The volume and wholesale value of fish landings in Malta dropped by 39.5 and 30.4 per cent, respectively in the second quarter, according to figures issued by the National Statistics Office.

The NSO said fish landings in the second quarter amounted to 256,246 kilogrammes. The adverse weather was the reason for lower catches, it said. The wholesale value of fishlandings dipped to €1,841,248.

Maltese fishermen landed 214,079 kilogrammes (-17.7 per cent) of fish during the period, making up 83.5 per cent of total landings.

An increase in the landings of bogue (+105.5 per cent) and swordfish (+47.4 per cent) were outweighed by drops in all the other species mainly blue fin tuna (-36.6 per cent), shrimp (-72 per cent) and mackarel (-83.5 per cent).

The wholesale value of fresh fish landings by Maltese fishermen amounted to €1,660,018, a decrease of 27.4 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year. This was mainly due to a decline in the average price per kilogram of blue fin tuna (-21.3 per cent) and swordfish (-11.7 per cent) over the comparative period of last year.

Fresh fish landings by Gozitan fishermen declined by 74.3 per cent over the comparative period last year, making up 16.5 per cent of the total landings.

Mackarel, the dominant species landed during the second quarter, declined by 83.5 per cent over the corresponding period in 2012.

Similarly, the wholesale value of fresh fish landings fell by 49.8 per cent to €181,230 in the second quarter this year.

2013 timesofmalta.com