Eurofish Magazine 3 2011

_Icefish 184 x 275_27-04-11_Icefish 27/04/2011 16:02 Page 1

www.eurofishmagazine.com

ISSN 1868-5943

June 3 / 2011 C 44346

June 3 / 2011

2011

Icelandic

Fisheries

Exhibition

Smárinn, Kópavogur, Iceland

September 22-24 Eurofish Magazine

ICELANDIC FISH RELATED EXPORTS ARE THRIVING! Meet the complete supply chain at the Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition & Awards 2011

489 exhibitors from 33 countries* 12,429 attendees from 50 countries*.

This is your opportunity to join the Icelandic Fishing Industry – can you afford to wait another 3 years?

The Exhibition, which incorporates the 3rd Icelandic Fisheries Awards, covers everything for the commercial fishing industry including the chance to network with customers and colleagues and friends old and new * 2008 figures

Antalya Balik

Icefish is a Mercator Media event The Old Mill, Lower Quay, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 0RA Tel: +44 (0)1329 825335 www.mercatormedia.com

Official Freight Carrier

Official International Publication

Organiser

www.icefish.is Official Icelandic Publication

Official airline/air cargo handler & hotel chain

EUROFISH International Organisation

For further information contact: Marianne Rasmussen-Coulling tel: +44 (0)1329 825335 email: mrasmussen@mercatormedia.com

Ambitious plans to expand trout production in Turkey Poland: Carp promotion campaign draws support from children Croatia: Organically-farmed seabass and seabream for western markets High Pressure Processing: Higher yields from shellfish is a member of the FISH INFO network

01_Cover 4p.indd 1

26/05/11 12:42 PM

_Icefish 184 x 275_27-04-11_Icefish 27/04/2011 16:02 Page 1

www.eurofishmagazine.com

ISSN 1868-5943

June 3 / 2011 C 44346

June 3 / 2011

2011

Icelandic

Fisheries

Exhibition

Smárinn, Kópavogur, Iceland

September 22-24 Eurofish Magazine

ICELANDIC FISH RELATED EXPORTS ARE THRIVING! Meet the complete supply chain at the Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition & Awards 2011

489 exhibitors from 33 countries* 12,429 attendees from 50 countries*.

This is your opportunity to join the Icelandic Fishing Industry – can you afford to wait another 3 years?

The Exhibition, which incorporates the 3rd Icelandic Fisheries Awards, covers everything for the commercial fishing industry including the chance to network with customers and colleagues and friends old and new * 2008 figures

Antalya Balik

Icefish is a Mercator Media event The Old Mill, Lower Quay, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 0RA Tel: +44 (0)1329 825335 www.mercatormedia.com

Official Freight Carrier

Official International Publication

Organiser

www.icefish.is Official Icelandic Publication

Official airline/air cargo handler & hotel chain

EUROFISH International Organisation

For further information contact: Marianne Rasmussen-Coulling tel: +44 (0)1329 825335 email: mrasmussen@mercatormedia.com

Ambitious plans to expand trout production in Turkey Poland: Carp promotion campaign draws support from children Croatia: Organically-farmed seabass and seabream for western markets High Pressure Processing: Higher yields from shellfish is a member of the FISH INFO network

01_Cover 4p.indd 1

26/05/11 12:42 PM

In this issue

Deepwater Horizon – the consequences become apparent USA – The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst of its kind ever, caused huge damage to the marine ecosystem in the Gulf. Some of the destructive effects have been quantified, but much harder to calculate is the long term impact on marine flora and fauna of, not only the oil, but also the interventions used to combat the spill. For example, the chemical dispersants used to remove the oil from the surface, and the by-products from burning the oil, could well have unforeseen consequences for the local environment that may only become apparent well into the future. The fishing industry in the Gulf is relieved that chemical and sensory analysis of samples taken during and after the spill reveal that contamination does not pose a threat to consumers. However, the image of seafood from the Gulf has taken a huge knock and it will take time and a substantial marketing effort to reverse the damage. Read Dr Manfred Klinkhardt’s article on page 45

PathogenCombat – Companies in the food manufacturing sector use food safety management systems to reduce the risk that the products they make will pose a hazard to consumers. These systems vary widely across the industry depending on the product, but they all comply with the legal requirements and standards that are common to their particular branch. But how effective are these systems? In the European research project, Pathogen Combat, scientists have devised a technique to analyse company food safety management systems. The tool helps to identify weak points and can thereby contribute to improving the system. It does this by distinguishing between three basic control strategies for pathogenic activity, prevention, intervention, and monitoring.

