Shellfish

Oysters: The French bulk market went through a crisis with low prices especially for the big grades. After an anxious few weeks in early March, the market stabilised. BIM Store Watch Marennes Oléron, fine de claire grade 3. €4.90/kg. The bulk market remains difficult, but producers are now patient and waiting for better days.

Mussels: Demand for Irish mussels picked up during the second half of March due to the drop in availability of Bouchot mussels. The French long line production around Island of Ré was affected by storms, usually these mussels are the first French mussels to reach the market in April. Store Watch Bouchot mussels MAP € 5.7/kg, Dutch mussels MAP €2.10/kg, Spanish mussels €3/kg

Demand for Irish mussels should strengthen, however, certain packers will be moving towards the Italian mussels and availability from Ireland will be low due to the spawning season. Cold water temperature should favour further exports.In the Italian market oysters are arriving from Holland and France.

Lobster: Retail purchasing prices were approximately €35/kg. Easter prices were down in comparison to previous year.  On the Italian market demand for lobster picked up slightly due to brisk restaurant trade expected from mid March. Trade in Italian lobster has increased while Canadian and American lobster continue to land in Italy both live and fresh (chilled). BIM Store Watch American Live Lobster €29.90/kg

Crab: Poor weather conditions limited landings and held prices up. Store Watch live €7.50/kg, cooked €11.80/kg. As demand weakens prices for live bulk crab will drop. On the Italian marketincreased availability of national crab and a growing demand saw a brisker crab trade on national seafood markets during March. Imported live brown crab (medium grade) was achieving an average of €7.33/kg at the Chioggia port market during March while imported spider crab (Grancevola) was selling at an average price of €6.38/kg. BIM Store Watch Live Atlantic Brown Crab: €9.90/kg

Whitefish

Monkfish: In Italy demand for monkfish is strong with imports continuing to arrive from Holland, Denmark, Scotland, France and Croatia. There has been an upward pressure on prices as a result.  At the Ancona port market, fresh whole monkfish from the Adriatic achieved an average of €11.63 /kg recently.

Fresh imported monkfish tails from Holland were selling on the market at an average of €13.25 /kg while the Italian equivalent was achieving average prices of €15.80 /kg. The price for fresh monkfish tails from Scotland remained stable averaging €17.50 /kg in Milan during while the same product was selling in Turin for €16.80 /kg. French monkfish tails made a sales price of up to €18.00/kg on the Turin wholesale market in March.

Megrim: The average prices for megrims in both Galician auctions have increased recently. This increase has been prompted by reduced offerings in both auctions. In Vigo during a recent 22 day period, the amount of quantity traded reached 335 tonnes, whereas in March there were only 9 days of auction and 176 tonnes were traded. A similar situation was experienced at the La Coruña auction, which traded 67 tonnes in February and 21 tonnes during March.

In La Coruña, average prices were lower than Vigo. The lowest price was registered in February at €2.84/kg, while the highest average price reached €6.97/kg. In terms of volumes, 

Salmon

Salmon prices at retail level have remained relatively stable over the first quarter of 2008 despite a relatively calm market overall. Publication of official consumer statistics observe that overall inflation for consumer goods purchased in multiple retail stores reached 4.6% in February 2008 compared to the previous year. This fuels fears of rising prices overall and can consequently dampen consumer confidence.