TY - JOUR

T1 - The Covid-19 impacts on the European Union aquaculture sector

AU - Nielsen, Rasmus

AU - Villasante, Sebastian

AU - Fernandez Polanco, Jose Manuel

AU - Guillen, Jordi

AU - Llorente Garcia, Ignacio

AU - Asche, Frank

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - There have been a number of indications of strong negative impacts of Covid-19 and the preventive measures associated with the pandemic for all food sectors. However, there is increasing evidence that the picture is quite nuanced where the Covid related measures are creating challenges for some and opportunities for others. In this paper we investigate the impacts of Covid-19 on the aquaculture sector in the European Union using two approaches; a survey where industry representatives and experts assess the impacts on key economic indicators allowing for positive as well as negative impacts, and recently published aquaculture production data for Denmark and Spain. Our findings show that surveys’ results indicate that, on average, the impact of Covid-19 is negative on the income side, increasing cost and therefore negative with respect to profit. However, in every category the average covers both positive and negative answers suggesting that what was a challenge for some was a window of an opportunity for others. The production data for Denmark and Spain also indicate moderate to no impacts of the Covid-19. The strongest impacts appear on the turbot prices, a species where highly dependent on higher end restaurants. The lower price is a clear indication that there was a significant opportunity cost associated with getting access to other supply chains, particularly as the quantity was also moderately down.

AB - There have been a number of indications of strong negative impacts of Covid-19 and the preventive measures associated with the pandemic for all food sectors. However, there is increasing evidence that the picture is quite nuanced where the Covid related measures are creating challenges for some and opportunities for others. In this paper we investigate the impacts of Covid-19 on the aquaculture sector in the European Union using two approaches; a survey where industry representatives and experts assess the impacts on key economic indicators allowing for positive as well as negative impacts, and recently published aquaculture production data for Denmark and Spain. Our findings show that surveys’ results indicate that, on average, the impact of Covid-19 is negative on the income side, increasing cost and therefore negative with respect to profit. However, in every category the average covers both positive and negative answers suggesting that what was a challenge for some was a window of an opportunity for others. The production data for Denmark and Spain also indicate moderate to no impacts of the Covid-19. The strongest impacts appear on the turbot prices, a species where highly dependent on higher end restaurants. The lower price is a clear indication that there was a significant opportunity cost associated with getting access to other supply chains, particularly as the quantity was also moderately down.

U2 - 10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105361

DO - 10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105361

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36339373

VL - 147

JO - Marine Policy

JF - Marine Policy

SN - 0308-597X

M1 - 105361

ER -