A fishing vessel lifting fishing net with seagulls flying around it.

The total EU fish catch in 2022 was about 3.4 million tonnes of live weight from the seven marine areas covered by EU statistics. Spain’s fishing fleet exceeded one-fifth of all EU catches (22%; 752 000 tonnes), followed by France (15%; 517 000 tonnes) and Denmark (13%; 459 000 tonnes).

Fish catches of EU members in 2022, % of live weight

Source dataset:  fish_ca_main 

About 70% of the total EU catch was taken in the Atlantic, Northeast area. The key species caught in the Atlantic, Northeast area were small fish such as herring (19% of the live weight caught in this region), sprat (14%), blue whiting (11%) and mackerel (10%). About one fifth of the EU’s total live weight catch in this area was made by the fishing fleet of Denmark (19%) followed by France (about 17%), the Netherlands (11%) and Spain (11%).

Approximately one tenth of the total EU catch was taken in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, where the main species caught were sardines (22% of the EU catch in the area) and anchovies (18%). Italian fleet made 36% of the EU catch, with Greece (19%), Croatia (18%) and Spain (17%) accounting for the vast majority of the rest.

In the Atlantic, Eastern Central area, where about 7% of the total EU catch was taken, the main catches were mackerel and yellowfin tuna. Among EU countries, Spain (37%), Latvia (about 16%), Lithuania (about 15%) and the Netherlands (about 12%) accounted for most of the catches in the area.

EU catches by marine fishing area in 2022, % of total live weight in each area

Source dataset:  fish_ca_main 

Fishing in the Indian Ocean, Western area, accounted for almost 7% of the total EU catch, predominately targeting on tuna. The vast majority, 96% of the total live weight caught by the EU fishing fleet, was tuna, particularly skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna. About two thirds of the EU catch in the area was by Spain (66%), and most of the rest by France (31%).

Only 6% of the total EU catch was taken in three remaining marine areas. The main species caught in these areas were the following: hake (Atlantic, Southwest area), blue sharks and skipjack tuna (Atlantic, Southeast area) and redfish, halibut and cod (Atlantic, Northwest area).

This article marks the World Fisheries day.