February 22, 2005

 

 

Australia's larger fish output yields lower revenue

 

Australia's fisheries produced more last year but a surging local dollar dragged down the value of the catch, new figures show.

 

Fisheries production rose by five per cent in 2003-04 to about 267,000 tonnes, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), said in the latest edition of Australian Fisheries Statistics.

 

"Despite increased production the overall gross value of production fell by five per cent to A$2.2 billion, due primarily to a stronger Australian dollar that resulted in lower prices for many species," said ABARE.

 

The Australian dollar rose by 22 per cent against the greenback and by 13 per cent against the Japanese yen over the financial year.

 

The gross value of wild caught production dropped 10 per cent to A$1.49 billion from A$1.65 billion in 2002-03, while aquaculture fell by less than one per cent to A$732 million.

 

But aquaculture's share of the gross value of fisheries production increased a little from 32 per cent in 2002-03 to just under 34 per cent last financial year.

 

Despite falls in the gross value of production, sectors including prawns, abalone and a number of finfish maintained their value despite the rise in the Australian dollar and production costs.

 

Seafood imports recorded a 14 per cent rise in volume to 188,000 tonnes, but the rising Australian dollar and falling world prices drove their value down by five per cent to A$905 million.

 

The value of fisheries exports fell by 10 per cent from the previous year to about A$1.65 billion, driven mainly by an 11 per cent drop in the value of seafood exports such as rock lobster, tuna, abalone and prawns.

 

About 80 per cent of Australia's fisheries exports for the year were seafood, with the remaining 20 per cent made up of products like pearls, fishmeal and marine fats and oils.

 

Non-edible exports recorded a fall in value of eight per cent for 2003-04 to below A$333 million, caused by a drop in the price of pearl exports.

 

Seafood exports into some Asian markets were yet to return to levels seen before the SARS epidemic, ABARE said.

 

"The value of exports to a number of Asian markets such as China, Chinese Taipei and Japan have not recovered to pre-SARS levels," ABARE's report said.

 

"However, exports of some products recovered in 2003-04, with the value of exports of abalone and scallops increasing by around 10 per cent and 22 per cent respectively."

 

Exports to Australia's biggest seafood market, Japan, fell by 22 per cent from 2002-03.

 

Japan remained our largest seafood export market, accounting for A$489 million, or 38 per cent of the total edible exports in 2003-04.

 

Hong Kong and the United States were the next biggest destinations, taking seafood worth A$381 million and A$126 million respectively.