The supply of fishmeal to the EU is diversified in terms of origin. Norway, which supplied
72.566 tonnes with a value of EUR 114 million, accounted for around one quarter ofthe 2019 total. Peru, with 41.227 tonnes worth EUR 58 million, and Morocco, with
39.522 tonnes worth EUR 46 million, each accounted for 13% of the total. Chile, South
Africa, the US, Mauritania and Iceland followed, each accounting for 7–9% of the total.
Compared with 2018, imports increased from all main origins.
Fishmeal from Iceland had the highest import price, reaching 1.614 EUR/tonne, for a
14% increase from 2018. It was followed by Norway, with 1.565 EUR/tonne
representing an 8% increase. Morocco registered the lowest increase, although its 1.153
EUR/tonne price still represented a 6% increase. The top -fishmeal entry point in the EU
market is Germany, which is mainly supplied by Peru and Morocco. It is a major entry
point primarily due to the logistics, including its harbour with overseas routes andtrading traditions. Germany is also a hub for the further distribution of fishmeal,
primarily for the aquafeed segment. The UK and Denmark rank second and third asentry points for fishmeal. The UK, mostly supplied by Norway, uses its fishmeal for
salmon farming, while Denmark, mainly supplied by Norway and South Africa, is an
important dealer of animal feed.

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4.4 EXTRA-EU EXPORTS
In 2019, extra-EU exports of fishery and aquaculture products reached a 5-year peakof 2,21 million tonnes, and showed a growth of 145.976 tonnes or 7% with respect to2015. If compared with 10 years before, thanks to a 6% increase, it grew by 115.275
tonnes. From 2018 to 2019, the increase was negligible.
In value terms, extra-EU exports achieved a 10-year high at EUR 6,17 billion. This was
EUR 435 million or 8% more than in 2018, and 58% higher if compared with 10 years
before, in real terms.

6,50
6,00

2,00

5,50
5,00

1,50

4,50
1,00

4,00

VALUE

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

2,50

VOLUMECHART 46
EXTRA-EU EXPORTS OFFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS

3,50

0,50

3,00

0,00

2,50
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

volumes (million tonnes)

2016

2017

2018

2019

values (EUR billion)

The EU mainly exports herring, blue whiting, skipjack tuna, mackerel, non -food use
products and salmon. Of these, salmon accounts for half of the overall value increase
from 2018 to 2019. Other high-valued species exported by the EU are cod andGreenland halibut.
Nigeria is the main market for EU exports of mackerel, blue whiting and herring, thelatter also having Egypt among main destinations. Fish oil and fishmeal are mostly
exported to Norway, the United States is the most important destination for salmon,
while exports of cod and Greenland halibut are mainly destined for China. As for tuna,
exports prevalently comprise tunas caught in remote places by the Spanish fleet (close
to the fishing areas of Ecuador, Mauritius, Seychelles and Mexico) and French fleet(close to the fishing areas of Seychelles, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius and Ghana), for being
processed there, and then imported in the EU as prepared-preserved products or frozen
loins. In both cases, these landings are also recorded as exports.

67

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTCHART 47
TOP EXTRA-EU
COUNTRIES OFDESTINATION IN 2019
(IN VALUE)

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

China
14%
Norway9%

United States
16%

Switzerland
8%

Japan
6%
Nigeria4%
Morocco3%

Other 177
countries
34%
Canada2%

Nigeria
12%

CHART 48
TOP EXTRA-EU
COUNTRIES OFDESTINATION IN 2019
(IN VOLUME)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

Ukraine2%
Republic of
Korea
2%

China
11%
Egypt
6%

Norway13%

United States
6%
Ukraine6%
Ecuador
3%
Morocco3%

Other 177
countries
36%

Switzerland
2%

68

Japan
2%

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORT

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

6,0
5,5

VALUE (EUR BILLION)

CHART 49
VALUE OF EXTRA-EU
EXPORTSPER MEMBER STATE(EUR BILLION)

5,0

Denmark

4,5

Spain

4,0

Netherlands

3,5

United Kingdom

3,0
2,5

France2,0Germany

1,5Poland1,0Portugal

0,5
0,0
2010

CHART 50NOMINAL VALUE OF
EXTRA-EU EXPORTS BY
MEMBER STATE IN 2019
AND % VARIATION
2019/2018
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

Others2011

Denmark
Spain
Netherlands
United Kingdom
FranceGermany
PolandPortugal
Ireland
Italy
Malta
SwedenCroatia
Estonia
GreeceOthers

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

1.159 + 10%
1.070 - 1%
971 + 17%806 + 26%374 - 4%326 - 5%231 + 18%
187 - 6%172 - 12%164 + 5%133 - 4%88 + 6%84 + 3%74 + 34%58 =
271 + 17%
0

CHART 51
VOLUME OF EXTRA-EU
EXPORTS BY MEMBERSTATE IN 2019 AND %VARIATION 2019/2018

2012

200

400

600
800
EUR million

1.000

1.200

Netherlands

1.400

532 - 1%Spain

449 - 2%

Denmark

391 - 1%

United Kingdom

139 + 13%

Ireland134 - 14%

France98 - 11%

Germany

89 - 2%Estonia

80 + 14%

Poland63 + 15%

Portugal

42 - 2%

Latvia39 + 14%Italy

27 + 14%

Lithuania

23 + 31%

Croatia

19 + 6%

Belgium

18 +44%

Others67 + 11%
0

100

200

300

1.000 tonnes

69

400

500

600

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORT

4.4.1 ANALYSIS BY MAIN SPECIESSALMONIDS Salmon is by far the most valued species exported by the EU. Among exports ofsalmonids, which also include trout and other salmonid species, it represents close to90% of the total.

SALMON Extra-EU exports of salmon achieved a 10 -year peak in 2019 at 121.310 tonnes and
EUR 1,12 billion. With respect to 2018, they grew by around 20% in both volume andvalue, corresponding to an increase of almost 20.000 tonnes and EUR 205 million. If
compared with 10 years before, exports increased by over 50.000 tonnes and theirvalue grew by over EUR 680 million in real terms. The UK drove the overall trend,largely exporting fresh salmon (49.077 tonnes sold at 8,96 EUR/kg in 2019). Other
relevant EU exporters of salmon are Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany andFrance (all exporting salmon of foreign origin).

CHART 52
NOMINAL EXPORT PRICESOF SALMON TO TOP-5
EXTRA-EU DESTINATIONS
AND % VARIATIONS
2019/2018
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

EXPORT PRICE (EUR/kg)

Chart 52 show the five-year trend of the average price of salmon exported to main
extra-EU destinations.
16,00- 0,1%
15,66 EUR/kg

14,00

- 8%
13,26 EUR/kg

12,00
+ 2%
10,54 EUR/kg

10,00
8,00

- 5%
7,39 EUR/kg

6,00

+ 3%
4,90 EUR/kg

4,00
2,00

2015

Australia

2016

China

2017

Switzerland

2018

United States

2019

Vietnam

Exports to the United States and China mainly originate from the UK and predominantly
include fresh products. Further, the Netherlands is also an important supplier to the USof both smoked and fresh salmon fillets. Exports to Australia mainly originate from
Denmark and Poland and include frozen and smoked products. Poland is also the main
supplier of salmon to Vietnam, providing mainly frozen products. Switzerland is themain market for exports of smoked salmon from Germany and of fresh salmon from
France and Denmark.

SMALL PELAGICS In 2019, EU exports of small pelagics to third countries amounted to 590.078 tonnes
and EUR 740 million. Two main commercial species in this group, namely mackerel andherring, accounted for almost 20% of the total volume of fishery and aquaculture
products exported by the EU.

MACKEREL After the 2014 peak of nearly 592.000 tonnes, EU catches of Atlantic mackerel started
to decline, as did landings in EU Member States. Accordingly, extra-EU exports also
declined, dropping to 145.216 tonnes in 2019.
Compared with 2018, against a 4%-volume decrease, total values grew by 15%, risingfrom EUR 217 million to EUR 253 million, thanks to a 22% price increase which reacheda 10-year peak of 1,74 EUR/kg. This value growth was driven by increased exports

70

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from the Netherlands and Ireland to Nigeria, combined with increases registered byexports from Denmark and Sweden to Norway, which compensated for decreased
exports to Egypt.
400

250

350

200

VOLUME

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

300

300

150
250

100

VALUE

CHART 53
MACKEREL EXPORTEDFROM THE EU TO THIRDCOUNTRIES

200

50
0

150
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

2016

2017

2018

2019

values (EUR million)

HERRING From 2018 to 2019, extra-EU exports of herring fell by 18%, decreasing by over
50.000 tonnes to 228.378 tonnes. Although there was a slight 5% increase in theexport price at 0,76 EUR/kg, herring value dropped 14% to EUR 174 million, the lowest
value since 2012.

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

VOLUMECHART 54HERRING EXPORTEDFROM THE EU TO THIRDCOUNTRIES

300

250

250

225

200

200

150

175

100

150

50

125

0

VALUE

Dutch exports to Nigeria were the major contributors to the downward trend: in 2019,
they totalled 70.116 tonnes, 41% less than 2018, and sold at 0,80 EUR/kg, which was
a 10% increase, but the total value dropped 35% to EUR 57 million.

