The value of Australia’s fisheries and aquaculture production is set to rise by 10% to AUD 3.55 billion in 2021–22, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has forecast. If achieved, this would be the highest level achieved by the country since 2002–03.
According to the bureau’s report, Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Outlook 2022, the strong growth in production value follows higher prices for farmed salmonids, wild-caught prawns and oysters.
Prices for salmonids are expected to grow by 37%, prices for prawns are expected to grow by 10% and prices for oysters are expected to grow by 3% in 2021–22, ABARES said.
It attributes these price rises to demand growth for seafood products after the steady reopening of economies, and rising input costs for fisheries and aquaculture operations as a result of continuing disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In international markets, salmonid price rises have been particularly acute, it said, with Australia’s export unit values on average 46% higher over July to December in 2021 compared with the same period in 2020.
ABARES analysis also forecasts that salmonid prices will decline in 2022–23, driving a decline in overall production value, but that over the medium-term (2022–23 to 2026–27), the total value of fisheries and aquaculture products is projected to return to trend, growing on average at 0.4% a year.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) CEO, Veronica Papacosta, said that natural disasters, trade export restrictions and the impacts of COVID-19 had brought an extraordinary past two years for the industry and that to see a return to growth shows it is on the right track.
“There’s been unexpected growth in the prices for farmed salmonoids, edible oysters, and both farmed and wild-caught prawns, as consumers place their confidence in our healthy, sustainable great Australian seafood.
“For the first time, we are set to see Australia’s aquaculture products grow to $2.16 billion, up 21% from last year. This figure surpasses the $2 billion by 2027 target, set in the 2017 National Aquaculture Strategy.
“Following a sharp decline in seafood exports in 2020, we’re seeing increased international demand for select Australian seafood exports, with a forecast export value of $1.34 billion in 2021-22.”
