Fish catches down 16 per cent

Fish landings totalled 350,434 kilos during the June quarter this year, a 15.8 per cent drop over the previous year.

A total of 415,975 kilos of fish were landed at the fish market between April and June last year, while in the same period this year, there was a drop of 65,541 kilos.

Landings of blue fin tuna, an increasingly important produce for the local sector representing 33 per cent of the total landings in the quarter, decreased by just over 26 per cent.

Swordfish registered a marginal drop of 1.3 per cent.

The volume of landings by Maltese fishermen decreased by 17 per cent, mostly through significant drops in blue fin tuna (-24.5 per cent) and swordfish (-1.7 per cent).

When compared to the second quarter last year, a drop of Lm104,770 (-11.2 per cent) worth of fish landings was recorded this year.

In total, the catch in the second quarter was worth about Lm831,082. A drop in the wholesale value of blue fin tuna and stone bass was responsible for this decline although the wholesale value of swordfish and shrimp landings increased over the comparative period.

Gozitan fishermen have also seen a drop of 5,467 kilograms (-10.9 per cent) when compared to the same quarter last year. Similarly, a drop in blue fin tuna was responsible for this decrease.

Although the wholesale value of blue fin tuna dropped by 40.3 per cent when compared to last year, it was compensated for by shrimp and swordfish, which fetched higher prices.

The wholesale value of fish landings, in fact, registered an increase of Lm8,385 (+7.1 per cent).

Foreign flagged vessels, in the time under review, landed a total of 2,221 kilograms valued at Lm5,907.