Description

The global sea bass market size is expected to grow from USD 4,029.9 million in 2021 to USD 6821.2 million by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2022 to 2030. Sea bass is an economically important food fish in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Asia and the Pacific region. Widely consumed sea bass include Asian sea bass and European sea bass, also known as Barramundi. European sea bass is native to Europe's southern, western, and Africa's northern coasts. In contrast, Barramundi is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region from South Asia to Papua New Guinea and Northern Australia. Sea bass is widely consumed in Japan, ASEAN, France, China, the UK, the U.S., and other European countries.

There has been an increased demand for organically grown food in recent years, owing to increased consumer consciousness about the negative effects of artificial fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides. With the growing demand for organic food, several players are venturing into this niche segment to cater to the growing demand from consumers. Furthermore, several strides have been made toward improving organic feed formulation and feed ingredients to optimize the nutritional quality of organic sea bass. The global sea bass market expansion is majorly driven increase in demand for organic sea bass.

Adopting new technologies to enhance production efficiency has remained in cynosure for engaged stakeholders, thereby contributing to market growth. In addition, the adoption of new cost-effective plant-based feed is expected to reduce dependency on fish meal. Furthermore, DNA identification of fish to detect and prevent diseases will lead to enhanced fish production. Other improvements revolving around water filtration, habitat building, and fishing techniques can further amplify production. In addition, the adoption of automation and artificial intelligence has witnessed substantial increment in fish production. Leading players are adopting such technologies to expand their production capabilities in the future.

COVID-19 Impact on the Global Sea Bass Market

COVID-19 is an infectious illness that first appeared in late December in Hubei, China's Wuhan city. The virus that causes the severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is extremely infectious and spreads from person to person. The illness has expanded to over 213 nations since its breakout in December 2019, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a public health emergency on March 11, 2020. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a complete shutdown of production facilities, which do not come under essential goods, owing to prolonged lockdown. The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted the economy by halting the operations of shopping malls and restaurants and other retail & service activities. Disruption in the growth of the sea bass market in 2020 is attributed to the COVID-19 outbreak. International travel is grounded to a standstill along with tourism-related activities. The negative economic impact of this global lockdown is colossal. Furthermore, the impact is anticipated to be massive from an employment and business sustainability standpoint. In addition, it has negatively impacted the import/export, economies, supply chain, and industries across the globe.

A significant share of the sea bass industry is majorly dependent on the foodservice sector for its revenue generation. The recent declaration regarding the shutdown of a notable proportion of the hospitality industry, including full-service restaurants, catering, and quick-service restaurants, has dramatically hampered the sale of sea bass. Moreover, the supply chains presently are far more complex than they were a decade ago. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only hampered the production facilities. Still, it has also disrupted the supply chains such as material suppliers and distributors of the sea bass market globally, resulting in the loss of the business in terms of value sales.

Global Sea Bass Market Dynamics

Drivers: Increase in demand for low-calorie, protein-rich food

The rise in demand for food with high protein and a low-calorie count will likely drive the global demand for sea bass. A one fillet serving of sea bass, on average, contains close to 25 grams of protein. On the other side, the calories are just approximately 125. Increased protein consumption improves muscle building and strength, speeds up fat burning and metabolism, lowers blood pressure, keeps hunger at bay for longer, and positively influences the body overall. On the other hand, it aids in weight management, blood sugar regulation and has a favorable impact on consumers' happiness and well-being. These properties of sea bass attract a large base of health-conscious consumers. Thus, the benefits mentioned above of sea bass are gaining recognition worldwide, thus fueling sea bass consumption.

Restraints: Adoption of vegan/vegetarian diets emerges as a roadblock

Vegan and vegetarian diets are becoming more popular and more common among people. These diets prevent the consumption of animal products, including fish. Vegans are using substitutes to animal products, such as soy, seitan, and peas, to get their required protein intake instead of having food products that are more efficient for meeting the protein intake requirements. About 10% of the European population is vegetarian and vegan, and the percentage is likely to increase steadily in upcoming years. Consumers worldwide are willing to change their eating habits and are shifting toward plant-based foods. According to Google Trends, interest in veganism has witnessed 7X between 2014 and 2019. On similar lines, about 10 million individuals in the U.S. are vegan. People are running global campaigns to advocate the conversion to veganism and vegetarianism. They promote the health benefits of such a diet while pointing out the negative impacts of a nonvegetarian diet. These campaigns are negatively impacting the seafood market, including sea bass.

Opportunities: Sustainable sea bass farming to gain high traction

Sustainability is now emerging as a dominant factor in product purchase decisions, especially among millennials and generation Z populations of developing and developed nations. Sustainable practices can positively impact the market in the coming few years. Practices such as proper waste management techniques can be adopted to maintain cleanliness in the water bodies to reduce pollution. Furthermore, releasing some part of the fish being farmed into the wild to preserve their population can help restore balance. In addition, analysis of water samples in the areas where the farms are to eliminate chemical imbalance or pollutants will improve the water quality. Moreover, efforts are taken so that other life forms in that area are not affected adversely by the aquaculture activities carried out in that area. Thus, the above activities are likely to improve sustainability and aid in creating a positive impact on consumers.

