October 30, 2014

A new report, “Smooth Sailing for Australian Seafood” issued by Rabobank, states that although Australia accounts for a small percentage of total global seafood production and trade, its reputation for high quality, sustainable production and its geographical location put Australia in prime position to take advantage of the growth in global demand for seafood.  Seafood is the most consumed animal protein in the world and given demand growth trends, an additional 30-40 million tons of additional seafood will be needed to meet consumer demand by 2030.  Chinese per capita consumption of seafood has increased 57% since 2000 to reach 37.7 kilograms per person in 2014. Chinese consumption is generally focused on lower-quality, domestically produced seafood, but this is expected to shift to demand for higher end seafood which will likely play out as a prime opportunity for Australian producers and exporters.  Aquaculture surpassed wild catch production in 2012 to now account for over 50% of seafood globally produced for human consumption.  In Australia, wild catch still accounted for 87% of production as of 2012, but aquaculture is increasing its share of the market due in part to it being such an efficient converter of feed to protein.  Given the environmental and sustainability pressures on the industry, and the demand from Asian markets, Australian aquaculture has the potential for significant growth.

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