German aquaculture at a glance

The production volume of German aquaculture farms amounted to 32,200 tonnes in 2020, of which around 20% was from organic production. Almost 60% of the total production was produced in freshwater, a good 40% came from marine aquacultures (mainly mussels). Of the freshwater fish, more than half were salmonids: mostly rainbow trout, followed by salmon trout and Alsatian char. Carp accounted for about a quarter of the total amount of fish.

Wholesale as the most important customer

The majority of the products produced (65%) were distributed via wholesalers in 2020. In each case, 10% of the total production was sold directly to customers, refined in the production facilities or went to gastronomy, fishing parks or other aquaculture businesses. Only 5 % went to the food retail trade.

Production mainly takes place in tanks, flowing canals and ponds. Only 15 % of German aquaculture production is produced in recirculation systems.

Further information on the production systems can be found in the fact sheet on livestock farming in Germany "Aquaculture" (in German).

Small farms - big challenges

Regional aquaculture is characterised by short transport routes, sustainable production and good quality. The sector is dominated by many small farms:

• 56% of German aquaculture farms produce less than 1 tonne per year. Even though this farm size is the most common, together they produce only 2% of the total production of the sector.
• 24% of farms produce 1 to 5 tonnes per year, contributing to 7% of total production.
• 20% of the farms produce more than 5 tonnes per year. By far the largest share of the production volume comes from them, 91%.  

In 2020, there were 2,300 aquaculture enterprises (Destatis 2021) with around 1,100 employees in freshwater aquaculture and 125 in marine aquaculture (BA 2021). This is almost 1,000 farms less than in 2015 - a decrease of 30 % in the last 5 years. This dwindling of aquaculture farms is due to the economic challenges facing the sector. Frequently cited problems of producers include fish losses due to predators, climate change (especially water shortage and heat), lack of young talent in the companies, investment backlog and bureaucratic framework conditions.

Background: Fish consumption in Germany

With an annual per capita consumption of around 14 kg of fish and seafood (BLE 2020), Germany is significantly below the global average of 20 kg per capita (FAO 2020). The annual amount consumed is divided into 8.3 kg of sea fish, 4.1 kg of freshwater fish and 1.7 kg of crustaceans and molluscs (FIZ 2021; catch weights in each case). This means that twice as much sea fish as freshwater fish ends up on German plates.  Salmon is the most popular fish among Germans, followed by tuna, Alaska pollack and herring (BLE 2021). The products are mainly bought as preserves and marinades (31%) or frozen (23%). The market share of smoked fish is 11%. Fish salads account for 2%, other fishery products 8% and crustaceans and molluscs (fresh, frozen, prepared) 13%. Fresh fish accounts for only 12% of German per capita consumption. (FIZ 2021)

Only 10% of the products on the German market were caught by German fisheries or produced in aquaculture in Germany. To meet the majority of demand, Germany is therefore dependent on imports of fish products.

The share of domestic fish and fishery products is made up of landings by the German fishing fleet (83%), catches from commercial inland fishing (1%) and production by German aquaculture (16%).