May 7, 2024

EU farms 1.08 million tonnes of aquatic organisms in 2022

An estimated 1.08 million tonnes of aquatic organisms were farmed in the European Union in 2022, at a value of €4.9 billion (US$5.3 billion), Eurostat announced last month.

In 2022, four EU countries collectively accounted for about two-thirds (67%) of the total production of farmed aquatic organisms: Spain (25%), France (17%), Greece (13%) and Italy (12%).

As in previous years, Norway's production surpassed that of the entire EU, with 1.66 million tonnes produced, most of which was salmon.

Production in the EU is focused primarily on finfish species (such as trout, seabream, seabass, carp, tuna and salmon) and molluscs (including mussels, oysters and clams), which together accounted for almost all of the aquaculture production by weight in 2022.

Different aquatic organisms command different prices. The production value of trout (15.1%) and seabass (14.0%) had the highest shares of value for the EU aquatic farming sector.

Fluctuations in production are present due to a variety of reasons, including the fact that some of the species are being bred and grown solely for stocking purposes, some fish species are not harvested yearly and the production of some species is experimental.

Increased energy prices have caused higher production prices, reflected also in selling prices, Eurostat said.

While production in tonnes remained the same or fell in some countries, the total production value in euros climbed higher. Furthermore, some enterprises found it difficult to continue production due to rising costs.

- Eurostat