Some 11,423 tonnes of fish were sold in Belgian ports last year, a 7.1% decline from the 12,302 tonnes sold in 2023, new data from Statbel, the Belgian statistics office, has found.
According to Statbel, sea fishing in Belgium has seen a decrease in both landings and turnover for the second year in a row, with turnover coming in at €69.02 million in 2024.
This is a decrease of 8% on the €75.03 million recorded in 2023.
Zeebrugge leads the way
Of Belgium’s main fishing ports, Zeebrugge continues to be the largest, accounting for 55.2% of all fish and seafood landings, followed by Ostend (43.3%) and Nieuwpoort (1.5%).
In addition to the fish that is landed and sold in Belgian ports, some 3,134 tonnes of fish were landed in foreign ports, which accounted for 22% of the landings of the Belgian fishing fleet last year, generating a turnover of €14.77 million.
Dutch ports led the way, accounting for 12.8% of Belgian fleet landings, followed by ports in Denmark (6.3%), Spain (2.6%) and France (0.3%).
Landings at foreign ports
Landings at foreign ports brought the total catch for the Belgian fleet to 14,557 tonnes, valued at nearly €84 million, down from €90 million in 2023, Statbel noted.
Sole remained the top species by value (€32.8 million), despite a 16.4% drop in landings compared to the previous year. Cuttlefish was the most landed species by weight and ranked second by value, increasing by 17.1%. Monkfish, plaice and ray completed the top five in terms of landed value, the data showed.
Elsewhere, shrimp landings rebounded sharply, rising by 61.5% to 314.7 tonnes, generating €2.3 million in revenue. Read more here.
