Fast facts
Exports
- Seafood export value decreased by 6 per cent in 2016–17 to $1.33 billion, while seafood export volume declined by 17 per cent to 51,371 tonnes.
- Total value of seafood exports was 24 per cent lower in real terms in 2016–17 compared with 2006–07.
Imports
- Seafood imports increased by 6 per cent in 2016–17 to $1.90 billion.
- Seafood import volume increased by 2 per cent to 226,386 tonnes.
- The value of seafood imports was 17 per cent higher in real terms in 2016–17 compared with 2006–07.
- Import volumes increased by 27 per cent in real terms from 2006–07 to 2016–17.
Where does most of the seafood come from?
With global wild catch stable at 90 million tonnes per annum for many years now, any growth in seafood production has to come from aquaculture. We are at the point where 50% of global production is now coming from aquaculture farmed sources.
So the key supply markets are aquaculture producers in what used to be called developing countries. But now know as tier 2 or 3 countries. The top aquaculture suppliers to Australia are Thailand, Viet Nam, China, Malaysia and Norway. Wild catch mostly comes from New Zealand and canned tuna from the Pacific that is processed mostly in Thailand.
Trade Data
Trade data from ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences) , is available courtesy of the FRDC (Fisheries Research and Development Corporation) website.
Seafood Imports by category over the last 6 years
| Fishery Imports $’000,000 Nominal | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
| Misc Finfish | 427.3 | 445.2 | 469.8 | 505.4 | 521.4 | 528.4 |
| Prawn | 350.9 | 304.8 | 495.1 | 431.2 | 400.9 | 402.5 |
| Tuna | 205.5 | 258.2 | 296.1 | 283.9 | 274.8 | 302.7 |
| Atlantic Salmon | 91.8 | 118.8 | 167.5 | 190.7 | 184.7 | 217.0 |
| Squid, Cuttlefish & Octopus | 77.9 | 69.3 | 81.7 | 78.2 | 95.7 | 120.4 |
| Other Crustaceans & Molluscs | 64.0 | 70.7 | 77.9 | 79.5 | 91.6 | 97.1 |
| Scallop | 43.3 | 40.1 | 51.8 | 48.4 | 53.9 | 66.9 |
| Lobster | 16.0 | 15.3 | 22.4 | 28.3 | 29.9 | 33.8 |
| Sardine | 16.4 | 18.0 | 20.3 | 21.3 | 23.3 | 27.0 |
| Crab | 15.5 | 16.8 | 28.3 | 31.1 | 28.7 | 24.9 |
| Hake | 20.9 | 23.3 | 19.4 | 21.8 | 23.6 | 23.1 |