Gozitan Fish Landings Down 64.1 Per Cent in Q1

Fresh fish landings by Gozitan fishermen registered a drop of 64.1 per cent over the comparative period last year, mainly attributable to a decline in fish classified under Other species..

Gozitan fish landings made up 18.2 per cent of the volume of toal landings, generating 95,227 in wholesale value. This resulted in a marginal decrease of 0.6 per cent over the first quarter last year, reports GozoNews

In the period under review, fish landings by Maltese fishermen amounted to 105,927 kilograms, or 13.6 per cent less than the first quarter of 2011. This comprised 81.8 per cent of the total landings. Decreases in Swordfish (-49.1 per cent) and Shrimp landings (-20.2 per cent) contributed to this drop.

As a whole swordfish landings, the main species caught in the period under review, decreased by 46.1 per cent, due in part to adverse weather conditions. Similarly, the wholesale value of fish landings went down by 26.5 per cent to 712,656.

In contrast, Bogue and Dog-Fish landings advanced by 149.2 per cent and 40.0 per cent respectively, although these two species accounted for 14.1 per cent of landings by Maltese fishermen.

The wholesale value of fresh fish landings by Maltese fishermen stood at 617,429, resulting in a drop of 29.4 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year.

The quarterly All Items fresh fish price index for the first quarter stood at 118.98 points, an increase of 7.22 points (+6.5 per cent) over the comparative period in 2011. The All Items fresh fish volume index stood at 38.72 points, down by 17.55 points, or 31.2 per cent, over the first quarter of 2011.