Fish landings down by 40.4% in first quarter

Fish landings in the first quarter amounted to 64,969 kilograms, down by 40.4 per cent over the comparative period in 2014. This was due to drops in landings of the majority of the species, mainly Swordfish (69.2 per cent) and Dogfish (30.3 per cent).

Similarly, the wholesale value of landings declined by 31.3 per cent to €432,776 (Table 2). Two comparative quarters are being shown in order to facilitate analysis.

During the first quarter, Maltese fishermen landed 53,774 kilograms, a decrease of 41.1 per cent over the comparative period in 2014.

Landings of Maltese fishermen accounted for 82.8 per cent of total landings.

The decrease was mainly brought about by drops in Swordfish (68.8 per cent) and Dogfish (37.8 per cent). On the other hand, there was a sharp increase in Shrimp landings.

The wholesale value of fish landings by Maltese fishermen amounted to €384,801, down by 28.2 per cent when compared to 2014.

Fish landings by Gozitan fishermen decreased by 36.5 per cent over the comparative period a year earlier.

This was mainly brought about by a decline in most of the species mainly Swordfish (71.9 per cent). In contrast, increases of 87.7 and 1.7 per cent were registered for Bogue and Dogfish respectively.

 In terms of volume, landings by Gozitan fishermen comprised 17.2 per cent of total landings. Wholesale value was €47,975, a drop of 49.0 per cent over the first quarter of 2014.

The ‘All Items’ fresh fish price index for the first quarter of 2015 stood at 124.08 points, an increase of 12.00 points over the comparative period in 2014.

The decrease in the supply of fresh fish was reflected in the quarterly ‘All Items’ fresh fish volume index, which stood at 19.94 points, down by 13.50 points over the first quarter of 2014.