Fish Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Fish Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The global fish market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period (2021-2026). The pandemic Covid-19 impact on the market is seen in the terms of production, processing and distribution due to labor shortages and lockdown restrictions. The global fish trade has become restrained due to regulations aimed at containing pandemic. Fresh fish supply chains were severely impacted by the closure of the food service sectors (e.g. hotels, restaurants and catering facilities, including school and work canteens). The processing sector also faced closures due to reduced/lost consumer demand.

The global fish production peaked at around 177.8 million metric ton in 2019 with aquaculture representing nearly 52.0% of the world fish production. Fisheries and aquaculture are increasingly becoming a primary source of protein, foreign exchange, livelihoods, and well-being of the population in the Asia-Pacific region. China accounts for over sixty percent of global aquaculture production, and continues to maintain its predominance in both inland and marine aquaculture. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO), China has remained a major fish producer, accounting for 35 percent of global fish production in 2018. Excluding China, a significant share of production in 2018 came from Asia (34 percent), followed by the Americas (14 percent), Europe (10 percent), Africa (7 percent) and Oceania (1 percent).

Organic fishery and aquaculture products represent a niche market in Europe. In the main EU countries surveyed by the European Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EUMOFA), Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, 46,500 tonnes of unprocessed fishery and aquaculture products consumed in 2019 originated from organic production.

Driven by higher incomes and urbanization, global consumption of fish is growing at a faster rate than the global population. Hence, the aquaculture share in the regional supply is expected to expand in a way that captures fisheries and aquaculture will be contributing equal amounts by the end of the forecast period. ​

Key Market TrendsExport Oriented Aquaculture to Drive the Fish Production

Aquaculture expanded steadily in the Asia-Pacific region in the past years, contributing to more than 40% of the global fishery production. The exports of aquaculture products in many Asian countries are earning half a billion dollars per year, which is primarily contributing to aquaculture growth in the Asia-Pacific region. On the market side, aquaculture export growth in the Asian market is majorly driven by Europe and North American markets. More than half of the domestic production in the countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, India, and Indonesia are destined only for Europe and North American markets, with Vietnam covering nearly three-quarters of production to export share in 2019. ​

However, increased government support and improved transportation infrastructure increased the importance of international trade in the last ten years. For instance, in India, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) launched an initiative to develop a GPS-based database of export-oriented aquaculture farms in the country to ensure their traceability and quality control. Recognizing the importance and potential of the fisheries sector, the Government of India approved the flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), in May 2020 under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat COVID-19 relief package with a vision to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector. Similarly in Indonesia, the PROTEKAN (Program to Increase Exports of Fisheries) program is aimed at intensifying the fishery exports.​ Thus the increasing export-oriented production of fish is likely to further enhance the production thereby enhancing the fish consumption in the world.

China to Dominate the Global Fish Production

China is one of the largest producers of fish in the world, and is expected to witness a nominal CAGR over the forecast period. The freshwater fishes dominated the Chinese fisheries aquaculture sector, accounting for nearly 93.0% of the total aquaculture fish production in the country during 2018-19, followed by marine fished at 5.6% and the rest was garnered by the diadromous fishes during the same period. The country claims to have a total of 18.7 million people who are active in fisheries, including the allied industries.

According to the FAO report 2020, Catches from inland fisheries were at their highest ever in 2018 at 12.0 million tonnes. The top seven producing countries of global capture fisheries accounted for almost 50 percent of total captures, with China producing 15 percent of the total, followed by Indonesia (7 percent), Peru (7 percent) and India (6 percent). However, the average wage of the fisherman in the country stood at USD 2,685 in 2018, even below the industrial wage, which is thus limiting the mainstream nature of aquaculture in the country.

In addition to production, Asia-Pacific especiialy china, fuelled by fast-growing domestic income and wealth, by far the world’s largest fish consuming country. According to report Fish to 2030: Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture, a collaboration between world bank and FAO, and the International Food Policy Research Institute( IFRI), by 2030, Asian countries are anticipated to account for about 70% of global fish consumption, of which fish farms would provide nearly two-thirds of the world's fish supply.

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