Croatia increased the catch and production of sea fish and other marine organisms by 9% in 2020 compared with the previous year, while the value of fisheries rose by 10.4%, according to provisional data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

The increase in the value of fisheries was due to the 11.6% rise in the value of sea fisheries, which in turn was driven by the 10.3% increase in sales.

A total of 66,535 tonnes of pelagic fish were sold last year, which is 7,054 tonnes more than in 2019, while the value of pelagic fish sold rose by 13.7% to HRK 518.2 million.

Also sold were 18,321 tonnes of other fish, their value reaching HRK 774.8 million, up by 13.5% compared with 2019.

The number of fishermen engaged in maritime fishing in 2020 fell by 0.4% to 6,582, and the number of fishing vessels decreased by 0.8% to 7,555.

The provisional data also show that the total production of freshwater fish in 2020 declined by 14.7% to 2,644 tonnes.

(€1 = HRK 7.48)