Przemysł przetwórstwa rybnego w Polsce – retrospekcja i ocena skutków przemian
Authors: Zieziula Jolanta , Czapliński Paweł 
Published: February 2025

The fish processing industry is one of the most rapidly growing groups of food industry activities in Poland. After a period of apparent stagnation in the first years of the introduction of the market economy, it has undergone deep and radical restructuring changes that have allowed a rapid increase in the competitiveness of enterprises. In the conditions of the economic slowdown caused by the global economic crisis, fish processing enterprises continue to show great adaptability to the turbulently changing conditions of the market game. Not only is the volume and value of sold production, employment, as well as the number of fish processing plants increasing. This is mainly due to the launch of more processing plants authorized to trade in fish products within the EU. It can be assumed that the European market has not only guaranteed the economic existence of existing enterprises, but has become an impetus for the emergence of new production units offering their products and services on the EU market. The role of coastal provinces as traditional locations for fish processing plants is changing. Particularly in the case of Pomeranian Voivodeship, a regression is visible. However, this is a slow process, which does not yet depreciate the position of this region in the spatial structure of the fish processing industry. Among the remaining locations, large urban agglomerations or places located along the most important transportation routes are noteworthy. Thus, the relevance of the most important locational factors for this type of activity is changing from raw materials to demand. The size structure of fish processing is extremely diverse. The majority are microenterprises, and there are few enterprises with more than 250 employees. The ownership structure shows the dominance of the private sector, operating partly with foreign capital. After Poland joined the European Union, the interest of both consumers and foreign companies in Polish products increased. Polish enterprises, as a result of clear price advantages and comparable quality, became competitive with EU enterprises and products. Due to lower production costs, foreign companies are also interested in outsourcing the production of their products to plants located in Poland. As a result of these changes and the simultaneous adaptation of Polish plants to EU hygiene and sanitary requirements, the first years of Poland&rsquo;s functioning within the EU saw an uninterrupted increase in the export of processed fish products. The most serious problem, however, is the shortage of domestic raw fish. It is supplemented by imports, which makes it difficult to maintain a stable supply of raw material, in terms of quantity, quality and price, to processing plants, and processed products to the domestic market. However, as a result of strong lobbying, the process of equalization of prices of fish processing products in the European Union markets is visible, and the price advantage of Polish processing is slowly but steadily decreasing. There are many indications that the deconcentration of the fish processing industry will continue in the coming years. This mainly concerns the decrease in the size of the fish processing potential in the coastal provinces (especially in Pomerania). The pace of the process is slow and, in the short term, will not cause statistically significant changes in the existing spatial structure of the industrial group under study. It is worth noting the new locations, especially of small enterprises in regions not previously associated with fish processing (e.g. in the provinces of Eastern Poland).
New locations of enterprises, as well as organizational and ownership changes (such as relocation) within the existing units resulted in the creation of &ldquo;new&rdquo; or reformulation of &ldquo;old&rdquo; concentrations of processing enterprises. The new operating formula would be based on the cluster theory. However, the process of their formation on a national scale is at the incubation stage, and the idea of a national cluster is rather theoretical.
The fish processing industry in Poland requires support from local and national authorities, as initially formulated in the recommendations. Special support is required to gain access to sources of supply of raw fish, domestic and foreign.
Conducting research on the functioning of Polish fish processing enterprises in the context of the European integration process allowed to gather theoretical knowledge about the possibilities of enterprise development in accordance with the directives and recommendations of the European Union. In addition, the results obtained indicate the spatial framework of the functioning of enterprises based on their own resources and absorption of funds, and identifies opportunities for their more effective use. The collected data will primarily be used in scientific work, however, the results of the research can find a very wide theoretical, cognitive and applied use in the process of enterprise transformation and development of the fish processing industry in Poland.