Fish and Seafood 2008
Total fish and seafood exports grew only 2.4% in 2008, reaching a value of
£1,006.2m.
Source: Leatherhead Food International
- Fresh fish exports rose 8.9% to £241.1m, including a rise of 10.4% in fresh salmon exports to
£136.0m (led by 12.5% growth to the no.1 French market, worth £52.7m; and
growth
of
6.7% to the no.2 market the US, worth £46.8m).
- Frozen fish exports at £169.0m were up a solid 21.6% in 2008, despite a 5.0% drop in the key frozen
mackerel sector to £74.0m (the Russian market tailing off by 2.1% to £37.8m).
- Fish fillet exports dropped 3% to £103.3m despite the top 2 markets of France and Ireland being in
growth (5.8% and 2.0% respectively). The 3rd placed German market fell heavily,
down 13.8%.
- Smoked fish exports at £44.4m were up 4.5%, with the key category of smoked salmon at £32.6m, up a
marginal 3.0% but with the top 3 markets of Italy, France and Belgium all
seeing
declines.
Exports of crustaceans dropped by 6.7% to £238.4m with the key Spanish market largely to blame
(exports to Spain fell 8.9% to £78.6m).
Molluscs exports were also down by 3.9% to £93.3m (despite the leading French market up
by 7.9% to £32.6m)
France (worth £227.6m), Spain (£143.0m) and Italy (£80.6m) remain the 3 key
markets for British exporters, together accounting for just over 50% of all
fish
and
seafood exports. However, a change in export value of just +5.0%, +0.3% and
-4.5% respectively to these markets in 2008 tells the story as to why this
sector
has not grown at the same rate as others.
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More information
Research carried out by Leatherhead Food International for the Food and Drink
Federation (June 2009)
Last reviewed: 03 Jun 2009