A total of 59,333 kilogrammes (-52.7 per cent) of fish were landed during the first quarter of 2013, the National Statistics Office of Malta said today.
Fresh fish landings by Gozitan fishermen declined by 31.8 per cent over the comparative period last year. A total of 2,783 kilogrammes of Dorado landings were recorded during the first quarter this year.
On the contrary, declines in all the other species were registered. In volume terms, Gozitan fish landings comprised 22.5 per cent of total landings. Despite an increase of 11.4 per cent in the wholesale vaule of Dog-fish landings, Gozitan fish landings generated 67,347 in wholesale value, a drop of 22.1 per cent.
Adverse weather conditions across the Maltese islands hampered landings to the extent that Swordfish and Dog-Fish landings, the main species caught in the period under review, decreased by 57.9 and 44.0 per cent respectively. Similarly, the wholesale value of fish landings went down by 47.6 per cent to 368,743.
During the period under review, Maltese fishermen landed 45,978 kilogrammes (-56.6 per cent) of fresh fish, making up 77.5 per cent of total landings. While no Dorado landings were registered during the first quarter of 2012, in 2013 these amounted to 1,016 kilogrammes.
Decreases were recorded in all the other species, mainly Swordfish (-60.2 per cent) and Dog-Fish (-52.6 per cent). The wholesale value of fresh fish landings by Maltese fishermen dipped by 51.2 per cent to 301,396 during the quarter under review.
The quarterly All Items’ fresh fish price index for the first quarter stood at 114.70 points, an increase of 10.75 points (+10.4 per cent) over the comparative period in 2012. The All Items’ fresh fish volume index stood at 18.21 points, down by 20.31 points, or 52.7 per cent, over the first quarter last year.
2013 Gozo News.Com