JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE - EU SCIENCE - The Irish Fishing Fleet's economic performance improves

Lower fuel costs, higher average fish prices for some species, and the impact of capacity/effort reduction were the main driving forces behind an overall improvement in the economic performance of the Irish fleet around 2018, according to the recently released JRC Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet 2020. A support scheme was introduced in Ireland to reduce the volume of seafood entering the market which has been depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time keeping an adequate number of vessels fishing to maintain food supply.

date: 11/02/2021

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COVID-19 severely affected the EU fishing fleets but their average profits are predicted to have remained positive in 2020. The analysis indicates that the EU fishing fleet was highly profitable in 2018, despite a 14% reduction since 2017. The results remain at historically high levels, with an overall gross profit of EUR 1.8 billion. The performance of the fleet rebounded in 2019, to then fall back to the 2018 levels in 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with a 17% decrease in gross profits.