100
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

values (EUR million)

GROUNDFISH In 2019, extra-EU exports of groundfish totalled 359.898 tonnes and EUR 606 million.
Cod and blue whiting accounted for 75% of the total in volume, and 70% of the value.

COD The total value of extra-EU exports of cod has been following an upward trend for thelast decade. With a 19% increase from 2018 to 2019, cod exports achieved a 10 -year
peak of EUR 299 million, which was more than twice the value registered ten years
before. In volume terms, they reached 59.543 tonnes, for an 8% increase from 2018
and the second highest amount of the decade.
The main EU exporter of cod was the Netherlands, which exported 24.242 tonnes in
2019, 32% more than in 2018. Other major 2019 exporters were Denmark, with
11.240 tonnes that represented a 17% decrease from 2018, an d Portugal, with 10.970
tonnes for a 1% increase. While exports from the Netherlands and Denmark have Chinaas their main destination, exports from Portugal are mainly destined for Brazil. Frozen

71

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products prevail but, in addition, Portugal also exports significant amounts of dried andsalted cod.

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)+ 8%
7,67 EUR/kg

8,00

EXPORT PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 55NOMINAL EXPORT PRICESOF COD FROM MAIN EU
EXPORTERS AND %VARIATIONS 2019/2018

6,00
+ 25%
4,52 EUR/kg
4,00

+ 6%
3,47 EUR/kg

2,00

0,00

2015

2016

Denmark

2017

2018

Netherlands

2019

PortugalBLUE WHITING In 2019, extra-EU exports of blue whiting reached a 10 -year peak of 211.696 tonnes
and EUR 124 million, thanks to a 26.196 tonnes or 14% increase in volume and a EUR
23 million or 22% increase in value from 2018. With respect to 10 years ago, volumes
almost doubled and value increased by nearly 70% in real terms.
Over four-fifths of total extra-EU exports of blue whiting originate from theNetherlands: in 2019, this corresponded to 176.403 tonnes worth EUR 106 million.
They mainly comprised frozen products destined for Nigeria, sold at an average priceof 0,63 EUR/kg which was 15% higher than 2018.

4.5 INTRA-EU TRADE
In 2019, intra-EU trade 60 amounted to 6,43 million tonnes and EUR 27,41 billion. From
2018, this marked a 3% volume decrease of 170.380 tonnes, while value increased
by 0,3% (+EUR 85 million).
30,00

6,00

25,00
20,00

4,00

15,00

3,00

10,00

2,00

VALUE

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

7,00

5,00

VOLUMECHART 56
INTRA-EU TRADE OFFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS

5,00

1,00

0,00

0,00
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

volumes (million tonnes)

2016

2017

2018

2019

values (EUR billion)

Intra-EU trade analys is is based on intra-EU exports only, due to the fact that intra-EU imports and intra-EU exports s hould coincide. For more details , please refer tothe Methodological background.
60

72

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTThe 15 flows with the highest value at country and main commercial species level in2019 are shown in Chart 57. To be noted, they almost exclusively concern exports ofsalmon from northern Member States (main entry points of Norwegian products) toother EU countries 61.
CHART 57
TOP-15 FLOWS OFFISHERY AND
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTS WITHIN THE
EU IN 2019
(IN NOMINAL VALUE)
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890).
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

30,0

Sweden25,0Netherlands
VALUE (EUR BILLION)

CHART 58
VALUE OF INTRA-EU
EXPORTSPER MEMBER STATE(EUR BILLION)

20,0

Spain
Denmark

15,0PolandGermany

10,0United Kingdom
5,0

0,0
2010

FranceOthers
2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

It has to be underlined that des pite “ exports” are reported as s uch by Euros tat -COMEXT according to flows recorded by national customs , in mos t cas es the northern
EU Member S tates are not the actual exporters but rather countries through which products are transported.
61

73

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
IM P ORT-EXPORTCHART 59
NOMINAL VALUE OF
INTRA-EU EXPORTS BY
MEMBER STATE IN 2019
AND % VARIATION
2019/2018
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

Netherlands

4,29 + 4%

Sweden3,95 - 2%

Spain

3,25 - 2%

Denmark

3,20 - 1%

Germany

2,19 - 4%

Poland2,18 + 4%

United Kingdom

1,59 + 7%

France1,36 - 1%

Belgium

1,00 - 3%

Portugal

0,91 - 0,2%

Italy

0,64 - 7%

Greece0,64 - 1%

Lithuania

0,58 + 7%

Ireland0,47 + 3%

Czech Republic

0,20 + 5%

Others0,97 + 3%0,0CHART 60
VOLUME OF INTRA-EU
TRADE BY MEMBER STATEIN 2019 AND %VARIATION 2019/2018
Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

0,5

1,0

1,5

2,0
2,5
EUR billion

3,0

3,5

4,0

Netherlands

4,5925 - 4%

Sweden815 - 3%Spain

754 - 4%

Denmark

749 - 2%Germany

684 - 9%Poland469 + 5%

United Kingdom

377 - 1%

France292 + 3%

Portugal

243 + 5%

Belgium

163 - 15%

Ireland158 - 8%Italy

154 - 2%

Greece139 + 4%

Lithuania

127 + 6%

Finland77 - 6%

Others306 + 2%
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1.000

1.000 tonnes

4.5.1 ANALYSIS BY MAIN SPECIESSALMONIDS Exports of salmon prevail in the intra-EU trade of fishery and aquaculture products 62.
In 2019, they totalled almost 1 million tonnes and EUR 7,87 billion, accounting for 15%
of total volume and 30% of total value. Among salmonids, which also include trout
and other salmonid species, salmon represents 91% of the total in volume and 94%
of the total in value.

SALMON In 2019, more than four fifths of the 996.706 tonnes of intra -EU exports of salmon
was traded by four countries according to Eurostat-COMEXT: Sweden, with 505.628
tonnes, accounted for half, Denmark’s 161.913 tonnes accounted for 16%, Poland’s
95.977 tonnes was 10%, and the UK, with 63.295 tonnes, accounted for 6%. Since
Poland has a thriving smoking industry, which is mainly fed by salmon from Norway,
its exports mainly include smoked products and, to a lesser extent, fresh products.
Exports from other Member States, on the other hand, consist almost entirely of fresh
products. From 2018 to 2019, the volume of intra-EU exports of salmon remained

62

Ibidem.

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IM P ORT-EXPORT

almost flat for all EU Member States, except for the UK, where it rose by 24% or 12.310
tonnes. Sweden and Denmark recorded slight decreases in value, of 2% and 3%,
respectively, reaching EUR 3,26 billion in Sweden and EUR 1,15 billion in Denmark.
Exports from Poland grew by 4% to reach EUR 1,22 billion, and those from the UK roseby 23% to reach EUR 467 million, both of which represented 5-year peaks.

Source: EUMOFA elaboration ofEurostat-COMEXT data
(online data code: DS-016890)

15,00
14,00
+ 2%
12,73 EUR/kg

13,00

EXPORT PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 61NOMINAL PRICES OFSALMON IN THE INTRA-EU
TRADE BY THE TOPEXPORTERS AND% VARIATIONS
2019/2018

12,00
11,00
10,00
9,00

- 1%
7,38 EUR/kg- 3%
7,11 EUR/kg- 4%
6,50 EUR/kg

8,00
7,00
6,00
5,00
4,00

2015

2016
SwedenDenmark

2017
United Kingdom

2018

2019

PolandGROUNDFISH In 2019, groundfish traded in the EU reached a 10 -year value peak of EUR 3,78 billion,
an increse of 4% from 2018. However its volume of 914.138 tonnes was 8% less thanin 2018.

COD Cod is by far the main groundfish species and the second most valued species among
all fishery and aquaculture products traded in the EU 63. In 2019, 393.311 tonnes ofcod with a total value of EUR 2,29 billion were exchanged, representing a 18% volume
decrease and a 3% value increase compared with 2018.
Two thirds of the total was traded by the Netherlands, which amounted to 143.270
tonnes worth EUR 705 million. With respect to 2018, this marked a 54.359 tonne or
28% drop against a sharp 52% price increase from 3,24 EUR/kg to 4,92 EUR/kg. This
caused total value to rise by EUR 65 million and reach EUR 705 million, a 10% increase
from 2018 and a 10-year high. Spain is the main EU market for Dutch exports of cod,mainly for frozen products.
Denmark and Sweden follow as main cod traders. In 2019, they exported 73.021
tonnes and 56.851 tonnes respectively, which represented decreases of 12% and 16%
from 2018. Although prices of Danish exports grew by 10% from 5,73 EUR/kg to 6,31
EUR/kg, and prices of Swedish exports grew by 16% from 5,45 EUR/kg to 6,34 EUR/kg,
both countries experienced a decline in terms of total value, with Denmark decreasing
4% and Sweden decreasing by 2%. France and the Netherlands are the main EU
markets for Danish exports of cod, mainly fresh, while cod from Sweden is mainly
destined for Portugal and sold mainly dried and salted.

63

Ibidem.

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LA N DINGS IN THE EU

5/ LANDINGS IN THE EU
5.1 OVERVIEWTOTAL EU Data on landings in the EU64 cover the initial unloading of any fisheries products froma fishing vessel in any of the EU Member States. This includes landings of species notdestined for human consumption and seaweed. The data analysed in this report referto products landed by vessels of EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and the UK.6 5

5,00

8,00

4,50

7,50

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.
Values are deflated by using
the GDP deflator (base=2015).

