No farmed fish please, we’re Maltese...

Malta may be an island surrounded by sea and marine life, but it also has the third largest percentage of people who never eat fish amongst the EU-27, according to a Eurobarometer survey.

Respondents are most likely to say that they never eat fishery or aquaculture products in Austria (26%), Hungary (25%), Malta (19%) and Italy (17%).

Moreover, only 57% of Maltese eat fish at home at least once a month, compared to 64% of respondents in all member states.

The percentage of Maltese who eat fish at least once a month has declined by 14 points since 2018. Since then, the share of respondents who say they eat fishery or aquaculture products at home at least once a month has decreased in 22 EU Member States, and by at least ten percentage points in eight member States, most notably in Cyprus (-22 percentage points).

Conversely, it has increased in five Member States, particularly in Czechia (+23 pp.) and Ireland (+19 pp.)

While only 54% of Maltese aged 15-24 eat fish more than once a month, the percentage rises to 62% among those aged 25-40, and peaks at 64% among the 40-54 age group. But the percentage drops to 58% among those aged over 55.

The survey also indicates that higher income groups eat more fish than other categories. While 85% of self-employed and 74% of managers eat fish more than once a month, only 47% of manual workers do likewise.

The survey also shows that the Maltese are more likely to eat fishery products from a restaurant. While 28% of Maltese respondents eat fish from a restaurant at least once a month, only 21% of all EU respondents do likewise.

The Portuguese are the most likely in Europe to eat fish more than once a month both at home (86%) or in a restaurant (44%).

The survey also shows that only 4% of Maltese prefer farmed to wild fish, while 46% prefer marine products caught from the wild. The survey shows that a majority of Maltese (52%) would like food labels to state clearly whether a product is farmed or caught from the wild.

But although a strong majority prefer wild to farmed fish, since 2018 the percentage that prefer wild to farmed produce has decreased by 16 points. Those who prefer farmed fish have also decreased from 7% in 2018 to just 4% now. But those who do not know whether the products they buy are wild or farmed has increased by 4 points. So has the percentage of those who replied that it depends on which fishery product they buy. The percentage of Maltese who have no preference has also increased by 5 points since 2018.

The proportion of respondents who say they prefer wild products has decreased in 22 EU Member States, most notably in Latvia (25%, -18 percentage points since 2018), Denmark (31%, -17 pp.), and Malta (46%, -16 pp.). In contrast, it has increased slightly in three EU member states.

The survey also shows that while 24% of EU citizens would like the food label on fishery products to specify the fish gear used (e.g. long lines and trawls), only 11% of Maltese would like this information to be included. Only 22% of Maltese respondents would like food labels to include information on the environmental impact of the product in contrast to 31% of Europeans.

The proportion of respondents who have bought fishery products at the grocery store, supermarket or hypermarket during the last 12 months has increased in 16 EU Member States, most notably in Malta (67%, +21 percentage points since 2018). However, it has decreased in ten Member States, particularly in Lithuania (81%, -10 pp.).

The survey also shows that the Maltese give more importance to the appearance of the product then other Europeans. When asked what is most important to them when buying a product 78% of Maltese referred to the products’ appearance, in contrast to 56% of EU respondents. And while 49% of EU respondent give importance to the place of origin of the product, only 30% of Maltese consumers give value to this consideration.