June 19, 2006

Irish seafood industry growing despite production troubles

The demand for Irish seafood is present, but production has not been able to keep pace with demand. In spite of this, the Irish seafood industry's retail market grew by 5.5 percent in 2005, according to a report from Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

According to BIM's annual review for 2005, retail sales of seafood were valued at EUR 185m last year while seafood exports were at EUR 354m. Reduced fish supplies and increased costs due to higher fuel prices resulted in a 24-percent decline in volume and a 7 percent decline in export value on-year.

Reduced fish landings at Irish ports and static output from the aquaculture sector prevented the Irish industry from fully capitalising on the favourable demand in 2005, said Pat Keogh, BIM's CEO.