4,00

7,00

3,50

6,50

3,00

6,00

2,50

5,50

VOLUMECHART 62
TOTAL LANDINGS IN
THE EU

2,00

5,00
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

volumes (million tonnes)

Despite increased
landings of several
main commercial
species in the EU,
the drop of sandeel
landings in Denmark
drove the overall
decrease from 2017
to 2018.

VALUE

In 2018, landings in the EU totalled 4,53 million tonnes, with a total value of EUR 7,13
billion. Compared with 2017, this amounted to an 11% or 563.588-tonne decrease involume, and a 3% or EUR 225 million decrease in value. With respect to 2009, 66 thevolume of 2018 landings was 7% or 280.956 tonnes higher, and the value, in real terms,
was 6% or EUR 403 million higher.

2015

2016

2017

2018

values (billion euros)

From 2017 to 2018, landings of several of the most landed main commercial species
in the EU increased, as can be seen from chart 63.
In particular, landings of frozen skipjack tuna and fresh scallop saw significant
increases in both volume and value, due to increased tuna landings in Spain and scallop
landings France.
As concerns skipjack tuna, it should also be noted that EU catches i n the Atlantic
represent less than half of total landing volume, as a major share of skipjack landings
are caught in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and then landed in the EU, where they areoften processed into canned products.
Despite such increases, total landings in the EU decreased, a trend mainly driven bylower landings of sandeels destined for industrial use in Denmark – the same species

In line with the approach adopted by EUMOFA following BR EXIT, the United Kingdom is considered part of the EU till 20 19 and its data until that year are available
in all tables , charts and analys es at EU level. In addition, EU data include Croatia s ince 20 13, date of the EU’s enlargement to this country.
65
Data regarding landings do not refer to landlocked EU Member S tates, namely the Czech R epublic, Luxembourg, Hungary, Aus tria and Slovakia. As for Denmark,the analys es in this chapter are not detailed by ves s el nationality, as this information is confidential within EUR OS TAT.
66
In this report, value and price variations for periods longer than 5 years are analys ed by deflating values us ing the GDP deflator (base=20 15); for s horter periods,
nominal value and price variations are analys ed.
64

76EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
LA N DINGS IN THE EU

that contributed to a boost recorded one year before, from 2016 to 2017. Landings ofthese species had risen from 45.944 tonnes and EUR 16 million in 2016, to 402.030
tonnes and EUR 62 million in 2017, and then dropped to 195.777 tonnes and EUR 44
million in 2018. It also should be noted that within EUMOFA, sandeel does not constitutea “main commercial species” but falls other the aggregation “other groundfish” 67.
CHART 63
MOST IMPORTANT MAIN COMMERCIAL SPECIES LANDED IN THE EU
VOLUME IN 2018, % OF TOTAL AND % VARIATIONS 2018 / 2017
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_ld_main) and national sources’ data.
More details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.

1.000 tonnes % of total % variation 2018 / 2017

*Others largely include the EUMOFA aggregation “other groundfish” – mainly comprising sandeels that covered alone 4% of total volumes landed.

CHART 64
MOST IMPORTANT MAIN COMMERCIAL SPECIES LANDED IN THE EUNOMINAL VALUE IN 2018, % OF TOTAL AND % VARIATIONS 2018 / 2017
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_ld_main) and national sources’ data.
More details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.

million euros% of total % variation 2018 / 2017

* “Shrimps” includes Crangon spp., coldwater shrimps, deep-water rose shrimps, warmwater shrimps and miscellaneous shrimps.
**Among other main commercial species, the ones with the highest landing value in 2018 were squid, anchovy, octopus and blue whiting, eachcovering 3% of the total

The correlation table us ed for harmonizing data on fis h s pecies landed in the EU to the EUMOFA s tandards is available at the link
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents /20 178 /24415/Metadata+2+-+DM+-+Annex+3+Corr+of+MCS _CG_ER S .P DF/16 15c124-b21b-4bff-8 8 0 d-a10 57f8 8 56 3d.
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LA N DINGS IN THE EU

TABLE 20AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES AT LANDING
STAGE OF TOP-20 MAIN
COMMERCIAL SPECIES IN
THE EU (EUR/KG)
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

M ain
c o mme rc ial
s p e c ie s

20 14

20 15

20 16

20 17

20 18

20 18/2017

20 18/2014

Anchovy

1,74

1,55

1,68

1,67

1,50

-10 %

-14 %

Atlantichorsemackerel

0,69

0,77

0,77

0,88

0,96

+8%

+39 %

Blue whiting

0,31

0,35

0,34

0,23

0,27

+17%

-13%

Clam

2,55

2,41

2,96

3,18

2,84

-11%

+11%

Cod

2,22

2,34

2,47

2,69

3,18

+18%

+4 3%

Common
sole

9,83

10,90

11,60

11,31

12,03

+6 %

+22%

Cuttlefish

4,92

4,50

5,30

5,93

6,82

+15%

+39 %

Hake

3,60

3,28

3,22

3,23

3,16

-2%

-12%

Herring

0,33

0,40

0,53

0,37

0,35

-4 %

+6 %

Mackerel

0,88

0,77

0,89

0,88

0,97

+11%

+10 %

Monk

5,08

5,07

4,91

4,62

5,44

+18%

+7%

Norwaylobster

7,95

8,38

8,35

7,72

8,15

+6 %

+3%

Octopus

4,54

5,07

5,33

5,98

6,96

+16 %

+53%

Sardine

0,99

0,94

0,82

0,81

0,93

+15%

-6 %

Scallop

2,19

2,52

2,66

2,71

2,69

-1%

+23%

3,57

3,63

7,28

7,69

3,78

-51%

+6 %

1,15

0,99

1,02

1,11

1,08

-2%

-6 %

0,24

0,25

0,27

0,20

0,22

+12%

-8%

Squid

5,44

3,60

5,33

4,42

5,53

+25%

+2%

Yellowfin
tuna

2,19

3,26

4,11

4,09

1,93

-53%

-12%

ShrimpCrangon spp.
Skipjacktuna
Sprat(=Brisling)

BY MEMBER STATE In 2018, the highest landed volumes were recorded in Denmark, where almost all
sandeel landings take place, and in Spain, where landings mainly consisted of skipjack
tuna. Landings in Spain also registered the highest value, mainly due to hake and bothskipjack and yellowfin tuna.
With respect to changes from 2017, the most relevant volume increases wereregistered by the Netherlands, which showed growth of 7% or 36.722 tonnes, due toherring and blue whiting, and France, which increased 9% or 27.610 tonnes, due toscallop. As for volume decreases, the highest were registered by Denmark, which

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LA N DINGS IN THE EU

dropped 32% or 517.740 tonnes, due to sandeels, and Germany, which dropped 35%
or 56.670 tonnes, mostly due to blue whiting.
As for value changes, France registered a noticeable 7% or EUR 63 mi llion value
increase, again for scallop, while Spain recorded a significant 10% value decrease,
droppping by almost EUR 220 million, due to yellowfin and bigeye tuna.
It is also worth noting that landings in Malta increased a remarkable 55% or 1.135
tonnes in volume and 38% or EUR 3 million in value, due to mackerel.
CHART 65
VOLUMES OF LANDEDPRODUCTS IN MAIN EU
COUNTRIES IN 2018
AND % VARIATIONS
2018/2017
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

CHART 66
NOMINAL VALUES OF
LANDED PRODUCTS IN
MAIN EU COUNTRIES IN
2018 AND %VARIATIONS 2018/2017
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

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5.2 ANALYSIS BY MAIN SPECIESSM ALL PELAGICS

In 2018, the landings of small pelagics in the EU totalled 2,06 million tonnes . This was
22.700 tonnes or 1% lower than 2017, and 122.217 tonnes or 6% lower than the 10year peak registered in 2015. Their value at EUR 1,23 billion represented a EUR 11,39
million or 1% decrease from 2017. Compared with ten years before, volume had
decreased 109.708 tonnes or 5%, and value had decreased EUR 97 million or 7% in
real terms.
Five of small pelagics’ main commercial species, namely herring, sprat, mackerel,sardine and anchovy, together accounted for 43% of total landed volumes.

HERRING

In 2018, herring, the most landed main commercial species in the EU, accounted for
18% of total volume and reached a 10-year peak of 792.458 tonnes, 7% higher thanin 2017. With an average landing price of 0,35 EUR/kg, herring’s total landing value
increased by 2% from the previous year, reaching EUR 278 million.
As for total herring volume, 28% was landed in Denmark, 23% in the Netherlands and
13% in Finland, with most of the rest landed in other EU northern Member States.
Denmark and the Netherlands drove the overall increase in herring landings in the EU
in 2018: with Denmark’s landings 17% higher than in 2017, volume increased from
187.564 to 220.024 tonnes, and with the Netherlands’ landings 18% higher, volume
increased from 152.005 to 179.244 tonnes. Herring in Denmark was mainly landed by
Danish and Swedish vessels, which together accounted for 68% of the Danish total
landings, while in the Netherlands, herring was mainly landed by the national andGerman fleets, which together covered 87% of the total Dutch volume.

