Fish landings in the ?rst quarter amounted to 108,947 kilograms, an increase of 83.6 per cent over the comparative period last year, on account of favourable weather conditions prevailing this year.
Sword?sh and Dog-Fish landings, the main species caught during the period under review, advanced by 271.0 and 29.8 per cent respectively. Similarly, the wholesale value of ?sh landings rose by 70.9 per cent to €630,301.
Regional overview
During the period under review, Maltese ?shermen landed 91,305 kilograms (+98.6 per cent) of fresh ?sh, amounting to 83.8 per cent of total landings. These landings mainly comprised Sword?sh (+266.0 per cent) and Dog-Fish (+74.9 per cent). The wholesale value of fresh ?sh landings by Maltese ?shermen advanced by 77.9 per cent to €536,153.
Fresh ?sh landings by Gozitan ?shermen increased by 32.1 per cent over the comparative period last year. This was mainly due to higher Sword?sh and Bogue landings of 303.6 and 314.9 per cent respectively. In volume terms, Gozitan ?sh landings comprised 16.2 per cent of total landings, generating €94,148 in wholesale value. This resulted in an increase of 39.8 per cent over the ?rst quarter last year.
The quarterly ‘All Items’ fresh ?sh price index for the ?rst quarter stood at 112.08 points, down by 2.62 points (-2.28 per cent) over the comparative period in 2013. The increase in the supply of fresh ?sh was re?ected in the quarterly ‘All Items’ fresh ?sh volume index, at 33.44 points, up by 83.6 per cent in the ?rst quarter this year.
