Brussels, 26/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - According to the figures from the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products published on Monday 25 July, first sales of fish increased in volume and in value for Greece, Lithuania and the United Kingdom compared with the same period, January-April, last year, 2015.
Spain landed 67,582 tonnes of fresh fish in the period from January to April 2016, 4% less than in January-April 2015 and 7% less than in January-April 2014. Of the 21 reporting fishing ports, 12 recorded decreases in volume from the same month last year. The highest landings were in Vigo, 5,333 tonnes (down 5%). Megrim (down 32%) and swordfish (down 60%) contributed most to the decrease.
In Belgium, in January-April 2016, first sales decreased in both volume (down 5% from January-April 2015) and value (down 2%). Sole, the leading species, experienced a sharp decrease in landed volume (381 tonnes in April 2016, down from 449 tonnes in April 2015 and 583 tonnes in April 2014).
In Denmark in the January-April 2016 period, first-sales value increased by 16%, while volume fell by 19%, compared with January-April 2015. In January-April 2016, Estonia saw decreases in both first-sales value and volume (down 3% and 7%, respectively) from the same period a year before. In France in the same period, first sales experienced a slight decrease from January-April 2015, in both value (2% fall) and volume (1% fall), widely attributable to cephalopods. Norway lobster experienced significant increases (up 19% in value and 36% in volume over April 2015) and was the leading species, ahead of monk and sole, despite a substantial price fall. The most notable decreases in value were recorded for seabass (drop of 39%), squid (39%), and saithe (36%).
In Greece, first sales rose 7% in value and 15% in volume in January-April 2016.
In Italy, first sales decreased sharply in volume (down 17%) but grew slightly in value (up 1%). This situation is caused mainly by anchovy (down 69% in volume). The average price of anchovy increased 71%.
Latvia experienced decreased first-sales value (down 10%) and increased first-sales volume (up 3%). The average price of all species sold fell 13%. This was primarily because of a 16% decline in the value of sprat first sales. In Lithuania in January-April 2016, first sales increased in both value (up 14%) and volume (up 16%) over the same period in the previous year. In Portugal, first sales decreased substantially in January-April 2016 in both volume (down 19% from the same period in 2015) and value (down 6%). Small pelagic catches decreased 40% in both value and volume, affected by the management decisions on sardine (no fishing in April).
In Sweden, first-sales value and volume decreased in January-April 2016, at €28.8 million (down 4%) and 55,910 tonnes (down 17%) from the same period in 2015. This was mainly caused by lower landings of sprat (a fall of 14%) and herring (down 13%), while the first-sales price of these two species increased slightly.
In the United Kingdom in January-April 2016, first-sales value increased 5%, to €241.1 million. First-sales volume in the same period was 145,320 tonnes (up 5%). The increase in first-sales volume was mainly because of a higher UK quota of mackerel in 2016 over 2015, leading to larger landings (an increase of 19%). In April 2016, first-sales value and volume decreased 20% and 26%, respectively, to €46.1 million and 21,860 tonnes. Declining landings of scallop (down 26%) and hake (31%) were the main contributory factors.
Bluefin tuna. The season for Atlantic Bluefin tuna in the western area and in the central area of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Adriatic ran from 26 May to 24 June 2016 for seiners, the observatory report points out. Most European vessels had fished their quotas by the start of June. The quotas for 2016 were 40% higher than those of two years previously. Spain, France and Italy were the main beneficiaries of this increase. First-sales prices fell in a number of fish markets as a result of the volume increase. A trend observed since 2010 suggests that an increase of up to 50% in exports is likely. Consumption of fresh Bluefin tuna is on the increase along the Mediterranean coast of the EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)