Driven by increased
landings in Denmarkand the Netherlands,
herring, already themost landed maincommercial species
in the EU, reached a
10-year peak involume terms in As for the value trend, only the Netherlands and Sweden recorded price increase s in
2018. 2018. Nevertheless, many countries had significant increases in value from 2017, themost remarkable being Sweden with a 45% increase, the Netherlands with 21%, andDenmark and Latvia, both with 7%.
It should be considered that landings of herring originate from different stocks, including
North Sea stock, Atlantic spring spawning stock and Baltic stock. Each of these has
unique characteristics that cater to specific market preferences and, hence, they bringdifferent prices on the market. Another factor, especially relevant to Denmark andSweden, is that the share of landings destined for industrial use and those destined forhuman consumption vary from year to year, resulting in significant price differences.
The general drop in prices from 2016 to 2017 was most likely caused by increased
quotas and, therefore, increased landings in Norway. In 2017, the Norwegian quota for
herring increased by 66%, thus enabling landing volumes to grow by more than 40%
compared with the year before. The volume growth led to a 40% decrease in the yearly
average landing prices in Norway and a 29% decrease in export prices of frozen herring.
As Norway lands the highest volume of herring in northern Europe, its landings andexports affect prices of herring landed in other northern EU countries.

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Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

0,80

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 67
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF HERRINGLANDED IN MAIN EU
MEMBER STATES(EUR/KG)0,60+ 3%0,48 EUR/kg- 8%
0,38 EUR/kg- 15%
0,36 EUR/kg+ 30%
0,28 EUR/kg

0,40

0,20

- 0,1%
0,19 EUR/kg

0,00

2014
Denmark

SPRAT

2015
Netherlands

2016
Finland

2017

2018

SwedenGermany

The landings of sprat in the EU amounted to 433.617 tonnes and EUR 96 million in
2018. Compared with 2017, volume increased by 6%, value increased by 19%, and theaverage price increased 10%, moving from 0,20 to 0,22 EUR/kg.
Denmark, by far the main landing country of this species, accounted for 61% of EU
volume in 2018, mainly consisting of products destined for the fishmeal industry. From
2017, its share increased even further: the volume landed grew 11%, from 240.546 to
267.990 tonnes, while value, led by a 24% price increase, grew 38%, from EUR 44 to
EUR 60 million.
Poland and Latvia followed far behind, even though their shares of total EU landings ofsprat also increased in 2018 compared with 2017. In Poland, volume of sprat landings
grew by 13%, from 49.878 to 56.311 tonnes, and value grew by 8%, from EUR 9,1 to
EUR 9,8 million. In Latvia, sprat landings grew by 12% in volume, from 34.710 to 38.866
tonnes, and by 16% in value, from EUR 8 to EUR 10 million. In both countries, theincrease in sprat volume, mainly landed by their national vessels, was connected tohigher quotas in the Baltic Sea.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

0,40

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 68
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF SPRATLANDED IN MAIN EU
MEMBER STATES(EUR/KG)

0,30

+ 4%
0,26 EUR/kg+ 24%
0,23 EUR/kg

0,20
- 5%
0,17 EUR/kg

0,10

2014

2015
Denmark

2016
Latvia

81

2017

2018
PolandEUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
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MACKEREL

In 2018, the landings of mackerel in the EU totalled 364.633 tonnes, worth EUR 355
million, which amounted to drops of 17% in volume and 8% in value from 2017.
One-quarter of mackerel was landed in the United Kindgom, where 94.907 tonnes in2018 represented a 12% decrease from 2017, reaching the lowest level of the last six
years. Of these landings, 85% originated from national vessels, while the rest was fromother northern EU Member States’ fleets. The United Kingdom also recorded a 13% priceincrease, from 1,04 EUR/kg in 2017 to 1,18 EUR/kg in 2018. Due to the volumedecrease, the total value declined by 1%, reaching EUR 112 million.
Member States other than the United Kingdom also contributed to the overall trend ofmackerel landings at EU level. Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands, which accounted for
53% of the total in 2018, all recorded significant drops in volume compared with 2017.
The most remarkable variation was recorded in Ireland, which had a 32% volume
decrease, from 84.187 tonnes in 2017 to 57.371 tonnes in 2018. This volume decrease
was accompanied by a 6% price decline , which resulted in value dropping by 36%, to
EUR 45 million. In all three countries, mackerel was mainly landed by national vessels.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

1,40
+ 13%
1,18 EUR/kg

1,20

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 69
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF MACKEREL
LANDED IN MAIN EU
MEMBER STATES(EUR/KG)+9%
1,07 EUR/kg

1,00
+ 34%
0,81 EUR/kg-6%
0,78 EUR/kg

0,80

0,60

0,40

2014

2015

United Kingdom

SARDINE

2016

2017

2018

Netherlands

Spain

Ireland

In 2018, the landings of sardine in the EU suffered a 7% volume decrease from 2017,
dropping to 181.322 tonnes. Nevertheless, values grew by 8%, to EUR 165 million, due
to the average price increasing 16%, from 0,81 to 0,93 EUR/kg.
The decrease in sardine landings was driven by three of the main EU Member Stateslanding sardine, namely Croatia, Spain and the Netherlands. The most remarkablevariation was registered in the Netherlands, where sardine landings dropped by 32%,
from 29.553 to 19.952 tonnes. Both Croatia and Spain recorded a 4% reduction: in
Croatia, sardine landings decreased from 48.461 to 46.351 tonnes, while in Spain, they
dropped from 31.561 to 30.446 tonnes.
As for total values, all the main EU sardine landing countries, except the Netherlands,
followed an upward trend from 2017 to 2018. The highest variation was reported by
Italy, where a 49% increase in average price, from 0,64 to 0,96 EUR/kg, caused total
values to grow from EUR 16 to EUR 26 million. On the other hand, although the average
2018 price in the Netherlands increased by 10%, from 0,46 to 0,51 EUR/kg, value
decreased by 26%, due to reduced landings.

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EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
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Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

+ 11%
1,46 EUR/kg

1,50

1,30

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 70
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF SARDINELANDED IN MAIN EU
MEMBER STATES(EUR/KG)

1,10=

0,99 EUR/kg+49%
0,96 EUR/kg

0,90

0,70
+ 10%
0,51 EUR/kg

0,50

+ 12%
0,42 EUR/kg

0,30

2014
Spain

ANCHOVY

2015

2016

Italy

France2017
Netherlands

2018
Croatia

In 2018, the landings of anchovy in the EU reached a 10-year peak of 135.460 tonnes,
6% higher than in 2017. During the same time period, the average landing pricedropped by 10%, from 1,67 to 1,50 EUR/kg, thus causing total value to decrease by
4%, to EUR 204 million.
The EU trend was determined by Spain, the main EU country where anchovy is landed,
which accounted for 44% of total volumes in 2018. Compared with 2017, Spain’s
landings volume increased by 17%, from 50.774 to 59.502 tonnes, and its value
declined by 2%, from EUR 89 to EUR 87 million. The upward trend in volume from 2017
to 2018 was linked to the 30% increase of Spanish quotas in the North-East Atlantic.
The other main EU countries for landings of anchovy – Italy, Croatia and Greece –together contributed 47% of total volume in 2018. While Croatia and Greece reported
increases in both volume and value compared with 2017, Italy had a 7% drop in volume
and 11% drop in value.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

2,20
2,00
- 4%
1,86 EUR/kg

1,80

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 71
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF ANCHOVYLANDED IN MAIN EU
MEMBER STATES(EUR/KG)+ 9%
1,60 EUR/kg

1,60

- 16%
1,47 EUR/kg

1,40
1,20

1,00
- 6%
0,87 EUR/kg

0,80

2014

2015

Spain

2016
Italy

83

2017
Greece2018
CroatiaEUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
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GROUNDFISH

The landings of groundfish in the EU suffered a significant drop in 2018 compared with
2017: the total volume amounted to 1,09 million tonnes, which represented a decreaseof 34% or 565.766 tonnes, while value declined 5%, from EUR 1,29 billion to EUR 1,22
billion. This was due to the fact that, after the peak recorded in 2017, the 2018 landingsof sandeel in the EU fell by 51% in volume, from 402.030 tonnes to 195.777tonnes,
and by 28% in value, from EUR 62 milion to EUR 44 million. The decrease was mainly
due to landings in Denmark. It should be noted that within EUMOFA, sandeel does notconstitute a “main commercial species” but falls under the aggregation “othergroundfish” 68.
The most landed groundfish species in the EU is blue whiting, which in 2018 accounted
for 44% of total volume of this commodity group. Hake and cod followed, with sharesof 20% and 14%, respectively.

BLUE WHITING

Over the last ten
years, blue
whiting’s landingsin the EU grew byalmost four times involume and morethan doubled invalue.

