Japan’s tuna imports expose Malta’s outsized role in global seafood trade

Malta’s tuna fattening industry has an outsized influence on global seafood markets. In 2024, a reduction in Japan’s spending on tuna imports from Malta contributed directly to a 5% fall in the total value of all fish and seafood imported by Japan worldwide. 

The data is drawn from The EU Fish Market (2025 edition), recently published by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA), the European Commission’s official market intelligence tool. 

The report states that in 2024 Japan imported 2.3 million tonnes of fishery and aquaculture products worth €12.2 billion. This included a 1% increase in volume but a 5% decrease in value compared with 2023. 

“A drop in the values of imported salmon roe products from Russia and the US, and of tuna from Malta and Thailand, caused the overall decrease in the value of imports,” the report states. 

The report notes that Malta’s seafood industry is heavily dependent on a specific niche—the fattening of high-value bluefin tuna. 

Over the decade leading up to 2023, this specialisation drove massive expansion, causing bluefin tuna’s share in total EU fish farming to grow significantly. Over this period, the volume of bluefin tuna produced in Malta soared by 242%, while the value increased by 77%. By 2023, this specific product reached 18,624 tonnes, valued at €167 million. 

However, the market shows major instability. While the total volume of fish farmed in Malta rose by 15% in 2023, reaching 21,000 tonnes, the total revenue of the entire fish farming sector simultaneously dropped dramatically by 38% compared with 2022, totalling €199 million. 

Trade and domestic consumption 

Malta’s international trade also reflects its unique position. Although the volume of seafood exported outside the EU dropped significantly by 21% in 2024, the revenue from these exports remained almost the same, decreasing by only 0.3% to €170.3 million. 

Estimating domestic fish consumption is more complicated. Although figures suggest a high level of fish consumption per person (between 30 and 40 kg annually), this number is difficult to determine accurately because two factors skew the data. These include tourism, which heavily influences total fish consumption, and the fact that a significant portion of imported frozen fish is not eaten by people but used directly as feed for the bluefin tuna industry. 

In terms of household spending, the amount spent per person on fish and seafood increased by 7% in 2024, reaching €157 per capita per year. However, the overall share of household spending dedicated to buying fish fell sharply by 11% in 2024. Early information from 2025 suggests a modest recovery in consumer spending, with an increase of about 5%.