The economic performance of the EU fishing fleet during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Aquatic Living Resources
• Main Authors: CARPENTER Griffin, CARVALHO Natacha, GUILLEN GARCIA Jordi, PRELLEZO Raul, VILLASANTE Sebastian, ANDERSEN Jesper, AVDIC Edo, BERKENHAGEN Jörg, BRIGAUDEAU Cecile, BURKE Brian, CALVO SANTOS Angel, CANO Suzana, CONTINI Franca, DA ROCHA ALVAREZ Jose Maria, DAVIDJUKA Irina, FERNÁNDEZ MARTÍNEZ Francisco Manuel, FONTANEDA LOPEZ Ignacio, GAMBINO Monica, GARCIA CABALLERO Elena, GUYADER Olivier, HERRING Jeppe, HOEKSTRA Geert, IOANNOU Myrto, JACKSON Emmet, JUNG Armelle, KAZLAUSKAS Edvardas, KEATINGE M., KUZEBSKI Emil, LEONARDI Sophie, LE GRAND Christelle, LEES Janek, MANCEBO ROBLEDO Carmen Margarita, MINNE Marie-Dominique, MOL Arie, MORAN QUINTANA Marta, NICHEVA Simona, POKKI Heidi, RAMOS DO O Joao, RODRIGUEZ Alexandre, SABATELLA Rosaria Felicita, SCIBERRAS Andrew, SOUFFEZ Arnaud, STROIE Constantin, SWAHNBERG Hanna, TZOURAMANI Irene, VALIENTE VIANA Maria, VERLE Katrien, VIRTANEN Jarno, VUKOV Ivana, ZHELEV Kolyo
• Language: English
• Published: EDP SCIENCES S A 2023
• Subjects: Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128234; https://www.alr-journal.org/articles/alr/full_html/2023/01/alr220013/alr220013.html; https://doi.org/10.1051/alr/2022022

The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent public health interventions have depressed demand and disrupted supply chains for many fishing businesses. This paper provides an analysis of the COVID-19 impacts on the profitability of the EU fishing fleets. Our results show that the economic impact of COVID-19 on this sector was smaller than initially expected and overall profits remained positive. This was in part due to low fuel prices that reduced operating costs of fishing, and the early response from the administration to support the sector. The results also vary by fishing fleet, revealing that small-scale fleets and the fleets in the Mediterranean and Black seas have been more impacted than large-scale fleets and the fleets in the Northeast Atlantic. JRC.D.2 - Ocean and Water