Profitability of fishery 2021

The year 2021 was also an exceptional year for the fisheries industry. The markets were still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, and the first indications of an energy crisis began to emerge. Revenues in the fisheries sector continued to decline in 2021, reaching their lowest point in over a decade.

• In 2021, a total of 1,765 companies operated in the fishery industry. Among them, 70% were fishing companies, with the majority engaged in small-scale fishing practices. 
• The fishery industry provided 2,125 annual work units of employment. Fish processing was the largest sector, covering some 40% of the entire industry. Wholesale and retail accounted for 30% combined, and primary production 30%. Employment increased in aquaculture, while it decreased in all other sectors.
• In 2021, the total revenue for fisheries enterprises amounted to €836 million, the lowest in more than ten years. Fish processing produced the highest revenue at EUR 426 million, followed by wholesale with total revenue of EUR 220 million. Fish retail trade produced the total revenue of EUR 56 million, aquaculture EUR 83 million and commercial fishery EUR 51 million.
• The processing value produced by the fishery industry amounted to EUR 140 million, most of which (EUR 52 million) came from fish processing. Wholesale produced the second largest processing value at EUR 34 million. The processing value of commercial marine fishery was nearly EUR 20 million and that of commercial inland fishery was some EUR 7 million.
• The net result of commercial marine fishery was EUR 6.9 million and that of commercial inland fishery was roughly EUR 1.0 million. Aquaculture companies produced a loss of EUR 13.6 million.
• Wholesale fish net profit improved from the previous year to EUR 9.4 million, while the result for fish processing deteriorated to a loss of EUR 2.5 million.