produits de la mer - n°200 - Avril-mai 2020 - 121

T

he German fishing industry
has declined in the Baltic Sea,
where herring and cod stocks
are low, and is moving up a bit
in the North Sea. Apart from Kutterfisch,
deep-sea fishing boats are under foreign
ownership: Iceland's Samherji owns DFFU
and the Dutch company Parlevliet & Van
der Plas (P&P) owns GSF and Euro-Baltic.
Two thirds of the catches are landed outside Germany, mainly in the Netherlands
and Denmark. Coastal boats deliver flatfish and shrimp to a more local market.
In addition to 1,328 fishing boats, 2,584
fish farmers raise 32,000 tons of fish and
shellfish, mainly carp and trout.
Processing has moved into the auction
rooms which have closed down. "It offers
work where fishing leaves a lot of people
behind," observes Gerd Bollmann of Royal
Greenland in Cuxhaven, a fishing port area
such as Capécure or Keroman. And just like
its neighbour Bremerhaven, where 75 companies process some 220,000 tons a year:
almost 50 percent of German industry's production. Frozen fish arrives in containers or
factory-ships. The Doggerbank warehouses
(P&P Group), with a capacity of 30,000 pallets, supply the market leader Deutsche See,
also owned by P&P.
The fish also arrives in containers in
Hamburg. "The main traffic is from north to
south," says Jens Lühmann of the transport
company of the same name in Germany and

Austria., "60% of the products come from
the north, and concentrate in Bremerhaven
and Cuxhaven. Those from the south arrive
by air in Frankfurt. " Salmon is often cut
in Poland. It competes with Alaskan pollock for first place on the market, ahead of
rollmops, a rolled marinated herring fillet,
which is sold to older customers. Another
classic is carp, cooked at Christmas and
Easter. But the appeal of seafood products
is moderate in Germany with 13.7 kg/capita/year, compared to an average of 22.5 kg
in Europe.
"It's a difficult market, the price matters a great deal, in France quality is more
important" says Loïc Chartier, a chef at
Transgourmet in Germany who comes
from the Vendée region. "A promotion on
saithe leads to huge sales. And pork butcher's products remain essential." If 30% of
seafood is consumed by the outside catering industry, there are few starred chefs and
complete menus. But Germany remains a
stable market. And a certification is a safe
bet among which the MSC is in great
demand.
On the retail side, "there were 6,000
fresh fish points of sale until 2012, rising to 20,000 when Aldi and Lidl started,"
says Alexander Wever of AWF Consulting.
"Freelancers went bankrupt. But those
with good shop windows are doing well."
The typical fish counter makes 60% of its
turnover from fresh fish, 20% from smoked

S.L.R.

S.L.R.

Dossier ❘ ALLEMAGNE

301 000

fish and 20% from marinades and salads.
t "Margins are more like 50/25/25. The furcaught
ther East you go, the more smoked, deli and
freshwater fish is sold ".
Impact of the emergence of discounters
Mt
on
fresh fish sales ? "In value terms, since
imported
2018, fresh food sales have exceeded frozen food sales," points out Matthias Keller
Mt
of Fisch-Informationszentrum (Fiz). In 2019,
exported
fresh produce will increase by a further 2%
in quantity terms, despite a price increase of
8%. And the quantities of smoked products
th
will increase by 11%. "Germans are spendFrance is the country's
th
ing more than in 2019. They're not so con12 supplier.
cerned about the price if they find the qualThe top 5: Poland,
ity." An optimistic note for this sector of
Netherlands, Norway,
Denmark and China.
46,000 people. n

1.9
1.1
12

Captures : le hareng loin devant
Catch: herring is far ahead
70 000 t Hareng / Herring
46 500 t Merlan bleu / Blue whiting
23 500 t
19 000 t

Sprat / Sprat

19 000 t

Maquereau / Mackerel

17 000 t

0

Sardine / Sardine

Crevettes / Shrimps

16 000 t

Cabillaud / Cod

15 500 t

Moules / Mussels

10 000

Cod is polluted
and overfished
in the Baltic Sea.
Its quotas dropped
15 years ago.

30 000

50 000

en tonnes
en 2018

70 000

PRODUITS DE LA MER N°200 AVRIL-MAI 2020

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produits de la mer - n°200 - Avril-mai 2020

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