Last year, the total quantity of fish sold by fish farming enterprises fell 50 tonnes from the amount sold in 2021. At the same time, the average price per kilogram of farmed fish rose from €5 in 2021 to €6 in 2022. Over the last three years, the quantities of fish sold have fallen while the price per kilogram has nearly doubled.

Swen Peterson, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that rainbow trout is still the most farmed and sold fish species in Estonia. "In 2022, almost 678 tonnes of rainbow trout was sold for a total of €3.9 million. Rainbow trout accounted for 85 percent of the total amount of fish sold," Peterson said.

In 2022, there were 0.6 tonnes of crayfish on the market, which is a fifth less than in 2021. The largest quantity of crayfish sold in a single year is 2 tonnes, in 2009.

There were 2.7 tonnes of fish roe on the market in 2022, an amount which is roughly 8 times less than in 2021. The quantity of fish roe sold last year in Estonia was the smallest over the last 10 years. The total value of fish roe sold amounted to slightly over €100,000, whereas the average sales price grew by around 50 percent on year. Most of the fish roe sold for consumption was red fish roe.

In Estonia, the primary method of fish farming is freshwater aquaculture, although in recent years some enterprises have also begun specializing in marine aquaculture. Rainbow trout is farmed in seawater. The species cultivated in Estonia's freshwater fish farms include rainbow trout and crayfish as well as other species, such as tench, European eel, African sharptooth catfish, wels catfish, sturgeon (Siberian and Russian), carp, and grass carp.

More information can be found on the dedicated sections of Statistics Estonia's website here and here.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!