Maritime economy | Appetite for global fish

Overfishing, rising water temperatures, nutrient inputs from agriculture, political mismanagement – ​​"fish" don't have it easy in their cool underwater habitat. Stocks of cod, herring, and sprat are declining, and the fish are listed as an endangered species. Nevertheless, fresh and processed fish remains quite popular in Germany. According to preliminary estimates, consumption last year was 12.8 kilograms per capita – thus, fish consumption remained at the same level as the previous year. The latest figures were presented at the annual press conference of the Fish Information Center (FIZ), a lobby group for the German fishing industry, on Tuesday in Hamburg.

Surveys show that German consumers are primarily interested in the origin of their fish when making purchases. Even more so than the price. Retailers are required to provide precise labeling for fresh fish and smoked products, including information about the catch areas. Those who want to know more can check the "Fish Stocks Online" website of the Thünen Institute in Rostock, advises FIZ Managing Director Stefan Meyer.

When making purchases, German consumers are primarily interested in the origin of the fish – more than in the price.

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Against this backdrop, it's surprising that only 58 percent of all wild-caught products are certified with an environmental sustainability seal. Hering, once the staple fish of the fishery, is to blame for this. "In recent decades, many herring stocks have shrunk – with serious repercussions for the fishing industry ," says FIZ director Meyer. Herring fisheries in several stocks lost the London-based Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) seal of approval for sustainable fishing, catch quotas were reduced by scientists and politicians, and in some cases, fishing bans were imposed. Numerous herring fishermen in the North and Baltic Seas had to cease or restrict their activities or switch to other fish species. Many herring processing plants, for example in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen, closed their production facilities.

Advertising in the fishing industry, consumption habits, and thus consumer demand have also changed in recent decades. Herring has faced increasing competition from popular, imported wild or farmed fish species. For example, the comparatively expensive salmon, which often comes from fish farms, is the number one fish in private households' purchases at 22.6 percent, followed by Alaska pollock (19.8 percent), which largely comes duty-free from US waters, and tuna (14.6 percent), which is mainly imported from the Indian Ocean , from countries like India or Indonesia. Only then does the domestic, omega-3-rich herring follow, with a meager market share in Germany of eleven percent.

According to current data, self-sufficiency in fish products in the European Union has fallen from 46 to 31 percent over the past decade. In Germany, the self-sufficiency rate is as low as 10 percent. As fish consumption is trending upward, the crisis in German fisheries will lead to even more imports.

After all, around two-thirds of global wild fish stocks in the ocean are now considered "biologically sustainable," according to a new study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Among landed fish, the proportion is significantly higher, at 77 percent. However, the data is from 2021, and environmental organizations are already taking a much more critical view of the situation.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the high import quota, fish is still considered a relatively inexpensive food. "There's a decent selection for every budget," assures Petra Weigl, chairwoman of the FIZ board and managing director of a frozen fish specialist. While prices for fish have also risen, says Weigl, the trend has been "moderate" compared to dairy or grain products. Since 2020, the price of fish – similar to that of meat products – has risen by 29.4 percent, while the price of all food products has risen by 33.2 percent.

This continues a trend also familiar from other retail sectors, such as butchers: the big players are getting bigger and bigger. Around 90 percent of fish sales now come from supermarkets and discounters, a market dominated by Edeka, Rewe, Lidl/Kaufland, and Aldi. In contrast, sales at specialist fish shops have halved in recent years. Yet there is certainly room for improvement. Internationally, German consumers are rather reluctant to eat fish. While Germany is content with 12.8 kilograms of catch per capita, the European leader, Portugal, is at 53.6 kilograms. FIZ board member Weigl: "There's still room on German plates." This is especially true in the southern German states and, as the only coastal state, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.