As Greek fish farmers hold their breath awaiting developments to save Avramar, Turkey continues its offensive by increasing production of sea bream and sea bass even as the Greek state continues to blow the whistle indifferently on the timely completion of the special spatial planning of the industry.
Because we can proudly state that Greece occupies the 1st place in the production of fish farming in the EE-27, with the sector directly and indirectly contributing to employment with approximately 12,000 workers, but also scoring high in exports (in 2023, 100,361 tons were exported sea bream and sea bass worth €572.04 million representing a 3.7% drop in volume and 4.6% in value compared to 2022) however if neighboring Turkey comes into the equation, the records are discredited.
The Turkish fish farms advance and the Greek ones remain in the backwaters
The pressure Greek fish farms face in foreign markets from Turkey’s growing production is not a sudden development that emerged last year or the year before, but has been magnified over the last 20 years. In fact, in addition to the growing production, the neighbors are now making more and more dynamic use of the distribution network developed thanks to Greek companies.
It is characteristic that in 2016 Turkey had a 41% share (139,954 tons) in the world production of Mediterranean species (sea bream and sea bass), holding the lead since then. Accordingly, Greece’s share in 2016 was 31% (105,000 tons).
Coming to 2023, the share of Turkish bream and Turkish sea bass has reached 44% (273,000 tons), while Greek production, if increased compared to 2016 to 121,300 tons, has fallen to 20%.
Analyzing each species separately, we see that in sea bass Turkey’s 72,342 tons in 2016 (40.9% share) became 136,500 tons in 2023 (48% share). At the same time, the Greek sea bass from 46,000 tons and a 29% share in 2016 reached 55,300 tons in 2023 with the share falling to 20%.
Similar is the situation that prevails in the bream. In 2016, Turkey produced 67,612 tons (38%), while last year it reached 136,500 tons (41%). On the other hand, Greece went from 59,000 tons (33%) in 2016 to 66,000 tons (20%) eight years later. 
It should be noted that Turkey is now a key exporter to the EU, supplying almost 98% of the imported quantities of sea bream and sea bass. In 2023 Turkey’s exports to the EU-27 amounted to 63,096 tons of which almost 34% were sea bass (22,401 tons) and 64% sea bream (40,695 tons).
It is worth mentioning, however, that a large part concerns exports that take place in Greece and either concern consumption in our country or re-export to other European countries with some saying that the fish leave having learned… Greek.
Winners and losers
The progress of Spain in the production of Mediterranean species is also of interest, as within eight years it has remained in half (from a 12% share in 2016 it fell to 6% in 2023).
At the same time, Saudi Arabia, which was not on the map of Mediterranean fish farms in 2016, appears with a 2% share in 2023, although reduced by 50% compared to 2022, which was 4%.
Price stability and moderate optimism
On the occasion of the publication of the 10th Annual Aquaculture Report, published by the Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization (ELOPY), Mr. Yiannis Pelekanakis, Director of European Affairs of the Organization, commented:
“2023 was an extremely difficult year that tested the growth outlook of the industry as for the 2nd year in a row following the Russian attack on Ukraine, fish farming businesses found themselves trapped in a stressful environment of high production costs, price pressure and limited access to working capital . Pressure was further compounded by escalating food inflationary pressures, which affected catch prices. This had a negative impact on the financial results of most businesses because in several cases seafood was sold below cost price or with minimal profit margins. 
»However in 2024 there is optimism as markets appear to have stabilised, demand has been boosted, prices have remained at satisfactory levels and production costs have improved due to deflationary trends in fish feed raw materials. In terms of business developments, in 2024 the effort to consolidate the sector continues with the aim of ensuring long-term stability and strengthening its competitiveness. In any case, the investment interest that has already been expressed proves once again that the sector has significant growth prospects”.
Source: ot.gr
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