At home and overseas, NZ seafood is on the dinner table

At home and overseas, New Zealand seafood is on the dinner table – Media release

6 May 2013

When fish is on the menu, the type of fish you get can depend heavily on where you live.

Salmon, tarakihi, and gurnard are the most-commonly available fish species in supermarkets and fish shops as tracked in the consumers price index (CPI), Statistics NZ said today. However, some species are not widely available in all regions.

“Snapper and trevally are generally available in shops from Nelson northwards, but barely feature further south where sole is more commonly available,” prices manager Chris Pike said.

New Zealand's seafood industry, published today by Statistics NZ, gives an economic overview of selected parts of the country’s seafood industry and provides a comparison between 2007 and 2012.

Between 2007 and 2012, fresh fish prices rose 19 percent – an average of 3.5 percent a year. This compares with a 21 percent rise in food prices tracked in the CPI over the five years.

“For the same period, prices for lamb rose 35 percent, beef rose 22 percent, and chicken rose 14 percent,” Mr Pike said.

For budget-conscious shoppers, hoki, red cod, and trevally are among the cheapest species per kilo, while at the other end of the scale, snapper and blue cod are the most expensive.

Outside New Zealand there is also a large market for New Zealand seafood. The value of fish exports grew 26 percent to $1.6 billion over the last five years. This rise was due to increases in the price of exported fish.

“The value of seafood exports to China and Hong Kong have increased 62 percent over the last five years, with demand for rock lobster, frozen fish, pāua, and mussels all contributing to the increase,” Mr Pike said.

See New Zealand's seafood industry for more information and view New Zealand's seafood industry infographic, available from www.stats.govt.nz.

ENDS

NewZealandsSeafoodIndustryInfographic.pdf

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