Is aquaculture production in Europe increasing?

Key messages

(05 Dec 2019)

• Marine aquaculture production has been increasing in Europe (EEA-39 countries) since the early 1990s, mostly because of salmon production in Norway, the main producer.  
• Over the same period, inland aquaculture in Europe has remained stable. The main producer is Turkey, indicating that much of Europe's aquaculture production takes place outside the EU-28 countries(Figure 3).
• In 2017, the most cultivated species in Europe (EEA-39) was theAtlantic salmon, while in the EU-28 blue mussels were dominant. Other important species include rainbow trout, European sea bass, gilthead sea bream, oysters, and carps, barbels and other cyprinids.
• The countries that contribute the most to European production (EEA-39) are Norway (approximately 46 % of total European production), followed by Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Greece (Figure 6). These seven countries account for 90 % of all aquaculture production in Europe. Norway’s production is nearly all from Atlantic salmon farming. Turkish production consists mainly of trout (inland), sea bream and sea bass (marine).

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