In 2018, the landings of blue whiting in the EU reached a ten-year peak of 482.809
tonnes and EUR 130 million. Compared with 2017, volume increased by 10% whilevalue grew by 28%. If compared with 2009, when the landings of blue whiting in the
EU amounted to 100.671 tonnes worth almost EUR 57 million in real terms, volume
had grown by 380% while value more than doubled. As for the average price, it had
fallen 50% from 2009, although from 2017 to 2018, it incre ased 16%, growing from
0,23 to 0,27 EUR/kg.
The upward trend in volume was driven by Denmark and the Netherlands, which
recorded 25% more blue whiting landings than in the previous year, due to the higher
blue whiting quotas in all fishing areas of the North Atlantic from 2017 to 2018. The
two countries also reached their 10 -year peaks both in volume and value: in Denmark,blue whiting landings totalled 223.474 tonnes worth almost EUR 52 million, while in
the Netherlands, they amounted to 150.025 tonnes and nearly EUR 34 million.
It is worth noting that most of the blue whiting landings in the EU are not destined forhuman consumption.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

1,20

1,00

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 72
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF BLUE
WHITING LANDED IN
MAIN EU MEMBERSTATES (EUR/KG)+21%
0,94 EUR/kg

0,80

0,60

0,40

+ 33%
0,23 EUR/kg+ 48%
0,23 EUR/kg

0,20

+52%
0,21 EUR/kg- 9%
0,15 EUR/kg

0,00

2014

2015

2016

IrelandDenmark

Netherlands

2017
Spain

2018
United Kingdom

The correlation table us ed for harmonizing data on fis h s pecies landed in the EU to the EUMOFA s tandards is available at the link
http://www.eumofa.eu/documents /20 178 /24415/Metadata+2+-+DM+-+Annex+3+Corr+of+MCS _CG_ER S .P DF/16 15c124-b21b-4bff-8 8 0 d-a10 57f8 8 56 3d.
6884

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
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HAKE

In 2018, the volume of hake landings was 6% higher than 2017, reaching 154.977
tonnes. Although the average price declined 2%, from 3,22 to 3,16 EUR/kg, the total
value increased 4%, reaching EUR 490 million. In terms of volume, European hake
(Merluccius merluccius ) accounted for 66%, Argentine hake ( Merluccius hubbsi)
accounted for 28%, and Senegalese hake ( Merluccius senegalensis ) and Cape hakes(Merluccius capensis, M.paradox.) accounted for the rest.
Spain accounts for more than 60% of total landings of hake in the EU and is theMember State reporting the highest volumes and values. In 2018, Spain totalled 98.083
tonnes – a 10-year peak – and EUR 288 million, which represented an increase of 34%
in volume and 29% in value from 2017.
It is worth noting that Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands are the only countries where
European hake ( Merluccius merluccius) is not the only hake species landed. The upward
trend recorded in Spain in 2018 was due to a combination of the landings of European
hake (Merluccius merluccius ) and Argentine hake ( Merluccius hubbsi ), whose volumes
increased by 25% and by 62%, respectively, from 2017.

PRICE (EUR/kg)

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

4,00

+5%
3,03 EUR/kg-4%
2,93 EUR/kg

3,00

=

CHART 73
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF HAKE LANDEDIN MAIN EU MEMBERSTATES (EUR/KG)

2,76 EUR/kg

2,00

2014

2015
Spain

COD

2016
United Kingdom

2017

2018
FranceIn 2018, the landings of cod in the EU totalled 67.965 tonnes with a value of almost
EUR 216 million. This was a decrease of 16% in volume and 1% in value from the year
before. The average price increased by 18%, from 2,69 to 3,18 EUR/kg, thus reaching
the highest level since 2009.
The United Kingdom was the main EU country landing cod. It also was among thosefew Member States that experienced an upward trend from 2017, as its volume of codlanded increased by 16% and its value increased by 13%.

85

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
LA N DINGS IN THE EU

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

6,00

+85%
4,93 EUR/kg

5,00

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 74
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF COD LANDEDIN MAIN EU MEMBERSTATES (EUR/KG)+2%
4,24 EUR/kg

4,00

+4%
3,34 EUR/kg- 2%
3,14 EUR/kg

3,00

2,00
+ 1%
1,37 EUR/kg
1,00

2014

2015

United Kingdom

Denmark

2016
Germany

2017
France2018
PolandOn the other hand, Spain influenced the downward trend recorded at EU level. In 2018it landed 4.313 tonnes of cod for a value of EUR 14 million, registering a drop of 71%
in volume and 64% in value from 2017. This corresponded to decreases of 10.750
tonnes and more than EUR 26 million, and was linked to a 26% price increase, from
2,66 to 3,34 EUR/kg.
CRUSTACEANS

In 2018, the landings of crustaceans in the EU reached a 10-year peak of 182.615
tonnes worth EUR 1,14 billion. Compared with 2017, volumes grew by 12%, or 20.200
tonnes, while values increased by 4%, or EUR 42 million.

SHRIMPS

Shrimps are the highest value product landed in the EU. With 81.061 tonnes landed
worth EUR 572 million, in 2018, they reached a decade peak in both volume and value.
The main EU countries where they were landed varied depending on the species.

Crangon shrimp was mainly landed in the Netherlands, where it reached 24.000 tonnes
worth EUR 80 million. From 2017, landed volumes more than doubled, while values
grew by 26%, thus driving an EU-level increase of 105% in volume and 1% in value. It
is worth noting that, compared with 2017, in 2018 the landing price of this species
halved in all of the main landing countries.
Other types of coldwater shrimps were mainly landed in Denmark and Sweden. Bothcountries recorded a drop in 2018 compared with 2017: Denmark’s total of 1.493
tonnes worth EUR 8 million equalled a decrease of 31% in volume and 16% in value;
Sweden dropped to its lowest point in 10 years with 1.313 tonnes valued at almost EUR
14 million, declining by 15% in volume and 9% in value.
Italy and Spain, the two main landing countries for deep-water rose shrimps, covered
74% of total landed volumes in 2018. Compared with 2017, both countries reported
an upward trend in volume and a decrease in value: Italy’s volume grew 7%, from 9.210
to 9.827 tonnes, and value decreased 1%, from EUR 57,07 million to EUR 56,69 million;
Spain’s volume increased 16%, from 3.937 to 4.583 tonnes, and value declined 6%,
from EUR 41 million to EUR 38 million.
Italy was also the main landing country for warmwater shrimps, namely Caramote
prawns ( Penaeus kerathurus ). In 2018, Italy reported landings of 1.676 tonnes worth

86EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
LA N DINGS IN THE EU

EUR 25 million for this species, amounting to an increase of 5% in volume and 2% invalue from 2017.
As for “miscellaneous shrimps”, this group mainly includes blue and red shrimp ( Aristeus
antennatus ), giant red shrimp ( Aristaeomorpha foliacea ) and striped red shrimp(Aristeus varidens ). Spain and Italy together accounted for around 93% of all landings
recorded in the EU in 2018, both in volume and value. While landings in Spain mainlycomprised blue and red shrimps, and striped red shrimps, in Italy they mainly included
giant red shrimp. Spain landed 4.652 tonnes worth EUR 111 million, an increase of 31%
in volume and 84% in value from 2017. Italy landed 4.241 tonnes worth EUR 86 million,
for a decrease of 8% in volume and 13% in value from the previous year.
CHART 75
LANDINGS OF SHRIMPS IN THE EU IN 2018
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_ld_main) and national sources’ data.
More details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background .

volumevalue

Warmwater
shrimps4%

Miscellaneous
shrimps37%

Coldwater shrimps
5%
CrangonCrangon spp.
spp.
56%

Coldwater shrimps
5%
Miscellaneous
shrimps12%

Warmwater
shrimps7%

Deep-water rose
shrimps21%

Deep-water rose
shrimps24%

Crangon spp.
30%

TABLE 21
AVERAGE NOMINAL PRICES OF SHRIMPS IN THE EU COUNTRIES WHERE MOST LANDINGS WERE RECORDED IN
2018 (EUR/KG)
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_ld_main) and national sources’ data.
More details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.

M ain c o m m e rc ial
s p e c ie s
Shrimp Crangon spp.
Coldwater shrimps
Deep-water rose
shrimpsM e m b e r State

20 14

20 15

20 16

20 17

20 18

20 18/20 17

20 18/2014

Netherlands

3,34

3,65

6,98

7,28

3,34

-54 %

=

Germany

3,43

3,47

7,66

7,99

3,92

-51%

+14 %

Denmark

3,02

3,79

4,65

4,44

5,41

+22%

+79 %

Sweden

9,71

9,15

8,51

9,69

10,37

+7%

+7%

Italy

6,32

6,35

6,33

6,20

5,77

-7%

-9 %

Spain

13,28

14,02

10,47

10,35

8,40

-19 %

-37%

Greece

5,25

4,80

2,28

3,80

4,58

+20 %

-13%

Warmwater shrimps

Italy

15,07

16,30

17,40

15,45

14,99

-3%

-1%

Miscellaneous
shrimps

Spain

31,16

15,93

16,96

17,03

23,93

+4 1%

-23%

Italy

20,10

22,02

21,43

21,61

20,25

-6 %

+1%

87

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITION
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TUNA ANDTUNA-LIKE SPECIESIn 2018, the volume of tuna and tuna-like species landed in the EU registered a 13%
increase from 2017 and totalled 385.511 tonnes. Nevertheless, the value decreased
by 22%, from EUR 975 million to EUR 761 million. This was due to a remarkable pricedrop in Spain, where the price of yellowfin tuna plummeted 53% from 2017 to 2018,
dropping from 4,19 EUR/kg to 1,94 EUR/kg, while the price of bigeye tuna fell 66%,
from 4,01 EUR/kg to 1,37 EUR/kg.
Spain, by far the EU Member State landing the most tuna, accounted for 88% of its
total volume and 77% of its total value. In the country, landings reached 337.493
tonnes, 12% higher than 2017, while value dropped 27%, to EUR 571 million.

