Blue Fin Tuna, the main species caught in the period under review, registered a heavy drop of 35.9 per cent.
Furthermore, the wholesale value of fish landings dipped by 30.4 per cent to €1,841,248.
Regional overview
Maltese fishermen landed 214,079 kilogrammes (-17.7 per cent) of fresh fish during the period under review, making up 83.5 per cent of total landings. An increase in the landings of Bogue (+105.5 per cent) and Swordfish (+47.4 per cent) were outweighed by drops in all the other species mainly Blue Fin Tuna (-36.6 per cent), Shrimp (-72.0 per cent) and Mackerel (-83.5 per cent) landings.
The wholesale value of fresh fish landings by Maltese fishermen amounted to €1,660,018, a decrease of 27.4 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year. This was mainly due to a decline in the average price per kilogram of the two main species landed, Blue Fin Tuna (-21.3 per cent) and Swordfish (-11.7 per cent) over the comparative period of last year.
Fresh fish landings by Gozitan fishermen declined by 74.3 per cent over the comparative period last year, making up 16.5 per cent of the total landings. Mackerel, the dominant species landed during the second quarter, declined by 83.5 per cent over the corresponding period in 2012. Similarly, the wholesale value of fresh fish landings fell by 49.8 per cent to €181,230 in the second quarter this year.
Indices
The quarterly ‘All Items’ fresh fish price index for the second quarter stood at 129.31 points, an increase of 16.29 points (+14.4 per cent) over the comparative period in 2012, mainly as a result of lower catches.
This was also reflected in the quarterly ‘All Items’ fresh fish volume index, which stood at 78.64 points, down by 51.42 points, or 39.5 per cent when compared to the second quarter last year.
