Aquaculture

Although the spectrum of species produced in aquaculture is getting broader and broader only few of them succeed in asserting themselves lastingly on the markets. The ten most produced fish species account for nearly three quarters of the total volume of fish from aquaculture. New aquaculture species stand a good chance of market success in Asia, in particular, where consumers are generally open towards seafood. In contrast, consumers in western countries are often initially more cautious. This is the second part of a two-part article on potential aquaculture species. The first appeared in Eurofish Magazine EM3 2013.

Throughout the course of history Russia has been a leading maritime and fishing nation due to its territorial and geographic characteristics and its place and role in global and regional international relations. Although the end of the 20th and the start of the 21st century was a period of crisis for the Russian fishery industry, it has more recently demonstrated stable positive dynamics and growing volumes of catches and fish production.

Although OECD and FAO forecasts predict that in 2021 the growth rate of aquaculture will be only half its present level it will even then still be growing. This does not only apply to production volume but also to the number of produced species. Some species will probably remain niche products but others might succeed in conquering international markets. Which candidates are particularly promising and what affects their market chances?

Although work on the development of an artificial starter feed for fish and shrimp larvae has made considerable progress live feed continues to be indispensable in a lot of areas of aquaculture. Marine fish larvae, in particular, often have very high dietary requirements and during the first days of their lives have to be fed on Artemia larvae, rotifers or the even smaller ciliates. Producing this live feed is by no means easy.

Although fishmeal production in the two main producer countries Peru and Chile was 40% higher in 2011 than in the previous year this increase brought little relief to the situation on the aquafeed market. Fishmeal prices fell slightly but are still at a high level. And they will probably remain more or less the same, particularly since already in spring 2012 there were signs that raw materials availability for the fishmeal industry would probably be lower again this year.

Salmon lice are probably one of the biggest threats to salmon farming at the moment. The available control methods are often not sufficient to effectively reduce lice infestation. In Norway radical measures are sometimes even considered, such as slaughtering whole salmon stocks or concerted action to leave farms unstocked. But might it be possible to solve the salmon louse problem biologically using “cleaner fish”?

The GlobalG.A.P. Aquaculture Standard is a voluntary standard developed by a private sector body that sets criteria for legal compliance, food safety, workers’ welfare, animal welfare, and environmental and ecological care.

Chapter 8. Case stories

Against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and food price volatility demand for fish and fishery products as a source of high-quality, affordable animal protein is rising steadily. From 1990 to 2008, per capita world fish consumption increased by 27 percent (from 14 kg in 1990 to 17 kg in 2008) despite a 26 percent growth in world population during this period. This increase in fish consumption is mainly attributed to aquaculture growth.

Gümüşdoğa A.S was established by Mr. Halil Milas in 1995 with the first facility of seabass and seabream farms in the Bodrum area of Turkey. The farm production capacity was initially 80 tonnes per year, a figure that increased continuously to the current 10,000 tonnes per year.