While prevention aims to stop the entry, spread, or multiplication of pathogens, intervention applies to the measures used to inactivate or eliminate pathogens that have entered the chain.

Finally, monitoring provides information on the current status of the system and enables individual processes to be corrected. Read more on page 49

Fisheries certification – The Marine Stewardship Council is today a byword in the sustainable certification of fish stocks. Dozens of fisheries have been certified to the MSC standards and over 9,000 products carry the MSC logo certifying that they are derived from stocks that are sustainably managed.

While the MSC sets the standards, the actual certification work is carried out by independent agencies called certification bodies. These bodies translate the MSC standards into practical measurable terms, which are used to define the working practices in the client’s operations. The certification process also takes into account the view of the other stakeholders to formulate as clear and objective a picture as possible of both the fishing operation itself and the context in which it operates. Read more on how fisheries are certified to the MSC standard on page 52

Fraud in the seafood sector – While mistakes can and often do occur when trading in seafood, deliberate attempts at defrauding partners is also something with which traders occasionally must contend.

Dishonesty can involve a product that is underweight, of poorer quality, or for which the buyer does not wish to pay – there are countless ways of perpetrating fraud. The astute businessman will however try to avoid problems from cropping up in the first place rather than trying to solve them afterwards.

Some measures are easily taken, such as independent pre-inspection of the goods to verify quality and quantity. Others are more complex, and how does a buyer react if he is the injured party? Read the next part of our column on fraud by Alexei Sergeev page 55 www.eurofishmagazine.com

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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Table of News 6 International News

Cover Story 15 Antalya Balik aims to reach 25,000 tonnes production in 5 years Vertically integrated producer of trout for markets abroad

Poland 19 Funds for fisheries areas EU assistance encourages local development 22 Polish laboratory to create database to eliminate import fraud Genetics-based identification of fish and seafood 25 Fish processing in Poland Steady increase in exports to the EU 28 Results of a Polish survey on fish consumption Promote fish as a natural source of omega-3 30 Development of intensive aquaculture in Poland New technology fosters opportunities for growth 32 Promotional campaign draws nationwide attention Mr Carp fights imported fish 34 Mare Foods’ new coldstore is set to open in weeks Niche importer of exotic seafood products

Croatia 35 Interview with Tonči Božanič State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development Adding value to fresh fish is the only way forward 38 Conex Trade specialises in marinated and frozen small pelagics Customised production of Adriatic sardines and anchovies 40 Viribus d.o.o. looks forward to EU accession Lean portion-sized trout for the EU market 42 Riba Mljet is Croatia’s only organic producer of seabass and seabream Exports to target German-speaking markets

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Eurofish Magazine 3/ 2011

The Neptun I is one of two 42 m vessels that were recently purchased by Conex Trade and are equipped with all the necessary equipment to find, catch, and store the fish.

Contents USA 45 The Gulf of Mexico oil spill and its consequences Billions of dollars damages to the fishery

Project 49 PathogenCombat: Reducing food-borne diseases in Europe Tool for self assessment of Food Safety Management Systems

Fisheries 52 Certification procedure based on transparency and independent oversight Sustainability – the MSC model

Fraud 57 Fraud in the seafood trade Pressing claims against dishonest suppliers

Worldwide Fish News Australia

page

9

Brussels

pages

China

page

Denmark

pages

Germany

page

10

Japan

page

9

Latvia

page

7

Norway

page

8

Poland

page

6

Spain

pages

Switzerland

page

6

Thailand

page

10

Turkey

page

9

UAE

page

13

UK

pages

7, 8, 12, 14

USA

pages

10, 13

Viet Nam

page

Processing

12, 14 6

57 High pressure processing – Technology with great potential Longer shelf-life and higher yield

8, 10, 11, 13

11, 12

Aquaculture 60 Guide to Recirculation Aquaculture Chapter Two: The recirculation system step by step (continued)

