Squid continues to rise and, at 32.5 million euros

Dutch fish auctions: Supplies of fish and shrimp reach a new low

NETHERLANDS
Wednesday, January 31, 2024, 07:10 (GMT + 9)

IJMUIDEN - The fishing sector has had a tough year. The major restructuring and dramatic shrimp catches also translate into red exit figures. Turnover at the remaining auctions fell sharply last year, to only 193 million euros in fish plus 35.4 million euros in shrimp. The supply at the Dutch auctions has halved in less than five years.

The figures from the National Fish Auction Consultation (NOVA) do not lie. After Breskens, the Colijnsplaat and Den Helder fish auctions no longer exist. Last year, the eight remaining fish auctions plus the Zoutkamp sieving location together landed 42,956 tons of fish and shrimp, worth 228 million euros. For comparison: in 2022 the turnover was 282 million euros. In short: a decline in turnover of 54 million euros, or almost 20 percent less turnover in one year.

The year 2022 was already bizarre with the opening of the restructuring scheme. Thanks to a very good shrimp year (read: prices) and high fish prices, the total auction turnover increased compared to the previous year, despite a lower supply. In 2023, the shrimp supply halved, the fish supply decreased again, as expected after the demolition of 52 cutters, and the high price level of 2022 could not be fully maintained.

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The total shrimp turnover at the fish auctions including Zoutkamp fell to 5,367 tons, with an average price of 6.60 euros, worth 35.4 million euros. A year earlier, the shrimp supply to the Dutch screening locations was worth almost double, at 11,949 kilos and an average price of 5.80 euros per kilo.

The Dutch Fishermen's Union reports that at the foreign sieving stations in Germany and Denmark, just under 1.3 million kilos of shrimp from Dutch cutters were sieved last year, worth an estimated 8.2 million euros.

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IJmuiden plus

The Dutch Fish Auction in IJmuiden is the only auction with an increase in turnover in 2023, namely from 66.4 to 67.7 million euros. IJmuiden's NOVA market share in the turnover of the fish auctions has risen to just under 30.7 percent. This means that IJmuiden is now approaching Urk, which has a market share of 32.6 percent. Halfway through the year, IJmuiden was in the lead, which was also the case in 2022.

Urk recorded a turnover of 71.7 million euros, a few tonnes lower than in 2022. Together with its shrimp branch in Harlingen, Visveiling Urk has a market share of 38.5 percent in terms of turnover and in volume the Urk market share is even larger: 43 .4 percent. It is striking for Urk that the rapidly increasing squid, with a value of 12.4 million euros, has surpassed the declining sole turnover and has become the most important species after plaice.

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Compared to other shrimp auctions, the decline in shrimp sales of 31 percent in Stellendam and 40 percent in Harlingen was not too bad. Fish turnover excluding shrimps in Stellendam fell by 30 percent, while a few tonnes of lobster turnover had been added after the closure of the Colijnsplaat lobster auction. Lauwersoog managed to stabilize fish turnover (4.9 million euros), but shrimp turnover fell by 4.1 million euros and amounted to 5.2 million euros.

Den Oever was unable to benefit from the closure of the 'large' sister exit in Den Helder and has fallen to last place in the rankings with an annual turnover of 6.8 million euros; Shrimp turnover at the Wieringer auction fell by 8.3 million euros (to 3.3 million euros) and fish turnover by 1.2 million euros (to 3.5 million euros). The Zoutkamp shrimp screening location recorded an annual turnover of 8.1 million euros.

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Fish species total

Sole remains the undisputed number one national fish species, but turnover fell sharply: from 75 million to just under 59 million euros. 

Squid continues to rise and, at 32.5 million euros, is approaching the decreased plaice turnover of 34.5 million euros. In 2022, the squid sold for 25 million euros and the plaice for 38 million euros. 

Turbot has a turnover of more than 16 million euros. The turnover of langoustines shrank from just under 16 million to 11 million euros.

Source: visserijnieuws.nl (translated from original in dutch)

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