Pressure on the EU seafood processing sector is increasing at a time when the number of processing companies is falling and the volume of seafood imports remains strong, Frangiskos Nikolian, of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries department of the European Commission, said in his presentation to the trading bloc at AIPCE's 60th anniversary event in Brussels on Tuesday.

EU imports represent 73.3 percent of consumption -- a figure that has remained pretty much consistent since the formation of EU25/27 in 2006.