Guest Pages 64 Alistair Lane, European Aquaculture Society CFP reform looks promising for European fish farmers

Service 63 Diary Dates 66 Imprint, List of Advertisers

7 Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Hong Kong: Asian Seafood Exposition set to open doors in September

Poland: International Carp Conference in September

The second edition of the Asian Seafood Exposition will take place 6-8 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The show is organised

by US firm Diversified Business Communications, organisers of the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels and the International Boston Seafood Show.

The Hong Kong event this year is expected to exceed the 100 exhibitors and 5,000 buyers that attended the event last year, said the organisers in a press release.

The show brings buyers from the retail, foodservice, and distribution sectors together with suppliers of live, fresh, frozen and packaged seafood products and services looking to access the prosperous Asia-Pacific and

About 70,000 tonnes of carp are produced annually in the European Union by 11 countries.

The biggest producers are Poland and the Czech Republic followed by Germany, Hungary and France. These five countries are together responsible for almost 90 of the total EU production. Carp production has been more or less stagnant the last several years and farmers are seeking ways of encouraging consumption. Traditionally carp has been eaten around Christmas, sold in many cases as live fish which makes the logistics a real challenge. Carp farmers are suffering from emerging problems such as, cormorant pressure, and diseases, answers to which can only be found at the international level. Carp faces increasing competition from imports both from within and outside the EU and to face off the challenge producers have to

Switzerland: Several species of Mediterranean ďŹ sh at risk of extinction A report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that nearly 40 species of marine fish could disappear altogether from the Mediterranean over the next few years due to overfishing, degradation of marine habitats and pollution. In a press release the organisation said that almost half the sharks and rays and 12 species of marine fish are threatened with extinction. Commercially important species such as bluefin tuna, dusky grouper, seabass, and hake are considered threatened or near threatened with extinction in the region mainly due

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

to overfishing. Bluefin tuna in particular has suffered from overfishing and under reporting of the catch. Other species of little or no commercial value including sharks, rays, and fish, as well as turtles, whales, dolphins and birds are threatened by fishing lines, gill or trawling nets, and illegal drift nets.

Trawls are indiscriminate in their capture of marine life and also damage the sea floor where many species feed and reproduce. The study recommends the creation of marine preservation areas, the reduction of pollution, and the reinforcement of fishing regulation.

develop new marketing tactics and novel and convenient products that attract customers both old and new.

The challenges faced by the industry and possible solutions will be discussed at a conference to be organised by the Polish Inland Fisheries Institute and Aller Aqua in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland on 15-16 September. The time has come to bring European carp farmers togeter so they can present a strong and unified voice in defence of their sector, says Prof. Boguslaw Zdanowski, director of the Inland Fisheries Institute. The conference is expected to draw producers, administrators, veterinarians, scientists, and representatives from the European Commission.

For more information about the event and to register visit www.carpinternational.eu.

Raseiniu Zuvininkyste

Hong Kong seafood market. This year the organisers are introducing a Key Buyer programme that will target high volume buyers from the retail, foodservice, hospitality, and, government sectors. The programme will facilitate these buyers to efficiently source seafood at the event. New country representation is expected from Chile, Belgium, Thailand, and Turkey this year and many of the exhibitors from last year are returning.

The event will be held together with another Diversified event, Restaurant and Bar Hong Kong, which focuses on goods and services for hospitality operators in Macau, Hong Kong, and the southeastern part of Mainland China.

Carp production in the EU amounts to about 70,000 tonnes per year.

An international conference in Poland in September will discuss the challenges faced by the sector.

www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Viet Nam: Plans for a fund to market pangasius in Europe and the US Under a plan put forward by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development pangasius exporters will contribute 1-2 US cents per kilogram of fish sold to a fund for the promotion and support of pangasius exports, reports the Thanh Nien. Viet Nam produces 95 of the pangasius on the world market and has an annual production of 1.5m tonnes. The new fund will be used to promote the

fish on markets in the US and the UK and to develop strategies to help exporters counter trade barriers and allegations of poor food safety. In a fish consumption guide produced by the WWF, pangasius initially had a “Don’t Buy” recommendation resulting in a fall in consumption of the fish in Europe. The evaluation was subsequently revised and the fish removed from the red listing.