SKIPJACK TUNA

Among all tuna landed in the EU in 2018, skipjack had the highest volume and value,
reaching 205.631 tonnes and EUR 223 million. Compared with the previous year, thiscorresponded to an increase of 32% in volume and 30% in value.
Of the total volume, 93% was landed in Spain by the national fleet and mainly consistedof frozen products. Spain thus determined the overall EU trend, as in 2018 it totalled
191.795 tonnes worth EUR 202 million and, compared with 2017, its landings increasedby 30% in volume and 33% in value. The average yearly price increased by 2%, from
1,03 to 1,05 EUR/kg.

OTHE R MARINE FISH

CHART 76
MAIN SPECIES OF “OTHER
MARINE FISH”:
VOLUME LANDED IN
2018, % VARIATIONS
2018/2017 AND
NOMINAL PRICES AT
LANDING STAGE
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main).
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

In 2018, the EU landings of the commodity group “Other marine fish” decreased to259.682 tonnes worth EUR 975 million, which amounted to a drop of 18% in volume
and 5% in value from 2017.
- 9%46.016Monk

5,44 EUR/kg ↑- 31%

39.656

Other sharks*

1,71 EUR/kg ↓- 6%

Seabream,other thangilthead**

3,76 EUR/kg ↑31.599- 2%
19.538Red mullet

17.822

Ray
0

+ 3%

10.0006,31 EUR/kg ↗

2,31 EUR/kg ↓20.00030.00040.00050.000tonnes*The grouping “ Other s harks ” mainly includes blue s hark (57% of the total), s mall-s potted cats hark (20 %), s mooth-hounds(10 %), s hortfin mako (7%), and tope s hark, cats harks nei and cats harks , nurs ehounds nei (1% each).
**The grouping “ S eabream, other than gilthead” mainly includes bogue (39 % of the total), black s eabream (11%), common
pandora (10 %), white s eabream and axillary s eabream (6 % each), red porgy (5%), large-eye dentex (4%), blacks pot
s eabream and s addled s eabream (3% each), s and s teenbras, common dentex, annular s eabream, common two-bandeds eabream and dentex nei (2% each), and pink dentex and red pandora (1% each).

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LA N DINGS IN THE EU

MONK

In 2018, the landings of monk in the EU amounted to 46.016 tonnes worth EUR 250
million. Compared with 2017, this was a decrease of 9% in volume but an increase of
8% in value. Of the total volume, 40% was reported under Anglerfishes nei ( Lophiidae),
31% under Monkfishes nei ( Lophius spp.) and the rest was reported under Blackbellied
angler (Lophius budegassa ), Angler (Lophius piscatorius ) and American angler ( Lophiusamericanus ).
France, the United Kingdom and Spain together accounted for almost 80% of total
volume landed in 2018. While in France most monk landings were reported under the
species Monkfishes nei ( Lophius spp.), in the United Kingdom they were reported underAnglerfishes nei ( Lophiidae ), and in Spain they were reported under Blackbellied angler(Lophius budegassa ). From 2017, both France and the United Kingdom presented adownward trend in both volume and value, while monk landings in Spain increased by
60% 7,00
in volume and 76% in value.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_ld_main) and nationalsources’ data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

+ 10%
6,32 EUR/kg

PRICE (EUR/kg)

CHART 77
AVERAGE NOMINAL
PRICES OF MONKLANDED IN MAIN EU
MEMBER STATES(EUR/KG)

6,00+ 8%
5,48 EUR/kg+ 8%
4,97 EUR/kg

5,00

4,00

2014

2015
France2016
United Kingdom

89

2017

2018
Spain

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6/ AQUACULTURE69
6.1 OVERVIEWTOTAL EU In 2018, EU70 aquaculture production amounted to 1,32 million tonnes, with a total

The value increase in aquaculture during the 2009–2018 decade was due to increased
production of high value species, such as salmon, seabass and bluefin tuna, combinedwith the strong price increase of some major species, such as salmon, seabass,
gilthead seabream, oyster and clam. Price increases might have been connected to anincrease in demand, in addition to other factors that came into play, such as the higher
quality of products, including organic, as well as a supply decrease, due to highmortality of some species, such as oysters. It should also be considered that the
decade’s 3% volume increase was a minor variation, caused by licensing issues andconflict of interest in terms of spatial planning. This slight volume increase combinedwith increased demand contributed to a price increase.

CHART 78
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTION IN THE EU

5,50
5,25

1,20

VOLUME

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a), FAO, national
administrations and FEAP data.
Details on the sources used canbe found in the Methodologicalbackground.
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

1,40

5,00

1,00

4,75

0,80

4,50

0,60

4,00

4,25

VALUE

After the peak of theprevious year, in2018 the EU
aquaculture
production showed adecline in bothvolume and value
terms.

value of EUR 4,80 billion. This represented a 4% or 50.330 tonne decrease in volume
and a 5% or EUR 348 billion decrease in value compared with 2017 – a reversal of the
upward trend seen during the previous four years. Compared with ten years before71,
production grew by 3%, which was an increase of less than 40.000 tonnes, while value
had grown by a remarkable 36% in real terms, which meant an increase of almost EUR
1,30 billion.

3,75

0,40

3,50

0,20

3,25

0,00

3,00
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

volumes (million tonnes)

2015

2016

2017

2018

values (billion euros)

Production of bivalves and other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates declined by 1% involume in 2018 compared with 2017, but it still covered almost half of total farmed
production in the EU, mainly thanks to the productions of mussel in Spain and oyster
in France. Salmonids 72 and the grouping “other marine fish 73” followed, with salmonids

The main s ource of data for EU aquaculture production is EUR OSTAT. Data were integrated us ing FAO, FEAP and national s ources for s everal Member S tates: moredetails on the integrations made and on data collected for each country can be found in the Methodological background.
70
In line with the approach adopted by EUMOFA following BR EXIT, the United Kingd om is cons idered part of the EU till 20 19 and its data until that year are available inall tables , charts and analys es at EU level. In addition, EU data include Croatia s ince 20 13, date of the EU’s enlargement to this country.
71
In this report, value and price variations for periods longer than 5 years are analys ed by deflating values us ing the GDP deflator (bas e=20 15); for s horter periods,
nominal value and price variations are analys ed.
72
S almonids include s almon and trout, plus other types of s almonids s pecies .
73
Farmed s pecies belonging to this group include gilthead s eabream and other s eabreams , s eabass , and marine s pecies not included in other commodity groups . For
more information, pleas e cons ult the “ Harmonis ation” page of the EUMOFA webs ite at the link http://www.eumofa.eu/harmonis ation.
69

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registering an 11% decrease from the previous year, and “other marine fish” increasing
by 2%.
In value terms, the above-mentioned commodity groups showed different patterns.
Both bivalves, other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates, and salmonids declined
considerably compared with 2017, decreasing by 10% and 12%, respectively, due tothe lower production value of mussel in France and salmon in the United Kingdom. On
the other hand, “other marine fish” reached its five -year peak in 2018, driven by theincreasing production value of European seabass in Spain.
The volume and value composition of the EU’s farmed production detailed by maincommercial species is shown in charts 81 and 82.

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a), FAO, national
administrations and FEAP data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

700

623.916 tonnes
- 1%

600
500

1.000 tonnes

CHART 79
VOLUMES OF MOSTPRODUCED COMMODITYGROUPS IN THE EU AND% VARIATIONS
2018/2017363.103 tonnes
- 11%

400
300

190.196 tonnes
+ 2%

200
100

101.500 tonnes
- 8%

0
2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Bivalves and other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates
Salmonids
Other marine fish

Freshwater fish

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a), FAO, national
administrations and FEAP data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

2,25
2,00

EUR 1,82 billion
- 12%

1,75
1,50

EUR billion

CHART 80
VALUES OF MOSTVALUED COMMODITYGROUPS FARMED IN THE
EU AND % VARIATIONS
2018/2017

EUR 1,12 billion- 10%
EUR 1,05 billion+ 0,1%

1,25
1,00
0,75

0,50

EUR 0,40 billion
+ 49%

0,25
0,00
2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Salmonids
Bivalves and other molluscs and aquatic invertebrates

Other marine fish
Tuna and tuna-like species

91

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CHART 81COMPOSITION OF EU AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION BY MAIN COMMERCIAL SPECIES (IN VOLUME)
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_aq2a), FAO and FEAP data.
More details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background.

Freshwater
catfish1%

Mussel37%

Others3%

Mussel36%

Others3%
Bluefin tuna
2%

Turbot1%
Clam
3%

Turbot
1%

Clam
3%
Trout
16%

European seabass
4%

Carp
6%

Trout
14%

European seabass
7%

Carp
6%

Gilthead seabream
8%Gilthead seabream
7%

Salmon12%Oyster9%

Salmon13%

Oyster
8%

+ 3%
20 09
1, 28 million tonnes

20 18
1, 32 million tonnes+ 38.6 56 ton n e s

CHART 82COMPOSITION OF EU AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION BY MAIN COMMERCIAL SPECIES – IN REAL VALUE (BASE=2015)
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_aq2a), FAO and FEAP data.
More details on the sources used can be found in the Methodological background. Values are deflated by using the GDP deflator.

