Spanish aquaculture promising for Dutch fishing industry
In 2009 and 2011, Transfer Consultancy organized trade missions for the fishing and aquaculture industry between Spain and the Netherlands. As these missions turned out to be a great success, another mission to Vigo, Galicia, was held from 6 – 8 November 2012. The event was funded by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), which promotes and supports collaboration between SMEs within Europe.
The Spanish aquaculture industry is an interesting industry since it is strongly influenced by local geographical and climatic conditions. Spain’s geographic landscape includes a large diversity of rivers and lakes and no less than 8,000 km of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Consequently, Spain has both a well-developed marine as well as continental aquaculture. In addition, the Spanish climate ranges from humid in the north to dry in the south. This forces the fishing industry to adapt to local conditions and therefore, techniques and methods vary by region.
The numbers regarding Spanish fish consumption show that the level of total consumption by households decreased by 0.7% in the period June 2011 – June 2012, while fish expenditures increased with 2.1% in the same period. The demand for fresh fish and seafood increased with 3.2% while the percentage for canned fish was slightly lower at 2%. Spanish fish consumption averaged 8.79 kg per consumer in June 2012. This translates into a 96.1% penetration rate in the Spanish households - one of the world’s highest!
On Tuesday, November 6 in the morning, the delegation consisting of 10 Dutch companies from the fishing and aquaculture industry were received by the president of the Port Authority of Vigo, Ignacio López-Chaves, who reiterated the importance of such initiatives to publicize the port of Vigo and its commercial possibilities. During business meetings the various Dutch companies exchanged experiences and knowledge and initiated new business relationships with over 30 companies located in Galicia and the surrounding area. If anything characterized the group of companies involved in this mission it was diversity; various companies in the sectors of frozen fish, fresh fish, aquaculture technology and microalgae were present. Moreover, several visits to various port facilities and companies, such as Pesquera Pereira, Luis Rosales SA and Dilsea SL were organized in order to explore the services and facilities the Port of Vigo has to offer.
The visit of the Dutch companies to the area of Vigo has been a success for both parties: Various pre-agreements were signed, more cooperation agreements are expected and even an order was placed the week after the mission. Currently, further steps are considered to continue and expand this mission for the future. The organizations Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Transfer Latin Business Consultancy, Comarsa and AP Vigo are working together to develop new proposals.
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