UK: Banning discards too simplistic, says SFF The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has warned in a press release that the consequences of inappropriate legislation being used to

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control discards could be severe for the fishing industry. While the SFF is completely against discarding, it warns that measures

regulating the practice should be sensible or the impact on fleet structure and coastal communities could be serious. According to Bertie Armstrong, the SFF chief executive, the problem has been “…that the European Commission’s approach to the issue has been alarmingly superficial, giving scant recognition to innovation from the industry and many Member States in pursuit of

discard reduction.” In his view the culprit is not the fishermen, but the regulations for mixed fisheries that make discarding unavoidable. The SFF would liked to have seen some commitment from the Commission to address the regulatory issues that lead to discarding in the first place. A discussion on a ban on discards between all the stakeholders took place 3 May 2011 in Brussels.

Latvia: Brivais Vilnis posts profit in 2010 The fish processing company Brivais Vilnis has reported a profit of LVL350,761 (about EUR500,000) in its annual report for 2010. The company processes and cans fish and seafood including finfish, shellfish, and molluscs. In 2010 the company produced 22.4m units of canned fish of which almost half was sprats. The company is certified to the International Food Standard (IFS) and is working on the implementation of the ISO9001:2000 quality management system.

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Norway: Study opens possibility for higher lupine percentage in feeds A study on rainbow trout’s tolerance to white lupines in their diet has revealed that high levels of white lupines (50) do not have any negative impact on the feed intake, nutrient digestibility, growth performance or health of the fish. The study was part of a doctoral thesis by a Chilean student at the Norwegian Aquaculture Protein Centre. The fatty acid profile of the muscles was however slightly altered when the level of lupine exceeded 30 of the feed. A legume like peas or beans, lupines are interesting for researchers because of their high protein content. Salmon and trout need high protein diets and lupines could be a good vegetable substitute for fishmeal. However, lupines also contain several alkaloids which taste bitter, but

protect the plant from grazing animals, insects and fungi. The study included experiments where pure alkaloids were mixed with the feed. The results of these tests showed that the bitter taste reduced feed uptake, thereby lowering growth rates, but did not pose any short-term risks to the health of the fish. Current fish feeds typically use sweet lupines, which are bred with lower concentrations of alkaloids making them more vulnerable to pathogens and increasing the need for pesticides. The Norwegian study shows that semi-bitter lupines may be the answer. These have a higher concentration of alkaloids affording the plants more protection, yet not high enough to impact on the acceptability of the feed to the fish.

Denmark: New aquaculture event, DanAqua, to showcase Danish knowhow With its expertise in recirculation systems and fish feed Denmark is a major player in the high tech world of intensive aquaculture, a sector that is developing rapidly in many parts of the world. In Denmark too the sustainable development of the sector was recommended in an official report from 2009 and is backed by the government. Interest in aquaculture and Danish knowhow will be combined at a new event, DanAqua, that is being organised in conjunction with the international fishery trade fair, DanFish International. The two events will be held 12-14 October in Aalborg and are being organised by the Aalborg Congress and Culture Centre together with the Danish Export Association.

the world and the prospects for exports of Danish technology and equipment to the industry are excellent, says Ulrik Dahl, managing drector of the Danish Export Association. The value of farmed fish production within the country on land and in the sea amounts to some DKK1bn (EUR134m), a figure that is set to grow. Denmark is also the fourth largest exporter of fish in the world and is home to some of the best known companies in the field of processing factory equipment. At DanAqua there will be a number of stands featuring manufacturers of aquaculture equipment, but also a rich and varied programme of seminars and workshops where the latest developments in the field will be discussed including trends, new products, as well as recent and forthcoming initiatives.

UK: FCI offices in Italy and Turkey joined by one in Spain

The aquaculture sector is the fastest growing food sector in

Food Certification International (FCI) recently expanded its global network with the opening of an office in Spain to serve the Spanish and Latin American markets.

