Spain now wears EU aquaculture crown

In 2023 EU production reached almost 1.1 million tonnes, which represents around a quarter of total fisheries production in the bloc.

The three largest producers were Spain with 242,754 tonnes (23.1% of the EU total), followed by France with 186,561 tonnes (17.8%) and Greece with 140,908 tonnes (13.4%).

The Commission said that between 2008 and 2023, the volume of EU aquaculture production remained relatively stable. This reflected contrasting developments in key producer countries. Aquaculture production in Greece grew relatively steadily while in Spain it declined sharply compared with 2018, and it remained relatively stable in France.

The main species were trout in terms of value, and mussels in terms of live weight. Production in the EU is focused primarily on finfish such as trout, seabream, seabass, carp, tuna and salmon along with molluscs, including mussels, oysters, and clams. Together, these accounted for most of the aquaculture production by weight in 2023. 

Slightly more than a third of the EU’s total aquaculture production in live weight were mussels (34.5%), followed by trout (15.8%) and gilthead seabream (10.0%).

The Commission said trout was the most valuable species produced in 2023 comprising 17.7% of all aquaculture production, followed by seabass at 13.3% and gilthead seabream at 12.0%.