Seafood industry

Marine fisheries

Definition

All categories of marine fisheries are taken into account, from small coastal fisheries to high sea tuna fisheries. They land fresh and frozen fish, cephalopods, crustacean, shellfish and seaweed products.

1. Metropolitan France not including Corsica (approximately 200 vessels)
2. including seaweed yields
3. A mean value added rate has been estimated from a representative sample.
4. IFREMER data for the North Sea-Channel-Atlantic fisheries in full time equivalents. OFIMER data for the Mediterranean fisheries (number of seamen working aboard for at least 9 months at a time).
5. Number of fishing vessels as of 31/12 that year.
Sources: FranceAgriMer, Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, Ifremer/SIH

Observations

  • The French fishing industry generates a turnover of over EUR 600 millions.
  • The fleet has an overall power of about 750,000 kW and employs 11,000 seamen (full time equivalents).
  • Downward trend in production tonnage and value, in employment and in the number of vessels.
  • But the overall fleet power remains at the same level approximately.
  • Production of overseas fisheries: about 215,000 tonnes with an overall fleet of more than 2,400 vessels.

Trends in activity

The marine fisheries production structure has hardly changed over the recent years. Tune is the most important species in terms of seafood product sales (nearly 20% of landed tonnage and about 13% of overall sales), but fresh fish products account for almost two thirds of landed tonnage and more than 80% of total sales.

1. Amounts expressed in dry weight.
2. Including amounts landed in countries near fishing zones and counted as exports in foreign trade statistics.
3. Landings of deep-sea fisheries in the form of frozen filets are measured in the equivalent whole (gutted) landed weight.
4. including seaweed
Source: FranceAgriMer

In terms of fresh fish auction sales, the ranking of most important commercial species has also hardly changed over the recent years. Sardine, Scallop and Anglerfish are the most important species in terms of landed tonnage; Sole and Anglerfish are the most important in terms of turnover.

Breakdown of turnover and landings of fresh fisheries by main species in 20101
1. Not including tropical tuna
Sources: Ifremer/SIH, Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, source for landed tonnage: fisheries landing declarations; source for turnover: registered sales

Sales per region in 2008 (fresh and frozen fish, excluding seaweed)

  • The ranking of regions in terms of fish yield did not much vary over the recent years.
  • Brittany remains by far the most important region (30% of total sales).
  • Overseas, Guadeloupe is the most important county in terms of fisheries turnover.
Source: FranceAgriMer

European fishing industry: EU Member States' fisheries

Landing value and tonnage has varied depending on member states fisheries over the recent years, according to EU countries national statistics. They are influenced by local drivers such as the state of fish resources, and by general economic drivers such as the growth slowdown in the EU in 2009 as well as management measures such as fishing effort regulation.
France's landings dropped both in tonnage and in value.

1. Fish product landings in EU-27, all product types.
2. Landing tonnage and value as of 2007.
Source: Eurostat

The fishing fleet of metropolitan France from 1990 to 2009

Over the past two decades, all length categories were impacted by the drop in the number of fishing vessels. But over the same period, average power per vessel increased for most categories. The offshore artisanal fishing vessel category was most impacted by power decrease.

Sources: Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, Ifremer/SIH
Sources: Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry, Ifremer/SIH

Mariculture

    The mariculture industry for human consumption includes two subsets:
  • shellfish farming (mainly oysters and mussels),
  • "new" aquaculture to produce fish (sea bass, bream, salmonids, turbot) and shrimp or prawn (mainly shrimp in New Caledonia).
  • In addition, there is oyster farming in Polynesia for pearl production.
1. Until 2007, shellfish farming turnover was valued as the amount of sales to consumers. Since 2008, it is valued as the sum of the sales between breeders and traders and of breeders' sales to consumers (including the sales of hatchery and collection spat).
2. Average value added rate estimated at 70% until 2007. VA rates have been re-assessed on the basis of 2009 data and applied to 2008 and 2010: 55% for oyster and other shellfish farming, 50% for mussel farming, 35% for marine fish farming. The VA rate for pearl production and shrimp farming remains at 70%.
Sources: Ministry's aquaculture survey (includes data since 2008), Ifremer

Observations

  • Production remains stable around the same level but yearly variations may be important.
  • Progress in the activity is reported through administrative surveys.
  • Employment in mariculture (a little more than 10,000 full time equivalents in 2009) mainly comes from shellfish farming (95% of the jobs), which is the most important component of the activity.
Source: Ministry's aquaculture surveys for 2006, 2008 and 2009. FranceAgriMer for 2007.
1. Until 2007, defined as the estimated value of hatchery production. Since 2008-2009, defined as total spat sales (from hatchery or collection) sourced from ministry's annual surveys.
Sources: Ministry's aquaculture survey, SFAM French mariculture association, Statistical Institut of French Polynesia (ISPF) for pearl oyster farming, Institute for Statistical and Economic Studies (ISEE) for shrimp farming in New Caledonia
Source: 2009 Ministry's aquaculture survey. Field: Metropolitan France

