KIEV: The volume of fish consumption in Ukraine is around 14 kg per capita a year, which is 6 kg less than the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Director General of the Association of Ukrainian Fish and Seafood Importers Dmytro Zahumenny has said.
“With population of 35 million in Ukraine, Ukrainians consume 9-14 kg of fish per capita a year. In the world the figure exceeds 20 kg per capita a year,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
He said that in Japan the figure reaches 65 kg, in North America – 24 kg, in the EU – 21 kg and it is permanently growing in China.
“Ukrainians consume very little fish. For the last 30 years, there has been a steady increase in fish consumption in the world. Analyzing the import figures for the last three years, it seems that growth is on the rise, but considering the figures for 2013, we can say that this is a restoration of the market. With the devaluation of the currency in 2014-2015, many people in Ukraine were forced to abandon the consumption of fish and fish products or move to a more accessible segment,” the expert said.
According to him, taking into account the volume of fish products of own catch (180,000 tonnes, and officially – 90,000 tonnes), the total volume of the fish market in Ukraine in 2017 was about 500,000 tonnes.
The expert said that the lion’s share of Ukrainian imports is fish products. Fish is imported to Ukraine from more than 60 countries, with the main importers being Norway, Iceland and the United States. In general, fish imports to Ukraine in 2017 amounted to 320,000 tonnes worth $500 million, exceeding last year’s figure (300,000 tonnes, $460 million).
