Fish production fell by 6m kilos in 2019

Fish production decreased by six million kilograms in 2019, while the volume of imported fish increased by two million kilograms compared to the corresponding volumes of 2017, according to the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

A total of 76 million kilograms of fish were produced in 2019. Of all fish used as raw material for processed products, 45 million kilograms were of a domestic origin and nearly 31 million kilograms were imported, said Luke in a press release on Tuesday.

“This change resulted from changes in statistical methods. Rainbow trout farmed by Finnish enterprises in Sweden was now regarded as imported fish, unlike before”, said Luke Senior Statistatian Pentti Moilanen.

The processing volume of Norwegian salmon decreased by a little more than two million kilos from that of 2017 to 22.4 million kilos.

A total of 23 million kilos of Baltic herring and sprat were frozen for exports. More than 15 million kilos of domestic fish and nearly 22 million kilos of imported fish were processed to make other frozen and fresh products. Moreover, 14 million kilos of fish, 40% of which was domestic fish, were used for highly processed products.

Baltic herring was followed by salmon, rainbow trout and whitefish in the processing industry. These four species accounted for 95% of all fish-based raw materials.

There were 124 fish-processing enterprises, of which 19 processed more than half a million kilos. These largest enterprises accounted for 94% of the total volume of processed fish.

Information for the statistics of processed fish products is collected every other year.