Fresh fish exports up 34%
The month of February is the peak of summer and the culmination of Chile’s high season for seafood exports. A major push is made during this month to harvest all of the remaining coho salmon, the Atlantic salmon susceptible to reaching maturity and other species that have reached harvest size. According tolast Friday's edition of www.AQUA.cl, the Undersecretary of Fisheries (Subpesca) released the official report of the peak season standings. Following the bulk of frozen products, refrigerated-fresh products occupied 13.5% of the total export volume and 19.9% of the total export value. Within this sub-total of fresh products, the aquaculture sector took up 83.1% of the volume and 92.1% of the value, with Atlantic salmon as the leading product. Compared to last year the accumulated volume rose 10% by reaching 15.7 thousand tons, and the net worth rose 34% by reaching US$112 million. The vast majority of refrigerated-fresh products head to the U.S., which easily buys up 86% the market share, while Brasil and Argentina struggle to compete with the high price and high demand. Following Atlantic salmon, small volumes of coho salmon, steelhead trout, turbot and scallops are included in the refrigerated-fresh category.
