Hoki exports to China helped to give the seafood industry an edge in export earnings this year.
Seafood New Zealand says export returns for the first half of the year rose by 1% percent to $706 million at a time when the high dollar has been undermining returns for all export sectors.
Hoki shipments to China - mostly for processing and re-export to the United States - increased from $20 million to more than $30 million for the eight months to the end of August.
In contrast, Seafood New Zealand says the value of exports to southern European markets, such as Spain fell significantly.
International policy and market access Manager Alastair Macfarlane that was partly due to a market-access complication.
Mr Macfarlane says that issue has been resolved now for Japanese and Korean-flagged fishing vessels, but the economic woes of southern Europe has also hit sales to those markets.
