Dorado landings were mainly responsible for this drop. These dropped from 217,455 kilograms in the third quarter of 2003 to 175,902 kilograms in the third quarter of 2004, a drop of 19.1 per cent.
A marginal increase of 2.6 per cent in swordfish landings, from 75,870 kilograms to 77,839 kilograms was registered. Although a substantial decline in fresh fish availability was registered, the wholesale value of fresh fish increased marginally by Lm 14,353 (+2.8 per cent) for Lm 506,781 in the third quarter last year to Lm 521,134 in the third quarter this year. The increase in availability in the wholesale value of fresh fish was the result of a substantial increase in the wholesale value of swordfish landings as all the other main species registered declines in their respective wholesale values.
Notwithstanding the considerable decline in the volume of fish landings in the September quarter, there was a marginal increase (+1.8 per cent) in the total landings in the first nine months of 2004 when compared to the same period last year. The total landings in the first nine months increased from 728,764 kilograms, valued at Lm 1,494,545 in 2003 to 741,938 kilograms, valued at Lm 1,500,725 this year.
Regional Statistics
In the period under review, Maltese fishermen landed a total of 236,054 kilograms, a decline of 30.0 per cent when compared to the same period last year. The total landings of Maltese fishermen amounted to 75.7 per cent of the total fish landings, down from 91.7 per cent in the same period last year. Dorado and swordfish landings totalled 104,674 kilograms (44.3 per cent) and 77,770 kilograms (32.9 per cent) respectively. Notwithstanding increases in the wholesale value of swordfish and bogue landings by 52.5 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively, the wholesale value of Maltese landings dropped by Lm 17,321 (-3.7 per cent) from Lm 466,154 to Lm 448,833.
During the third quarter, fish landings by Gozitan fishermen more than doubled when compared to the same period last year. While shrimp and bogue landings were down by 58.0 per cent and 89.9 per cent respectively, dorado landings increased from 20,216 kilograms in the third quarter of 2003 to 71,228 kilograms in the third quarter this year, an increase of 45,184 kilograms (+252.3 per cent). The wholesale value was up by 78.0 per cent from Lm 40,627 in the third quarter of 2003 to Lm 72,301 in the third quarter of 2004. While dorado landings was responsible for this increase, drops in the wholesale value of shrimp (-54.2 per cent) and bogue (-90.4 per cent) landings were registered.
Indices
The All Items price index in the month of September stood at 117.0, up by 5.1 points (+4.5 per cent) when compared to the month of September in 2003. In September 2004, the price index rose due to increases in the average unit prices of dorado and swordfish which increased by 12.1 per cent and 36.3 per cent respectively. On the other hand, shrimp, dog-fish and common sea bream registered declines of 15.3 per cent, 4.5 per cent, and 14.0 per cent in the average unit price, respectively.
In the month of September 2004, the volume index stood at 97.5 points, down by 40.2 points (-29.2 per cent) over the same period in 2003. This was the result of a drop in dorado landings which fell from 159,613 kilograms in September 2003 to 110,353 kilograms in September 2004 (-30.9 per cent). Swordfish landings also registered a marginal drop of 1.3 per cent, down from 17,084 kilograms in September 2003 to 16,858 kilograms in September this year.
Aquaculture exports
Total aquaculture exports in the September quarter 2004 amounted to 247,679 kilograms, an increase of 10,441 kilograms (+4.4 per cent) when compared to the 237,238 kilograms exported in the same quarter last year. Whereas sea bream exports increased from 196,353 kilograms to 218,179 kilograms (+11.1 per cent), sea bass exports decreased from 40,885 kilograms to 29,500 kilograms (-27.8 per cent) in the same period this year.
The total value of the exported fish in the third quarter increased by Lm 139,255 (+28.0 per cent) from Lm 496,937 in 2003 to Lm 636,192 in 2004. While the value of sea bream increased by Lm 117,948 (+34.3 per cent) from Lm 343,618 in 2003 to Lm 461,566 in 2004, the value of sea bass increased by Lm 21,308 (+13.9 per cent) from Lm 153,319 in the September quarter of 2003 to Lm 174,627 in the September quarter of 2004.