Jim Higgins MEP has welcomed the launch of a comprehensive European web resource that will provide up-to-date price and market information on all fishery and aquaculture products for the benefit of the entire maritime sector.
"By coordinating all the market statistics in Europe, the European Commission website is providing a reliable overview with specifics based on individual interest. It will give producers a much clearer picture of the fisheries market and hopefully will enable them to seek out new market opportunities and improve production in accordance with market demands," Mr Higgins said in Brussels today.
"The European Market Observatory for Fishery and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) is an EU-wide interactive web-tool that will provide the latest volume, value and price of fisheries and aquaculture products throughout the supply chain, from when they land to port to when they are displayed on supermarket shelves.
"The Observatory will be updated every day with production with information including data on imports, exports and consumption trends. It is multilingual, user friendly and free of charge," Mr Higgins added.
Users will be able to search by catch, farm, import or specific areas. For example, with three clicks you can get the cod prices in early April over 14 market places in 7 European countries. Users can also research the wholesale prices for types of fish across several European countries or the retail prices in chosen countries. They can then save the parameters of any search to obtain customised and updated weekly or monthly reports.
The website is accessible here: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/market-observatory