The EU Market Advisory Council for Fisheries and Aquaculture (MAC), consisting of seafood processors and other stakeholders, recently urged the European Commission, to make greater efforts to understand fish consumption trends in Europe. The recommendation by MAC called on DG Mare to charge the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EUMOFA) with the task of studying trends in fish consumption and the factors influencing consumption, in a select group of Member States in each of three geographic regions: North Sea (Netherlands), Mediterranean (Greece), and landlocked (Austria), with a finished report in 2025. EUMOFA routinely collects and publishes a wide range of data on fish and aquaculture production, supply, prices, and many other variables for all 27 EU Member States.
The commission stated that it was already preparing a comprehensive report on fish consumption throughout the EU for publication in 2025, using data from the most recent Eurobarometer due by yearend 2024. The commission and MAC agreed that EUMOFA’s report due in 2025 will be modified to include special analytical emphasis on the price structure for pollock in France, Denmark, and Germany, as well as for clams in Italy, France, and Spain. This approach will balance the analyses of different geographical areas for comparisons to be made, of the sort originally urged by MAC.