 The French Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries has released its preliminary estimates for 1997, indicating that
French seafood production fell by 5.4% in 1997, to 821,154 tonnes, due to
a reduction in both wild catch and aquaculture.
French Customs and the French Centre for Foreign Trade (CFCE) also
released 1997 seafood trade data, which revealed that French seafood imports
fell by 2% in volume and 8.5% in value from 1996 to 1997. Imports amounted
to 800,685 tonnes, worth FF 17.5 billion in 1997.
According to the French consumer survey Agency, SECODIP, French household
purchases of fresh finfish increased by almost 3% in volume in 1997, to
145,700 tonnes. The market share of pre-packaged fresh finfish is growing
rapidly in France, mainly in hypermarkets, where their sales increased by
30% in 1997 to 9,565 tonnes. Another sector experiencing significant growht
is surimi, with 10,000 tonnes of fresh product sold in hypermarkets
and supermarkets in 1997 and 1998.
The main sources of French seafood products is the United Kingdom and
Norway. In 1997, the United Kingdom exported 108,020 tonnes to France, and
Norway exported 88,447 tonnes.
Other important seafood exporters such as the US occupy a smaller market
share. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the US exported
more than 33,000 tonnes of seafood in 1997, but that the volume was increasing.
The main category of US seafood exported to France in 1997 was frozen finfish. |