Fish Landings Down in Q3 2012

Fish landings in the third quarter this year amounted to 369,136 kilograms, down by 14.6 per cent over the comparative period last year, reports the National Statistics Office. This was due to a drop in various species, mainly Shrimp (-43.0 per cent) and Dorado (-36.6 per cent).

Swordfish, the main species landed during the quarter under review, registered an increase of 6.3 per cent over the comparative period last year. Furthermore, the wholesale value of fresh fish landings declined by 3.6 per cent to 2.1 million.

During the period, Maltese fishermen landed 251,812 kilograms (-4.6 per cent) of fresh fish, making up 68.2 per cent of total landings. This resulted from a drop in landings in respect of Shrimp (-43.6 per cent) and Dorado (-23.6 per cent).

The wholesale value of fish landings by Maltese fishermen, which represented 85.4 per cent of total landings, declined by 3.2 per cent to 1.8 million this year.

In the third quarter, the volume of fish landed at the local fish market by Gozitan fishermen declined by 30.3 per cent. Lower Dorado landings (-52.4 per cent) and other species, mainly Mackarel (-23.7 per cent) contributed to this downfall.

As a result, the wholesale value for fish landings by Gozitan fishermen during the third quarter amounted to 303,938, a drop of 6.1 per cent over the comparative period last year.