Nigeria, Egypt and China are the leading export markets for Irish seafood outside of the EU.
A report by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) states that 93.4 per cent of seafood exported last year comprised pelagic species, including blue whiting, mackerel and horse mackerel.
Nigeria accounted for 30.7 per cent, Egypt for 21.8 per cent and China for 10.5 per cent of Irish seafood exported last year, the report says.
It says a total of 3,670 consignments of seafood, totalling 78,171 tonnes and 26 species were certified by the SFPA for export from 47 food businesses to 48 countries outside the EU in 2022.
Irish seafood exports last year were valued at 530 million euros, representing a 17 million euro “value growth” in exports on the previous year.
The report says 2022 was “a challenging year for Ireland’s seafood sector with the continuing repercussions from Brexit.
“The fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the continued impact of Covid-19 in export markets, the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis” also created “a challenging trading environment”, it says.
“This was reflected in the decrease in third country (non-EU countries) exports from Ireland in 2022 to 78,171 tonnes (made up of 26 species from 47 food businesses to 48 countries outside the EU) from the 2021 figure of 121,395 tonnes in 2021,” it says.
Protecting seafood trade by “ensuring highly functioning levels of regulatory assurance is a critical element of SFPA’s mission as the body responsible for ensuring the international integrity of Ireland’s seafood offering”, it says.
“The information provided in the Seafood Trade 2022 report offers analysis in terms of the key trends facing the sector at this present time and highlights an important element of SFPA’s activity as a regulator,” it says.
SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes said the State regulator is “ conscious of our role in ensuring the integrity of our seafood and strategically in terms of how Ireland’s reputation as a food exporter of choice is dependent on all links in the chain”.
He described illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU )fishing as “a significant threat” in creating an “uneven playing field” and jeopardising “the development of sustainable fisheries on which many coastal communities globally rely for their livelihoods, including in Ireland”.
“As regulators, we are committed to utilising all the controls available to us to help detect and deter IUU fishing and fishery products within our jurisdiction,” he said.