Turbot
2%

Trout
21%

Others6%

Bluefin tuna
2%
Clam
4%

Turbot2%
Carp
3%

Salmon
20%

Carp
4%

Salmon26%

Others
6%

Trout
14%

Clam
5%
Bluefin tuna
8%

European seabass
8%

Mussel12%Gilthead seabream
10%

European seabass
10%

Mussel8%Oyster9%

Oyster11%

Gilthead seabream
9%+ 36 %
20 09
E UR 3,56 b illion+ E UR 1, 29 b illio n

20 18
E UR 4,85 b illion

In volume terms, the species composition of EU aquaculture production remain ed
similar to ten years before, although there were significant variations in its value
structure in real terms. The shift in the top-ranked species, namely salmon and trout,was due to a trend that saw trout decreasing in value in Italy, while salmon was
doubling in value, mainly in the UK. The price increase of salmon in Europe was caused
by a production decline from 2015 to 2017.

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From 2009 to 2018, the real value of European seabass and gilthead seabreamaugmented considerably, with Greece and Spain registering the strongest increases. In
Greece, the value of European seabass grew by 70%, while the value of giltheadseabream grew by 18%. In Spain, the value of European seabass rose by 120%.

In the last ten
years, the realvalues of salmon,
European seabass,
gilthead seabream,
bluefin tuna andclam recorded aconsiderable
increase.

An even more significant increase was reported for bluefin tuna and clam. The bluefin
tuna increase was due to an outstanding trend in Maltese production, whichskyrocketed by more than 400%, growing by 13.885 tonnes from 2009 to 2018.
Bluefin tuna production thus reached 17.326 tonnes for a value of EUR 229 million in
Malta, which represented a 375% increase, almost four times higher than ten years
before, even after adjusting for inflation 74. Also to be noted, from 2017 to 2018,
Spanish production also grew notably, increasing 49% in volume and 74% in value dueto three different economic occurrences: some companies actually increased theirproduction in 2018, others recovered from activities that had stopped in 2016 , andsome decided to stock their quantities in 2017 and sell them in 2018. This upward
trend in bluefin tuna’s value has been possible thanks to a significant increase in
Mediterranean quotas between 2016 and 2018, as “farmed production” of this species
calls for fattening of wild-caught tuna.
Although farmed clam volume declined 9% from 2009 to 2018, its real value in the
EU grew by almost 50%. This was led by a 55% increase in Italian production value,
which advanced from EUR 101 million to EUR 156 million. Its markedly upward trend,
due to a strong 64% price increase, was mainly linked to a shortage of the Italian
supply in 2015.
The above mentioned trends, together with a decline of the value of mussels’
production, reduced the share of mussel in the total value of the EU’s aquaculture
production.
Further on this topic, two more species need to be mentioned: meagre and Senegalesesole. Their production in the EU rose progressively and strongly over the decade, withmeagre increasing 270% and reaching 6.827 tonnes in 2018, and Senegalese soleincreasing 1318% and reaching 893 tonnes. Spain, the leading producer of both
species, accounted for 59% of meagre’s total EU production and 100% of Senegalesesole’s. Other notable producers of meagre are Greece and Croatia.
As for the evolution between 2017 and 2018, chart 83 shows that only two of the top
ten species farmed in the EU increased in value : European seabass and bluefin tuna.
Conversely, the drops observed for salmon and clam corresponded to decreases of EUR
225 million and EUR 66 million, respectively. The salmon decrease was due to reduced
production in the United Kingdom, while clam’s decrease reflected a 32% drop of thevalue of production in Italy.

The increas e s een in Maltes e fattening of bluefin tuna could als o be related to illegal and unreported farming of the s pecies in Malta. Ins pections on the is land’s tunapens between S eptember and October of 20 18 uncovered how ranchers had concealed hundreds of extra fis h, and that consequently res ulted in an upward adjustment
of declared volumes .
74

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CHART 83
VALUES OF MAIN SPECIESFARMED IN THE EU IN
2018 AND % VARIATION
2018/2017

- 17%
1.116

1.000

million euros

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a) and FAO data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

1.200

800

- 3%
668
+ 3%
504

600

- 5%
462

- 7%
457

- 6%
420

400

+ 49%
403
- 21%
243

200

- 4%
180

+ 1%
270
- 6%
76

0
SalmonTrout

European Gilthead Oyster
seabass seabream

MusselBluefin
tuna

Clam

Carp

TurbotOthersBY MEMBER STATE In 2018, the top five EU aquaculture producing countries, namely the UK, France, Spain,
Greece and Italy, accounted for more than 70% of total EU aquaculture production inboth volume and value. Spain and Greece showed upward trends in both the short andlong terms, while France, the UK and Italy followed a different path.
Spain’s increase in aquaculture production was linked to a progressive growth of both
farmed European seabass, which in 2018 reached 22.526 tonnes worth EUR 147
million, and farmed bluefin tuna. Greece registered a five -year peak in volumes of both
farmed gilthead seabream and European seabass, which in 2018 reached 56.185
tonnes and 47.028 tonnes, respectively. In value terms, these two species reached theirfive-year peaks in 2017, and then both declined by 3% in 2018. Although farmed
mussel in France saw decreases of 7% in volume and 26% in value from 2017 to2018, its total production increased in the last five years, mainly linked to increased
farmed oyster and trout. The UK and Italy showed aquaculture production decreases
from 2017, recording a drop in volume but an increase in value in the long term. The
trends were strongly influenced by salmon in the UK and clam in Italy.
As for the other main producers, Malta registered a five-year peak in 2018, thanks to
the increased production of bluefin tuna. The aquaculture production in the
Netherlands, although increasing slightly from 2017 to 2018, showed a 4% decreasein volume and a 16% decrease in value compared with 2014, because of a drop in
farmed mussel. In the last five years, Ireland’s total production grew by 18%, from29.327 tonnes in 2014 to 34.605 tonnes in 2018. It also showed a 56% increase intotal value, growing from EUR 106 million in 2014 to EUR 165 million in 2018, due toa 56% price increase in salmon.

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TABLE 22
VOLUME OF
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTION IN THE
EU TOP-5 PRODUCINGCOUNTRIES(1.000 TONNES)
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a), FAO and FEAP data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

TABLE 23
VALUE OF AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTION IN THE
EU TOP-5 PRODUCINGCOUNTRIES (MILLIONEUROS)
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a), FAO and FEAP data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

M e m b e r State

20 14

20 15

20 16

20 17

20 18

20 18/20 17

Spain

285

294

287

315

319

+1%

France

181

164

182

189

187

-1%

United Kingdom

215

212

194

222

185

-17%

Italy

149

148

142

159

143

-10 %

Greece

88

108

123

126

132

+5%

M e m b e r State

20 14

20 15

20 16

20 17

20 18

20 18/20 17

United Kingdom

953

995

1.019

1.283

1.079

-16 %

France

634

626

727

771

687

-11%

Spain

472

513

559

578

658

+14 %

Greece

439

477

526

546

536

-2%

Italy

366

438

420

555

439

-21%

CHART 84
VOLUME OF
AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTION IN THE
MAIN EU PRODUCINGCOUNTRIESIN 2018 AND% VARIATION 2018/2017
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a) and FAO data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

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CHART 85
VALUE OF AQUACULTURE
PRODUCTION IN THE
MAIN EU PRODUCINGCOUNTRIES IN 2018 AND% VARIATION 2018/2017
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a) and FAO data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

6.2 ANALYSIS BY MAIN SPECIESSALMONIDS Salmonids account for almost 40% of the value of EU farmed production . In 2018,salmon accounted for 23% of all species farmed in the EU, and trout accounted for
14%.

SALMON EU production of salmon reached 169.587 tonnes in 2018, a 20% decrease from thepeak it achieved in 2017. The average price was 6,58 EUR/kg, the highest everregistered for this species, resulting in a total value of EUR 1,11 billion.
As EU salmon is almost entirely farmed in the UK, which produces 90% of the total,
the trend at EU level reflects what is seen at UK level, as shown in chart 86. Comparedwith 2017, salmon in the UK dropped 18% in volume in 2018, declining from 189.707
to 156.025 tonnes, and 17% in value, from EUR 1,20 billion to EUR 993 million. The
price level in 2018 remained stable compared with 2017.
Ireland was a far second, farming 11.984 tonnes of salmon for a total value of EUR
115 million in 2018. This represented decreases of 35% in volume and 14% in value
compared with 2017. The average price increased 31%, from 7,28 EUR/kg to 9,56
EUR/kg.
Salmon production in Ireland is exclusively organic, while only around 3% of salmon
farmed in the UK is organic 75.

75

S ource: 20 17 es timates from BIM (Bord Ias caigh Mhara) and experts.

96

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200

VOLUME

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online data
code: fish_aq2a).
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

1.350

175

1.250

150

1.150

125

1.050

100

950
850

75

VALUE

CHART 86
UK PRODUCTION OF
FARMED SALMON

750

50

650

25

550
450

0
2009

2010

2011

2013

2012

2014

2015

2016

2018

2017

values (million euros)

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

TROUT In 2018, the EU produced 187.858 tonnes of trout – mostly rainbow trout(Oncorhynchus mykiss ) – valued at EUR 668 million. Compared with 2017, theproduction decreased by 4% in volume and 3% in value . The average price increased
from 3,53 EUR/kg to 3,55 EUR/kg, the highest in the last ten years.
More than half of EU trout production takes place in Italy, France and Denmark, whichin 2018 accounted for 18%, 18% and 15% of total volume, respectively. Comparedwith 2017, Denmark saw the most volume reduction, which pushed the price to 3,34
EUR/kg, the highest in the last five years.
As for the other producers, it is worth mentioning Germany’s downward trend of thelast ten years. From 2009 to 2018, its farmed trout fe ll by 61% in volume and 49% in
real value, corresponding to 13.209 tonnes and EUR 32 million, while its average pricein real terms increased 31%, from 3 EUR/kg to 3,92 EUR/kg.
TABLE 24PRODUCTION OF FARMED
TROUT IN MAIN EU
PRODUCING COUNTRIES
Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online data
code: fish_aq2a).
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.

