Meantime, New Zealand snapper bound for Italy is being dished up locally because of the volcanic ash disruption to European air travel.

Leigh Fisheries in Warkworth flies five kinds of fresh fish to Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Chief executive Gregory Bishop says 11 tonnes of fish, worth about $NZ130,000, have been affected so far. Mr. Bishop says shipments of fish have been sold to Dubai and Hawaii, with the rest returned to New Zealand for sale at its distribution centre in Auckland.

Down South, the New Zealand King Salmon Company in Nelson says it’s also getting a sales boost from the disruption.

General manager of sales and marketing, Don Everitt, says his firm is filling orders that European countries can’t and expects  their exports to increase 25% to 50% in volume in the next few weeks.