Several stakeholders gathered this Saturday morning to promote the local sector. If the people of Reunion consume 20 kg per year, fish is less popular with consumers. This can be explained in particular by a surge in prices.
On our island, the pei fish industry represents around 16,000 tonnes of fish, all species combined, per year. On the stalls, consumers prefer red fish for curry, yet the people of Reunion indulge in this little pleasure less and less.
“Fish has become very expensive. My husband only eats this, so I have to eat it twice a week“, explains a consumer.
Captain, Tilapia or even Swordfish, fish is no longer as popular on the shopping lists of Reunion Islanders. In the fishmongers, customers are becoming rarer although the fish are still available. The price is different from the fish that can be found in supermarkets.
“Unfortunately prices have gone up a little. This can be explained by the price of diesel and other payroll costs.“, explains Lionel Papi, manager of the fishmonger “Le quai des mers”.
Although according to the stakeholders concerned the sector is doing well, we have observed a drop in landings due to unfavorable weather conditions since the start of the year. This drop can only be precisely estimated next year.
“This can be explained by the cyclone we had in January, plus the sea conditions were really not favourable. We hope that in the second part of the year, our fishermen can smile again“, indicates Bruno Langlade, general delegate of ARIPA.
On average, the people of Reunion consume around 20 kg of fish per year. Consumption 5 kg lower than in France.
