This article looks at the prices of fresh fish sold by supermarkets and fish shops, over the period 2005–10, using information collected from nearly 100 retail outlets in the 15 urban areas surveyed for the consumers price index (CPI).
Salmon, tarakihi, and gurnard are the most commonly available species being tracked for the CPI. There are some species, however, that are widely available only in some regions. Snapper, for example, is widely available in all urban areas except in pricing centres south of Nelson (ie Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill). In these four urban areas, sole is widely available. Sole (a flatfish species found around New Zealand but more common in the south) hardly registers in the North Island. Blue cod is not commonly available in the upper half of the North Island.
While availability of the most commonly available species is reasonably steady throughout the year, there are exceptions. For example, hoki is widely available in September quarters, but less so at other times of the year.
Table 1 shows the average fish prices from 2005–10 for 12 commonly available species. In 2010, prices for hoki ($13.31/kg), red cod ($16.10/kg), and trevally ($19.67/kg) would have caught the eyes of budget-conscious shoppers. At the other end of the scale, prices for snapper ($37.87/kg in 2010) and blue cod ($34.57/kg) were highest.
Table 1
Average prices of fresh fish
By species, 2005–10 |
| Species |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
| $/kg |
| Tarakihi |
19.20 |
20.78 |
22.77 |
25.43 |
26.67 |
26.83 |
| Gurnard |
18.41 |
20.15 |
21.93 |
24.32 |
26.42 |
26.00 |
| Snapper |
28.73 |
30.43 |
33.67 |
35.16 |
37.40 |
37.87 |
| Sole (flats) |
20.71 |
20.73 |
21.59 |
23.25 |
22.92 |
22.92 |
| Salmon (fillets) |
23.92 |
25.77 |
26.88 |
27.80 |
28.45 |
29.21 |
| Red cod |
13.23 |
13.48 |
13.80 |
15.08 |
15.85 |
16.10 |
| Salmon (steaks) |
23.54 |
24.56 |
23.99 |
25.72 |
24.96 |
26.80 |
| Lemon fish (rig) |
18.07 |
18.25 |
19.91 |
20.23 |
22.30 |
21.88 |
| Monk fish (stargazer) |
18.22 |
18.66 |
19.32 |
20.69 |
21.81 |
22.41 |
| Blue cod |
26.78 |
25.24 |
29.22 |
33.01 |
34.36 |
34.57 |
| Trevally |
15.05 |
14.82 |
16.12 |
16.48 |
17.12 |
19.67 |
| Hoki |
11.59 |
11.75 |
11.56 |
13.29 |
13.72 |
13.31 |
Prices for the three most commonly available species, salmon (fillets), tarakihi, and gurnard, were $29.21, $26.83, and $26.00 per kilogram, respectively. By comparison, beef porterhouse/sirloin steak prices were lower, averaging $23.48 per kilogram in 2010.
Fresh fish prices increased overall by 1.4 percent in 2010, after increasing 14.3 percent over the previous two years (when comparing 2009 with 2007). By comparison, beef and veal prices fell 0.4 percent, chicken prices fell 3.4 percent, and lamb prices rose 4.4 percent. Price movements from 2009 to 2010 varied for the three most commonly available fish species: gurnard prices fell 1.6 percent and tarakihi prices rose 0.6 percent; salmon prices (a farmed fish) rose by more, with fillets up 2.7 percent and steaks up 7.4 percent.
From 2005 to 2010, fresh fish prices increased by 27.5 percent (an average of 5.0 percent per year). By comparison, over the same period prices for beef and veal rose 21.0 percent, chicken rose 36.9 percent, and lamb rose 28.3 percent.
The average prices of the 12 species shown in table 1 are broken down into five broad regions in table 2, ‘Consumers price index, weighted average retail prices of selected fresh fish species’, which can be downloaded in Excel format in the ‘Available files’ section of this article.
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