Coinciding with yesterday's celebration of World Fisheries Day, Eurostat released the total European Union (EU) fish catch figure for 2022 which reached approximately 3.4 million tonnes of live weight from the seven marine areas covered by its statistics. These are the Atlantic, Northeast area; the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; the Atlantic, Eastern Central area; the Indian Ocean, Western area; the Atlantic, Southwest area; the Atlantic, Southeast area; and the Atlantic, Northwest area.
Of the total fish caught, 75,000 tons corresponded to Spain. With 22%, the Spanish fleet exceeded one-fifth of all EU catches. This was followed by France with 517,000 tons, 15%, and Denmark with 459,000 tons, 13%.
The Atlantic, Northeast area is the most important catch area for the EU. Around 70% of the total catch was taken on it. The key species caught were small fish such as herring, which accounted for 19% of the live weight caught in this region; sprat, which accounted for 14% of the catch; blue whiting, with 11%; and mackerel, with 10%. About one-fifth of the total EU live weight in this area, 19%, was accounted for by the Danish fishing fleet, followed by France with about 17%, and the Netherlands and Spain, both with 11%.
In the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, approximately one-tenth of the total catches of the European Union were fished. In this area, the main species caught were sardines, with 22 % of the catches, and anchovies at 18 %. Italy was, in this case, the fleet that made the largest share of EU catches, 36%. It was followed by Greece at 19 %, Croatia at 18 % and, again, Spain at 17 %.
In the Atlantic, Eastern Central area, were made approximately 7% of the total catches, with mackerel and yellowfin tuna being the main species. Among the EU countries, it was Spain that came out on top with 37%. Latvia, with about 16%, Lithuania, with about 15%, and the Netherlands, with about 12% were the next with the most catches.
Fishing in the Indian Ocean, Western area, accounted for almost 7% of the total EU catch, where the dominant species was tuna. The vast majority, up to 96 % of the total live weight caught by the EU fishing fleet in this area, was tuna, particularly skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna. Again, Spain was the leading country with around two-thirds of the EU catch in the area, 66 %. Most of the rest went to France, which took 31 %.
Of the total of these 3.4 million tons of fish caught by EU countries in 2022, only 6% were caught in the three remaining marine areas. The main species caught in them were: hake in the Atlantic, Southwest area; blue sharks and skipjack tuna in the Atlantic, Southeast area; and redfish, halibut, and cod in the Atlantic, Northwest area.