BIVALVES AND
OTHER MOLLUSCS
AND AQUATIC
INVERTEBRATES

20 18% va riations 2018/2017

M e mber StateVo l u me(t on n e s )P r ic e(E UR / kg )Va l u e(millio n e u r o s )Vo l u me

P r ic e

Va lu eFrance33.540

3,66

123

-6 %

-5 %

-1 1%

Italy

34.286

2,95

101

-4%

-1 %

-6 %

Denmark

28.280

3,34

95

-8 %

+ 2%

-6 %

In 2018, EU Member States farmed 623.916 tonnes of bivalves and other molluscs
and aquatic invertebrates, which represented a 1% or 5.127-tonne decline from 2017.
Their value reached EUR 1,82 billion, indicating a decrease of 12% or EUR 240 million
from the peak registered in 2017.
Three main commercial species – mussel, clam and oyster – accounted for 98% of thetotal volume and value of this commodity group.

MUSSEL Among all species farmed in the EU, mussel accounts for the highest volume, covering
more than 35% of total EU aquaculture production.
After reaching a peak in 2017, the 2018 EU production of mussel amounted to458.251 tonnes with a total value of EUR 400 million. This represented a decline of
1% in volume and 5% in value from the previous year.

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Spain and France accounted for 34% and 25%, respectively, of total mussel value inthe EU. However, Spain covers more than half of total volume . This is because Spainmainly produces Mediterranean mussel ( Mytilus galloprovincialis ), of which a large
share is used as raw material for processing, while France mostly produces the morevaluable blue mussel ( Mytilus edulis ).
The two countries showed different patterns in the last ten years. In 2018, the Spanish
production reached a ten-year peak of 242.725 tonnes and EUR 134 million, which
represented growth of 22% in volume and 35% in real values from 2009. On the other
hand, France followed a downward trend, dropping to 48.818 tonnes and EUR 101
million in 2018, which amounted to decre ases of 7% in volume and 62% in value
compared with 2017. However, when looking at the ten -year comparison, these
represented drops of 41% in volume and 37% in real value from 2009.
CHART 87
PRODUCTION OF FARMED MUSSEL IN MAIN EU PRODUCING COUNTRIES
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT data (online data code: fish_aq2a). Values are deflated by using the GDP deflator (base=2015).

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018VOLUMEVALUE

VOLUMEvolume (1.000 tonnes)

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

volume (1.000 tonnes)

value (million euros)

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

VALUE

France

Spain
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0

value (million euros)

CLAM In 2018, the EU production of clam dropped remarkably from 2017, with volumes

decreasing 17% to 40.472 tonnes, and values decreasing 21% to EUR 243 million. Thiswas mainly driven by the decrease registered in Italy for Japanese carpet shell(Ruditapes philippinarum ).
Italy is by far the main EU producer of clams. In 2018, its production of 31.056 tonnes,
worth EUR 161 million, represented 77% of the volume and 66% of the value of total
EU production. After reaching a peak in 2015, the country followed a fluctuating trend
which in 2018 resulted in a 36% contraction of the supply and a 42% price increase.
The EU production continues to be too low to meet demand, primarily in Italy, its major
market. Thus, demand in Italy is increasingly being met by imports of frozen clams
from Asia.76

CHART 88
PRODUCTION OF FARMED
CLAM IN ITALY

250
225

40

200
175

30

150
125

20

100
75

10

50
25

0

0
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

76

Ibidem

98

2015

2016

2017

values (million euros)

2018

VALUE

VOLUME

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT (online data code:
fish_aq2a) and FAO data.
More details on the sources
used can be found in the
Methodological background.
Values are deflated by using the
GDP deflator (base=2015).

50

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONA Q U ACULTUREOYSTER In 2018, the EU farmed 109.039 tonnes of oysters with a total value of EUR 457

Source: EUMOFA, based on
EUROSTAT data (online data
code: fish_aq2a). Values are
deflated by using the GDP
deflator (base=2015).

VOLUMECHART 89
PRODUCTION OF FARMEDOYSTER IN FRANCE

100

450

90

400

80

350

70

300

60

250

50

VALUE

million. In volume terms, the production was 9% higher than 2017 and only 2% below
the peak of ten years before. On the other hand, the value, although 14% higher thanin 2009 in real terms, was 7% less than the 2017 peak. Pacific cupped oyster(Crassostrea gigas ) is by far the main oyster species farmed in the EU.
Almost 85% of EU oyster production takes place in France. In 2018, 92.092 tonnes
were farmed in the country, an 8% increase from 2017, and sold at an average priceof 4,14 EUR/kg, the lowest price since 2009. The total value reached EUR 382 million,
a 10% decrease from 2017.

200
2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

volumes (1.000 tonnes)

2015

2016

2017

2018

values (million euros)

OTHER MARINE FISH Two species of this commodity group, namely gilthead seabream and European
seabass, together accounted for over 20% of the total value of EU aquaculture
production (10% and 11%, respectively). If compared with total production of thecommodity group they belong to, their combined share was higher than 90% (48% forEuropean seabass, 44% for gilthead seabream).
They are usually farmed in the same plants in the Mediterranean, prevalently in Greeceand Spain.

GILTHEAD SEABREAM In 2018, the EU production of gilthead seabream declined by 3% in volume and 5% invalue compared with 2017, totalling 92.107 tonnes and EUR 462 million.
Volume remained stable in Greece, whereas its price dropped by 3% from 4,62 to 4,47
EUR/kg, causing value to decrease by the same extent. During 2017–2018, a moresignificant decrease was observed in Spain, where the volume dropped by 20% to13.662 tonnes and the value diminished by 22% to EUR 69 million, despite prices
decreasing by only 3%, from 5,20 to 5,07 EUR/kg. To be noted, Spain’s production ofgilthead seabream also followed a downward trend in the long term, with 2018
volumes and real values dropping by 41% and 23%, respectively, compared with 2009.
Export prices of whole fresh gilthead seabream from EU Member States decreased by
1% in 2019 compared with 2018. Turkish exports of the same species to the EUcontinued to increase, growing 7% in 2019, while export prices declined a slight 1%. In
2019, the average price for Turkish fresh seabream exported to the EU was 1,20
EUR/kg lower than for fresh seabream exported by EU producers to the EU market. In
the first quarter of 2020, EU market prices of fresh whole seabream trended up, andEU export prices averaged 7% higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2019.

99

EUR OP EAN MARKET OBS ERVATORY FOR FIS HERIES AND AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS - THE EU FIS H MAR KET - 20 20 EDITIONA Q U ACULTURE

CHART 90
PRODUCTION OF FARMED GILTHEAD SEABREAM IN MAIN EU PRODUCING COUNTRIES
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_aq2a) and FAO data. More details on the sources used can be found in the
Methodological background. Values are deflated by using the GDP deflator (base=2015).
Spain

40

300

250

50

250

200

40

200

30

150

20

100
50

VOLUMEVOLUME

50

60

VALUE

60

300

30

150

20

100

10

50

10

0

0

0

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

volume (1.000 tonnes)

2015

2016

2017

2018

value (million euros)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

volume (1.000 tonnes)

VALUE

Greece0value (million euros)

EUROPEAN SEABASS European seabass production in the EU posted a record year in 2018, with volume of

86.236 tonnes and value of EUR 504 million. Compared with 2017, total volumes andvalues increased by 9% and 3%, respectively, while over the 10 -year 2009–2018
period, they grew significantly in real terms, by 50% and 74%, respectively.
Greece and Spain together accounted for more than 80% of the EU production.
From 2017, farmed European seabass in Greece increased by 6% in volume. However,
due to its price declining 9% from 5,59 EUR/kg to 5,09 EUR/kg, its value decreased 3%from the peak recorded the previous year.
After the drop recorded in 2017, the production of European seabass in Spain started
to grow again in 2018, thus making both its volume and value 2% lower than the peakregistered in 2016. Nevertheless, they were, respectively, 78% and 120% higher thanten years before in real terms. The average 2018 price of 6,36 EUR/kg marked a 4%
decline from 2017, but was 23% highe r than 2009, in real terms.

CHART 91
PRODUCTION OF FARMED EUROPEAN SEABASS IN MAIN EU PRODUCING COUNTRIES
Source: EUMOFA, based on EUROSTAT (online data code: fish_aq2a) and FAO data. More details on the sources used can be found in the
Methodological background. Values are deflated by using the GDP deflator (base=2015).

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

volume (1.000 tonnes)

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

value (million euros)

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

volume (1.000 tonnes)

100

value (million euros)

250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0

VALUE

VOLUME

Spain
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0

VALUE

VOLUME

Greece
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

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