Market Trends of europe seafood Industry
The region is focusing on sustainability and broadening the species' concentration
- The EU is the fifth-largest fishery and aquaculture producer worldwide, accounting for about 3% of global production. Around 78% of this production comes from fisheries and 22% from aquaculture. Spain, Denmark, and France are the largest producers in terms of volume in the EU. With growing global environmental concerns, the sustainable development of aquaculture is one of the main objectives of the common fisheries policy in the region. The European Green Deal also recognizes aquaculture production as a source of “low carbon” protein for food and feed.
- Aquaculture production in the region is very diverse in terms of species, farming, and methods of production, such as sea cages, ponds, raceways, and on-land recirculating aquaculture systems. In the EU, more than 45% of aquaculture production is shellfish, more than 30% is marine fish, and more than 20% is freshwater fish. Despite the diversity of fishes, EU fish production is largely concentrated on a few species, like salmon, sea bream, rainbow trout, and seabass.
- Russia accounted for about 33% share of the overall fish produced in the region in 2022. It is also one of the world’s top producers of cod, making it a key market for the European market. However, due to the Russia-Ukraine War, the overall region is facing a shortage of fish as restrictions paused Russia's export of fish and other seafood. The long-restricted access to foreign markets for Russia's seafood industry, which is still highly dependent on exports despite recent efforts to promote domestically caught fish, creates an unpredictable future for the industry.
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Boost in local production and growing expenditure on seafood will help in stabilizing the prices
- In 2021, household expenditure on fish and seafood in Europe grew by 7% from 2020, continuing the upward trend between 2019 and 2020. This was much higher than the 1.5% inflation of prices for fishery and aquaculture products, suggesting that the region's households had spent more money on fish products.
- The market is heavily dependent on imports. In 2022, Europe imported fresh fish worth USD 25 billion. However, more products from local fisheries are finding their way to the European market. Various European countries encourage consumers to buy and consume regional seafood products to sell surpluses of locally produced seafood. For instance, in the Netherlands, initiatives such as Project Dichtbijvangst are involving Dutch youth and foodservice entrepreneurs to increase enthusiasm for North Sea fish. This will help the retailers and processors hold on to their prices by reducing the costs, which will lead to the availability of better-quality products at a cheaper price. The price demand has significant effects on the market price of the fish. Since the fisherman, middleman, and fish vendors have no fixed prices on the catch of the fish, some of them adjust their prices depending on the factors they have experienced.
- Salmons were the most priced fish species in the region during the first half of 2023 at USD 41.29 per kg, followed by red seabream and common sole priced at around USD 34.77 and USD 30.70, respectively. The prices of species also vary with their production conditions and packaging. For instance, fish labeled as organic and vacuum packed are considered premium and sold at a higher price in the market.
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OTHER KEY INDUSTRY TRENDS COVERED IN THE REPORT
- Growing demand and production will impact the prices
- Shrimp production is boosted by surging demands and initiatives by producers