Scope of the Report

The study categorizes the sea bass market based on type, nature, sales at the regional and global levels.

By Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• Fresh
• Processed

By Nature Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• Wild
• Farmed

By Sales Channel Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• Food Service
• Hypermarket/Supermarket
• Specialty Stores
• Online Channel

By Region Outlook (Sales, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• North America (US, Canada, Mexico)
• South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Rest of Latin America)
• Europe (Germany, Italy, France, UK, Spain, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Rest of Europe)
• Asia Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia & New Zealand, Rest of Asia Pacific)
• The Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa, Northern Africa, Rest of MEA)

The farmed segment is projected to account for the largest market share, by nature

On the basis of nature, the global sea bass market is bifurcated into farmed and fresh. In 2021, the farmed segment accounted for the largest market share of 95.6% in the global sea bass market. The term farmed broadly refers to the cultivation of sea bass in controlled aquatic environments for commercial purposes. The breeding, rearing, and harvesting of sea bass occurs in seawater ponds and lagoons. The bulk of production comes from sea cage farming. 

Aquaculture accounts for about one-third of the world's total supply of food fish. Sea bass farming has the potential to become a sustainable practice to supplement capture fisheries and feed the world's growing population. Awareness of potential environmental problems has increased significantly, thus resulting in a transition toward sea bass farming. Furthermore, myriad restrictions on wild capture have resulted in widespread adoption of farming of sea bass. Furthermore, this segment will likely witness increased market share with more players venturing toward sea bass farming rather than wild capture.

Asia Pacific accounts for the highest CAGR during the forecast period 

Region-wise, the sea bass market is studied across North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. Globally, Asia Pacific is estimated to hold the highest CAGR of 8.4% in the global sea bass market during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific leads in total aquaculture production, with China, Indonesia, and Vietnam dominating the region. The market shows high concentration toward Asia-Pacific. The sea bass market is highly unorganized, with many regional players with small market shares operating in the region. Increased demand from food service and government support in terms of credits, loans, and infrastructure positively impacts the long-term growth of the Asia-Pacific sea bass market.

Sea bass farming in Asia-Pacific is mostly carried out by the southern and southeastern Asian countries and Australia. The most popular sea bass in this region is the local variety, Barramundi, which is also popular in other parts of the world. Seafood is a major part of the population's diet in coastal areas of Asia, which results in huge demand for fish, including sea bass. Fishing and farming are the major sources of income in certain parts of developing countries in this region, which results in government support for such projects to facilitate production capabilities, exports, and technological advancements.

Key Market Players

The sea bass market is mildly concentrated, with few global players operating, such as Barramundi Group, Blue Ocean Seafood SPA, Amacore B.V., Corfu Sea Farm S.A. Defne-Tur Aquaculture, Mainstream Aquaculture, Oceanpick, Cromaris D.D., Selonda SA, and Philosofish S.A. Other prominent players analyzed in the report are Culmarex, S.A.U., Duntower Corporation, Luckyfish Co., NHL Fresh Fish, Argosaronikos S.A. Fish Farm, and Ozsu Fish UK Limited. Every company follows its business strategy to attain the maximum market share. 

Recent Developments

• In May 2021, MainStream Aquaculture entered into an assets acquisition agreement with Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture to acquire its operations in Port Douglas, Australia.
• In July 2020, Cromaris D.D started online selling and delivering fish in the Zagreb area through Go Green online platform.
• In April 2020, Philosofish acquired 23 fish farms, three fish breeding stations, two packaging plants from Selonda SA and Nireus Fish Farms SA. for 51 million euros.
• In January 2020, Barramundi Group acquired deep-tech start-up Allegro Aqua to boost the production of sea bass.

Key Issues Addressed

• What is the market size by various segmentation of the sea bass by region and its respective countries?
• What are the customer buying behavior, key takeaways, and Porter's five forces of the sea bass market?
• What are the key opportunities and trends for the sea bass supply chain manufacturers?
• What are the market's fundamental dynamics (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges)?
• What and how are regulations, schemes, patents, and policies impacting the market's growth?
• What are the upcoming technological solutions influencing market trends? How will existing companies adapt to the new change in technology?
• The market player positioning, top winning strategies by years, company product developments, and launches will be?
• How has COVID-19 impacted the demand and sales of sea bass in the global market? Also, the expected BPS drop or rise count of the market and market predicted recovery period.
• Detailed analysis of the competitors and their latest launch, and what are the prominent start-ups introduced in the target market? Also, detailed company profiling of 25+ leading and prominent companies in the market.