Aquaculture production in the EU in 2023 reached almost 1.1 million tonnes of live weight in fish, molluscs, algae and crustaceans, with Spain, France and Greece leading among EU member states, according to data released on Monday by Eurostat.

Cyprus was 19th among EU member states with 5,700 tonnes, significantly below Malta in 11th place with 20,803 tonnes.

The three largest EU producers of farmed aquatic organisms were Spain with 242,754 tonnes or 23.1 per cent of the EU total, France with 186,561 tonnes or 17.8 per cent and Greece with 140,908 tonnes or 13.4 per cent.

The total value of aquaculture production in the EU in 2023 reached €4.8 billion, while in Cyprus the total value reached €39 million.

Between 2008 and 2023, the volume of EU aquaculture production remained relatively stable at around 1.1 million tonnes.

This reflected contrasting developments in key producer countries, according to Eurostat. Aquaculture production in Greece grew relatively steadily, in Spain it declined sharply compared to 2018, while it remained relatively stable in France after 2018.

In Cyprus, production in 2008 stood at 3,776 tonnes, increased to 7,346 tonnes by 2018, but had dropped to 5,700 tonnes by 2023.

Production in the EU is focused primarily on finfish, such as trout, seabream, seabass, carp, tuna and salmon, as well as 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 at 34.5 per cent, followed by trout 15.8 per cent and gilthead seabream 10 per cent.

Trout was the most valuable species produced in 2023 with 17.7 per cent of all aquaculture value, followed by seabass 13.3 per cent and gilthead seabream 12 per cent.