CROATIA
Conex Trade has vessels, processing and distribution
EU membership facilitates access to new markets The Croatian fisheries sector includes marine capture fisheries, fresh water production, fish farming in the Adriatic and on land, tuna ranching, and a processing sector that converts the raw material into fresh, frozen, smoked, and canned products. In volume terms the Croatian fleet’s most important catches are those of Adriatic sardines and anchovies catches of which have averaged about 55,000 tonnes over the last five years. These species are the mainstay of a salting, marinating, and canning industry in Croatia that exports its products across Europe.
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raditionally anchovies have been salted in Croatia. This is an artisanal product for which freshly caught Adriatic anchovies are used. The fish is layered in barrels with salt and allowed to mature for a period. In the past once the fish was ready it was filleted and the fillets placed in jars which were topped up with oil. Today however this second stage of the production process usually takes place in countries, where the cost of labour is lower, such as Albania, Tunisia, Morocco, or Algeria as the work of filleting the fish is highly labour intensive and can only be done by hand. There are exceptions however. Some companies in Spain and Italy have very strong brands and a long tradition of producing locally and their products have a very good reputation. As a result they can charge the high prices needed to maintain their production at home. These however are typically small companies with low volumes and only a minor share of the market.
Frozen, canned and salted small pelagics The fish canning industry in Croatia is relatively small and is dominated by perhaps a half a www.eurofishmagazine.com
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dozen big players. Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and in preparation for this these companies have over the last couple of years invested in new facilities and equipment to be able to compete on equal footing with canneries in the older EU states. Among the best known Croatian canned fish producers is the company Conex Trade that dates its existence back to 1989, when it specialised in the fishing and trading of white fish. Today however, Conex Trade specialises in the production of frozen fish, canned products, based on sardines, and salted anchovies from its facilities in Caporice about 30 minutes from Split along the Croatian coast. To ensure adequate supplies of raw materials Conex Trade has signed agreements with several local fishermen, but also has three of its own vessels catching these pelagic species in the Adriatic. Although these three vessels supply only about a quarter of the company’s needs of 9,000 to 10,000 tonnes of fish a year, they provide the company with a kind of insurance in case of need. As a result we have no trouble securing the volumes of fish we need for our production, says Mladen Milakovic, the sales director. The
Mladen Milakovic Jr, Director, Conex Trade
problem commonly voiced by companies using small pelagic fish from the Adriatic is that the fish have become smaller over the last few years. While up to a few years ago the average size was 32 pieces to a kilo, today the average has shrunk to 40 or 42
pieces a kilo meaning that fish can be anywhere between 38 and 45 pieces to a kilo. Processing smaller fish is less effective than processing bigger fish, they are more difficult to head and gut and wastage is
Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2014
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