Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

In 2023, the total EU fish catch amounted to an estimated 3.3 million tonnes live weight from the seven marine areas covered by EU statistics. This continued a downward trend in catches since 4.6 million tonnes were caught in 2018. According to the European Statistical Office in Brussels, "Eurostat", the Spanish fishing fleet accounted for just over a fifth of the total EU catch in 2023 (21%; 698,000 tonnes), followed by Denmark (15%; 495,000 tonnes) and France (14%; 470,000 tonnes).

Around 72% of the total EU catch was caught in the North-East Atlantic region. The main species caught in this area were herring (18%), blue hake (16%), sprat (13%) and mackerel (10%). About a fifth of the total EU catch by live weight in this area was taken by the Danish fishing fleet (21%), followed by France (15%) and Spain (11%).

Almost 10% of the total EU catch was taken in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, where the main species taken were sardines (19%) and anchovies (18%). The Italian fleet took 37% of the EU catch in this area, followed by Greece (20%), Croatia (18%) and Spain (17%).

Fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean area accounted for 6% of the total EU catch. The vast majority (94%) of the total live weight taken by the EU fishing fleet was tuna, mainly skipjack and yellowfin tuna. About two-thirds of the EU catch in the area was taken by the Spanish fleet (68%), with most of the rest by France (30%).
Another 6% of the total EU catch was caught in the East Central Atlantic. The main fisheries in this area were horse mackerel and skipjack tuna (21%) each, followed by yellowfin tuna (13%) and mackerel (11%). Among the EU countries, Spain (40%), France (16%) and the Netherlands (11%) accounted for most of the catch in this area. Only 6% of the total EU catch was caught in the remaining 3 marine areas. The main species caught in these areas were: hake and squid (Southwest Atlantic), blue sharks, skipjack and yellowfin tuna (Southeast Atlantic), and redfish, halibut and cod (Northwest Atlantic). World Fisheries Day was celebrated on 21 November.