Million dollar pelagic industry forging its way eastwards

An IntraFish Industry Report

Million dollar pelagic industry forging
its way eastwards

written by Per Torbjørn Jystad

December 18th 2001

Northern European pelagic fish exporters are being shunted ever further into the Eastern Europeanmarkets. The hunt for markets that are willing to pay for cheap protein-rich food also includes China and Africa. At the same time herring, mackerel and capelin from Northern Europe will be meeting increased competition from consumption production based on other stocks and pelagic species.

Prospects for 2002 are:

· Continued high prices for the fleet with the basis in small changes in herring and mackerel quotas.

· Tougher competition for the Norwegian industry from the Shetlands, Scotland, the Faroes
and Iceland, and Canada.

· Uncertainty regarding how far prices in central markets such as Russia, the Ukraine, Poland
and Japan have reached their ceilings.

Long-term trends:

· The pelagic sector in Norway will continue to push prices up in Europe and Asia.

· Increased prices leading to that more countries and new stocks will be targeted with
regard to consumption objectives.

· Eastern Europe with its need for cheap protein-rich food, developing as the central market.
In the long term both Africa and China will be markets with considerable market potential.

· Capelin and other cheap pelagic species cover the vacuum in the Eastern European market
after herring has moved from being a cheap product to a lower-priced commodity.