In its February issue, Globefish reports that imports of Nile perch are in decline. In 2010, Nile perch was the second most imported freshwater fish into the EU, after pangasius, but it has become more expensive for EU importers in 2011 because of the reduction in supply. This may lead to changes in whitefish markets in the EU: in particular, tilapia producers will be looking for opportunities to enter this market segment.

Pangasius is still the most popular white fish on EU markets, but Globefish also highlights the fact that the Spanish Association of Marine Aquaculture Producers, Apromar, says that aquaculture in Spain is increasingly affected by pressure from farmed white-fish imports, such as pangasius, and denounced the unfair competition from the import of animal products, including seafood, fed with feed that was banned in the EU. Globefish emphasises that ‘recently, imports from countries where sanitary or labour requirements are less demanding than those of the EU have also been criticised’. This also concerns ACP countries: in Uganda, three red alerts, resulting from the poor quality of the fish exported, have been raised. The EU has threatened to ban fish from that country.

Globefish argues that African countries will increasingly need to show that they comply with high quality and sustainability standards, both for Nile perch and pangasius, if they want to maintain their shares in key markets like the EU. Some producers, processors and exporters are already addressing this issue, and moving from quantity to quality production.