Inside the Portuguese Seafood Trade
TRADE SUMMARY
Portugal is not currently an important fish and seafood export market for Canada, accounting for just 0.1% of all Canadian seafood exports. In fact, the export value of fish and seafood to Portugal has been decreasing.
However, from a global perspective, Portugal is the 18th-largest importer of fish and seafood, importing over C$1.9 billion in 2011, an increase of 8.3% from 2010. Portugal's main suppliers were Spain (42.2%), Sweden (14.3%), the Netherlands (7.7%), China (4.5%) and the United States (2.4%).
Portugal's main global fish and seafood imports in 2011 included dried cod, salted or unsalted but not smoked (C$210.2 million), fresh or chilled fish with bones (C$202.2 million), frozen shrimp and prawns (C$182.9 million), cod, salted or in brine, not dried or smoked (C$171.1 million), and frozen cod, excluding fillets (C$151.8 million).
In 2011, Portugal exported C$1.05 billion in fish and seafood products worldwide, an increase of 10.5% from 2010. Most of Portugal's exports came from frozen or dried octopus (C$111.1 million), prepared or preserved sardines (C$85.8 million), and frozen shrimps and prawns (C$74.8 million). Top destinations included Spain (57.3%), Brazil (8.8%) and France (8.8%).
