German aquaculture under Covid-19 – impacts of the pandemic on the sector during 2020

Abstract

This study sheds light on challenges and possibilities for the German aquaculture sector resulting from the restrictions imposed by the German government to contain the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. By presenting results of expert interviews, stakeholder statements and a survey among German fish farmers, we provide insights into distribution, cost and turnover developments trigged by the restrictions in 2020. The survey shows that the pandemic had an impact on the business of a large group of producers: 44% of the fish farmers reported disturbed production processes, 46% experienced a decline in sales and the restricted gastronomy sector impacted negatively on the sales of 79%. On the other hand, 15% of the respondents were able to sell more than in 2019, 27% expanded their sales directly to the consumers. Nevertheless, a great majority (78%) did not perceive the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as the main challenge of German aquaculture. Based on the gained insights, we estimated the economic impacts of the Covid-19 restrictions on typical German fish farms under three scenarios with EBIT changes ranging from −10% to +8% compared to 2019. In that way, the gained insights teach valuable lessons on the sector's resilience to external shocks. During the scenarios a lack of vertical integration and a dependency on wholesale led to financial challenges. On the other hand, the scenarios attest fish farms with direct marketing structures and diversified distribution channels a higher resilience to external shocks: the small-scale structure of the German aquaculture that was often seen as a weakness on a globalised market proved to be an advantage.