Aquaculture

The annual general assembly of the Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) in September this year was held online due to the pandemic. The virtual setting had, however, no impact on the level of debate which has characterised this organisation’s meetings. In his address, Virginius Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, welcomed the advice and recommendations made by AAC for the Commission and the Member States to guide the development of sustainable aquaculture in Europe. He stressed that aquaculture as a low carbon source of high-quality protein plays a key role in meeting the objectives of EU strategies, including the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, and the Biodiversity Strategy.

It is now over 200 years since the water carrier in Luigi Cherubini’s opera expressed for the first time that without water our world would be an ‘empty barrel’. But this has in the meantime become a serious problem. Climate change is increasing the pressure to use water even more sparingly. This affects aquaculture in particular for almost two-thirds of global output are currently produced in fresh water. This article was featured in EUROFISH Magazine 5 / 2020.

Consumers need more information about the benefits offered by today’s technologies This article was featured in EUROFISH Magazine 4 / 2020. Advances in biotechnology are opening up new opportunities that can benefit aquaculture, too, making it more efficient, more environmentally friendly, and more sustainable. The potential is enormous, but not all biotechnological methods and tools find acceptance in the public domain. Some consumers even reject genetic engineering outright. However, genetic engineering is only one of many opportunities that biotechnology offers us.

Many aquaculture species are reared at a very early stage, often even from the beginning, solely on formulated dry feed which covers all their nutritional requirements

Microalgae are of fundamental importance for life in the oceans. With their photosynthesis they are the first link in the marine food chains upon which the existence of life in the oceans is based. Under certain conditions, however, uncontrolled mass development of the tiny algae can occur. The resulting algal blooms often have serious ecological and economic consequences and can even be toxic. This article was featured in EM 1 / 2020.

From simple earth ponds to offshore net enclosures and computer-controlled RAS: no other area of food production has changed so rapidly in such a short time as aquaculture.

FIAP profiwork fish stunner When slaughtering fish in the EU, farmers or processors must apply the basic principle that governs the slaughter of terrestrial species, according to a report by the Aquaculture Advisory Council from 2017. This principle states that animals shall be spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations. Fish should therefore be slaughtered using humane methods as far as possible. The report goes on to list systems with the potential to deliver humane slaughter, one of which is electrical stunning followed, if necessary, by a separate killing method. This article was featured in EUROFISH Magazine 6/2019.

Objective evaluation criteria still lacking for many fish species People keep animals for various reasons. Pets can be companions, they can play a part in hobbies or pastimes, or they can serve as test organisms in the laboratory. And of course – as farm animals – they are used for food purposes. In affluent countries, a change in values is currently taking place that is fundamentally questioning the right to use and exploit animals. Animal welfare is an increasingly significant aspect of successful marketing.   This article was featured in EUROFISH Magazine 5/2019.

Aquaculture continues to grow faster than other major food production sectors reports the FAO’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 (SOFIA). In the last few years this statement has become a motto for the European aquaculture sector to persuade local, regional, national and European regulators to develop consistent strategies and programmes to replicate global growth in the sector at the European level.