The aquaculture industry grew by almost a fifth last year compared to 2017, with a total output of €239.2 million, official figures show.

Results of a census conducted by the statistics office amongst operators showed that the industry weathered the storm caused by slime on the beaches and calls for the tuns pens to be moved further offshore as the combined output from the farming of tuna and closed cycle species amounted to €239.2 million, up by €38 million or 18.9 per cent over 2017.

Expenses incurred by the industry, increased by €27.3 million or 13.4 per cent over 2017. As a result, the industry’s gross value added stood at €7.6 million, the National Statistics Office said.

Compensation of employees rose by €3.7 million, reaching €8.6 million.

Overall, the industry registered a net operating loss of €5.2 million. In volume terms, the total sales of fish amounted to 19.3 million tonnes, an increase of 22.7 per cent over the preceding year. The marketed tonnage of Tuna accounted for 89.8 per cent of the total sales; up from an 83.5 per cent share recorded in 2017. This was also reflected in the tonnage of sold Tuna which rose by 32.1 per cent over the relative quantity sold a year before.

In terms of value, the total marketed amount of farmed fish rose by €62.3 million or 34.5 per cent to a total of €242.7 million). On the expenditure side, purchases of live Tuna and fingerlings amounted to €109.9 million, an increase of €8.8 million or 8.7 per cent over 2017.

Similarly, variable production costs increased by 16.6 per cent over 2017 as a result of higher expenses related to fish feed supplies, insurance and licences fees as well as other variable costs respectively. Further increases of 39.1 per cent and 17.2 per cent were registered in selling costs and overheads respectively.