European aquaculture: the main producing countries

Observations

  • Six member states account for nearly 80% of the European Union's production in terms of tonnage and value: Spain, Greeece, France, Italy, the Netherlands and UK.
  • Norway alone produces almost the same amount, in tonnage and value, as those six countries overall. Its yield has more than tripled since the 1990s.
  • From modest levels in the 1990s, Greece's and Turkey's productions have also recorded a considerable increase over 15 years and have become major contributors to Europe's production.
  • As compared to the other European countries, France's production appears to be stable over the studied period and has even slightly decreased in terms of tonnage. Its share of the overall European production has decreased.
  • The figures presented in this section combine shellfish and fish farming.
1. na: not available
Source: Eurostat
1. ECU/euro conversion for 1995
2. na: not available
Source: Eurostat

Seafood trade

    The activity includes:
  • fish auctions,
  • fish traders,
  • a number of small trading businesses.
  • Fish auctions are where fishermen offer their supply to buyers, fishmongers and wholesale traders. They are also the place where producer organisations exercise their authority and control to set withdrawal prices. Fish traders are, together with processors and wholesale traders, the main middlemen between fishermen and retail fishmongers. They perform technical (batching, processing and packaging) and commercial operations. Their status is set out in the 1997 law on marine fisheries and mariculture.
1. Including product packaging by fish traders
2. Gross value added at market prices
3. Number of salaried jobs as of 31/12
4. Between 1,100 and 1,200 enterprises registered in the "Sirene" database (directory of enterprises and establishments) from 2001 to 2005, including 130 to 150 sole proprietorships
Source: Insee/SUSE 2001-2007, NAF 2003/51.3S, enterprises with turnover of 0.1 M euros and more. Insee/Esane 2008-2010, NAF 2008/46.38A, enterprises with one salaried employee and more
Source: FranceAgriMer

Seaweed harvesting and processing

    Seaweed production is mainly used for extracting gelling agents (colloids), and has also outlets in farming, pharmaceuticals and the food industry. Seaweed processing is an R&D intensive industry. The companies are principally located in Brittany. Outlets are mainly found in the fields of:
  • cosmetics (production of alginates, colloids and natural gelling agents, some of which are also used by the food industry),
  • food industry (processing, canning and packaging of certain fish species and products),
  • farming, to a lesser extent (natural fertilisers).

Seaweed harvesting

  • Seaweed harvesting by vessel produces 40,000 to 60,000 t/yr for a turnover of about 1.7 to 2.7 million euros.
  • For harvesting on foot, a survey was made of seaweed buying companies in 2008. It indicated that:
    • black kelp was collected on foot by some 20 people, for a total turnover of 300,000 euros;
    • seaweed used as food was mainly collected by about 300 occasionnal harvesters, making a turnover of about 300,000 euros.

Seaweed processing

  • Involves about 65 establishments,
  • 1,630 non-agribusiness jobs,
  • a turnover of about 420 million euros, and
  • a value added estimated at about 100 million euros (source: Ifremer, estimate based on industry sector accounts).
  • Colloid production is operated by establishments belonging to international chemical companies while small-sized enterprises are involved in the processing of edible seaweed.

Seafood processing industry

The seafood processing industry includes companies whose main or secondary activity consists in manufacturing products for human consumption from fish, crustaceans, molluscs and cephalopods. It uses various preserving technics and manufacturing processes. The activity does not include those enterprises which only fillet fish (classified as fish trading enterprises) or seaweed processing enterprises.

1. Units: million euros, nb of jobs, percentage
2. For 2003-2007, code 15.2Z businesses (French industrial classification 2003), enterprises with 20 salaried jobs or more. For 2008-2010, code 10.20Z businesses (French industrial classification 2008), enterprises with one salaried job or more. Code 10.20Z reduces the field of code 15.2Z: a) it does not include manufacturing of fish-based ready-to-eat meals, b) it does not include product packaging by fish traders, c) it includes processing and preserving at sea only by vessels entirely dedicated to this activity.
3. Nb of salaried jobs as of 31/12.
4. 2008 and 2010 estimates based on 2009 turnover and on the activity's turnover growth index.
5. Value added at market prices.
Source: INSEE/SUSE until 2007, INSEE/ESANE from 2008

Breakdown of 2009 turnover

By regions

By product categories (first stage processing: filleting, carving, shelling, packaging and freezing)

Source: FranceAgriMer