Eurostat has calculated that approximately 1.1 million tons of aquatic organisms were cultivated in the EU, valued at 4.2 billion EUR. Aquaculture, also known as aquatic farming, involves the controlled cultivation of fish, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Four EU countries collectively represented about two-thirds (68%) of the total farmed aquatic organism production in 2021: Spain 25%, France 17%, and both Italy and Greece 13%.

However, production in the EU was lower than that of Norway, where 1.6 million tons of aquatic organisms were produced, with the majority being farmed salmon.

Production in the EU primarily focuses on fish species (such as trout, sea bream, perch, carp, tuna, and salmon) and mollusks (including mussels, oysters, and clams), which together accounted for almost all aquaculture production by weight in 2021.

Different aquatic organisms have different values. The production value of trout and perch in 2021 was higher than that of other species in the EU (each representing a 14% share of the total aquaculture value in the EU in 2021).

There is a high degree of specialization in aquaculture in the EU. Spain produced about 7 out of 10 tons of Mediterranean mussels farmed in the EU in 2021.

France cultivated the majority of Pacific cupped oysters in the EU (88% of the total) and was the main supplier of farmed blue mussels in the EU (45% of the total). Italy produced the vast majority (92%) of Japanese carpet shell in the EU.

Greece produced the majority of farmed sea bream in the EU (69% of the total) and European sea bass (53%).

Atlantic red tuna was most produced in Malta (72% of the EU total), while Ireland was responsible for nearly all farmed salmon in 2021 (96%).