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The decline of mussel aquaculture in the European Union: causes, economic impacts and opportunities

2020; Wiley; Volume: 13; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/raq.12465

1753-5123

Lamprakis Avdelas, Edo Avdic‐Mravlje, Ana Cristina Borges Marques, Suzana Cano, Jacob J. Capelle, Natacha Carvalho, Maria Cozzolino, John M. Dennis, Tim Ellis, José Fernández-Polanco, Jordi Guillén, Tobias Lasner, Véronique Le Bihan, Ignacio Llorente, Arie Mol, Simona Nicheva, Rasmus Nielsen, J.A.E. van Oostenbrugge, Sebastián Villasante, Svjetlana Visnic, Kolyo Zhelev, Frank Asche,

Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth

Abstract In contrast to the increasing aquaculture production of mussels worldwide, production in the European Union (EU) has shown a decreasing trend over the last two decades. Aquaculture production of mussels in the EU peaked in the late 1990s at more than 600 000 tonnes; by 2016, production volume had dropped by 20% to 480 000 tonnes. As mussel production represents more than ⅓ of EU aquaculture production, this decrease is an important contributor to the stagnation of EU aquaculture. Previous studies have suggested diseases, lack of mussel seed (spat), and low profitability as the main causes of the EU mussel production decrease. In this study, we investigate how economic and environmental factors have contributed. Moreover, we examine if the different mussel production techniques (raft, longline, on‐bottom, and ‘bouchot’) have been differently affected, by analysing the economic performance and cost structure evolution for the period 2010–2016. We complement these results with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the EU mussel sector based on expert knowledge.