January 12, 2007

 

Norwegian pelagic fish exports down 19 percent on-year

 

 

Despite a record year of seafood exports in 2006, Norway's exports of pelagic fish fell by 19 percent on-year to 5.5 billion crowns (US$854.8 million) in 2006 due to lower prices, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC) said.

 

Aquaculture exports totalled US$2.9 billion, up by 24 percent with salmon accounting for US$2.7 billion, while revenue from traditional fishing exports remained at US$2.68 billion

 

Herring exports fell by 17 percent to 3.0 billion crowns (US$466.2 million).

 

Exports of frozen whole herring fell by 44,000 tonnes to 323,000 tonnes.

 

However, exports of frozen fillet products rose by 7,000 tonnes to 106,000 tonnes, and fresh whole herring saw a significant increase of 31,000 tonnes to 88,000 tonnes.

 

The average prices of frozen whole herring fell nearly 15 percent.

 

Mackerel exports dropped by 26 percent to 1.7 billion crowns (US$264.2 million) and by 17,000 tonnes to 151,000 tonnes.

 

Exports of frozen whole mackerel to Japan fell sharply by 34,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes. Mackerel exports to Russia presented a much brighter picture, doubling to 20,000 tonnes in 2006.

 

The average price of frozen mackerel under 0.6 kg fell by more than 20 percent.

 

Exports to Norway's largest pelagic export markets, Russia, Japan and Ukraine, shrank both in terms of volume and in value.

 

Norway's seafood exports surged by US$567.6 million to an all-time high of US$5.6 billion in 2006, thanks to record high exports of salmon, bacalao and dried fish.

 

Value of exports to the UK, Denmark, Egypt, Turkey, the Netherlands and the USA, registered the largest increase.