(pangasius-vietnam.com) According to statistics from the International Trade Center (ITC), the U.K. sourced 11,770 MT of frozen pangasius and catfish fillets from 7 countries in the world, up 30 percent compared to that of 2012. In which, Vietnamese pangasius was 11,011 MT, accounting for 94 percent. However, the fish imported from the Netherlands got the highest growth of 426 percent, reached 447 MT.
In January 2014, the U.K. imported only frozen pangasius fillets from Vietnam, Poland and the Netherlands with total volume of 1,050 MT, up 7 percent from the previous month and higher than 795 MT in the same time of 2013.
In contrast, imports of fresh and chilled pangasius and catfish fillets were on the decrease. In 2013, the U.K. bought 583 MT of fresh/chilled pangasius and catfish fillets from 5 countries, down 57 percent year on year. Products from Vietnam were 392 MT, down 67 percent. Imports of these products into in the first month of 2014 were 35 MT, equal to that of the previous month and down from 185 MT of January 2013.
Currently, cod is the most imported fish in the U.K. with annual volume of 80,000 MT. It is followed by Alaska with 32,000 MT, haddock with 22,000 MT and pangasius with 11,000 MT. Imported hake products were about 2,000 MT per year.
Hake is commonly eaten in Europe, with the Spain annually consuming 6 kilograms (KG) per person. With scientific research showing burgeoning stock levels of hake in U.K. waters, catch quota for the fish has been increased by 49 percent in 2014. However, out of the 12,000 metric tons of hake caught by British fishermen last year, just 1.5 percent was consumed in the U.K.
In the EU, Portugal is the biggest consumer of hake among frozen white meat fish fillets (HS 0304) while consumption of the fish in the U.K. is still at low level. In 2013, the U.K. imported 2,328 MT of frozen hake fillets, up 20.8 percent year on year. In January 2014, purchase of frozen hake fillets into British market was 86 MT, down 70.3 percent compared to the previous month and lower than 138 MT reported a year ago.
The National Federation of Fishermen's Organizations (NFFO), which represents fishermen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, joined forces with seafood chef, food writer and restaurateur Mitch Tonks to launch a series of free recipe cards encouraging the British public to consider hake in their diet.
The campaign comes after a research revealed that 52 percent of consumers eat fish at least once a week and 19 percent eat it around three times a week — yet the majority of people rarely stray from cod, haddock, pangasius and salmon.