In the first 11 months of 2016, Poland’s fresh and frozen fish output tripled to some 53,900 tonnes, while smoked fish output increased by 11.3 per cent to 80,500 tonnes. Of these, smoked salmon accounted for some 54,800 tonnes, up 9.4 per cent year-on-year.
Last year’s increase allowed to raise the country’s fish exports which totalled about PLN 6.35 billion (€1.47 billion), up 16.2 per cent compared with a year earlier. Polish fish industry players managed to sell an aggregate 247,600 tonnes of various fish and seafood products, including fillets, smoked, processed and canned products, to foreign markets. Exports of processed salmon products rose by 4.7 per cent to 76,400 tonnes, while foreign sales of processed herring products increased by 3.2 per cent to 61,200 tonnes, as indicated by figures from the IERiGZ.
This was also accompanied by higher imports of fish and seafood. From January to November 2016, Poland imported a total of 513,500 tonnes of various products, up 7.1 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier. The country’s fish and seafood imports were worth some PLN 7.81 billion (€1.81 billion), as shown by data from the IERiGZ. Salmon dominated Poland’s fish imports in this period, at about 146,800 tonnes, up 3 per cent compared with the first 11 months of 2015. Other major import categories included herring, with 87,300 tonnes, trout, at 13,600 tonnes, as well as tuna, with 11,700 tonnes.
The state-run institute was set up in 1950 and it is overseen by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The IERiGZ says it has a research staff of about 90, employed at the institute’s office in Poland’s capital Warsaw.