The new office complements existing representations in Turkey and Italy. The company has also become the first European based certification body to be awarded accreditation to inspect and certify aquaculture feed production plants against a new Global Feed Manufacturers Standard. Based in Scotland, FCI has over 15 years experience of certifying the farmed salmon industry including the compound feed production plants supplying the sector and it was a natural progression for FCI to apply for an extension to its existing GlobalG.A.P. accreditation to include the new GlobalG.A.P

DanAqua will be held every second year and will combine the presentation of the latest knowhow with the purchase and sale of equipment for the aquaculture industry.

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

Compound Feed Manufacturers Version 2 standard.

News that FCI was applying for this new scope has generated interest from feed production plants across Europe and already certification has been issued for plants based in Turkey and the Faroe Islands. For compound feed manufacturers not participating in GlobalG.A.P. recognised benchmarked schemes such as the Universal Feed Assurance Scheme, FCI can now provide an alternative route to gaining GlobalG.A.P. certification. In the near future, Martin Gill, managing director of FCI expects to complete the scope extension to include the new GlobalG.A.P. IFA Version 4 – Aquaculture Standard.

www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Japan: Ban on consumption of sea lance

Turkey: Demand for prolongation of fishing ban

Radioactive fallout from the earthquake-, and tsunami-hit nuclear power plant in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture has been recorded in a small fish called konago or sand lance from the sea in the area. The findings have prompted the government to issue a ban on its sale and consumption, reports the news agency AFP, as samples of the fish were measured with higher than permitted levels of radioactive iodine. Workers at the nuclear plant have had to dump water with low levels of radioactive contamination into the sea

Environmental activists and fisheries scientists have urged the government to extend the ban on fishing by large vessels in Turkish waters to allow fish to reproduce, reports the Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.. The ban originally extended from 1 April to 1 September, but was pushed back to 15 April following protests from the trawler industry.

According to Greenpeace Turkey, the April to October period is when the fish spawn, so violations of the ban have a drastic impact on the long term health of the stock. Last year the start of

in their efforts to contain the damage to the plant caused by the natural disasters. There has also been some leakage of radioactive runoff into the sea, but government officials are confident that the action of the tides, winds and currents will soon disperse the radioactivity so that it does not pose any threat to marine life in the area. The nuclear crisis has precipitated bans in different countries, as well as within Japan itself, on trade in various foodstuffs from the area that have been found with higher levels of radioactive iodine.

the ban was not postponed but the trawling fleet was given special permission to fish in “international waters,” to the outrage of the small coastal fishers. They have this year petitioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to ensure that this does not happen again. The Turkish Marine Research Foundation feels that the original length of the ban must be reinstated if not extended to 1 October as many Turkish fish species are at risk of extinction due to excessive fishing pressure from a fleet that is too large.

Australia: Tiger prawn fishery gains Friend of the Sea approval Raptis, a fishing and seafood trading company in Northern Australia, has secured Friend of the Sea approval for its banana and tiger prawn fishery, that will add value to the company’s exports to Europe. The fishery is

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managed by the Australian Fish Management Authority (AFMA) under the Northern Prawn Fishery Management Plan, that imposes and polices several limitations on the fishery including seasonal closures, permanent

area closures, and gear restrictions. Nets used by the company are equipped with Bycatch Reduction Devices and Turtle Excluder Devices in keeping with FOS requirements, and the stocks have been assessed by the Austral-

ian Bureau of Sciences as being neither overfished nor subject to overfishing. The independent auditor also found that the company had exceeded its social, legal and traceability requirements under the FOS standard.

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Denmark: Screw feeding multihead weigher with greater accuracy

Germany: Integration of HPP modules into automatic packaging lines

Cabinplant, a Danish manufacturer of high quality processing equipment has further refined its screw feeding multihead weigher with a feature that results in significantly higher weighing accuracy and a considerable reduction of give-away for large products in ‘few piece’ portions. The new feature comprises a sensor gate

Multivac, one of the world’s leading suppliers of packaging solutions, has succeeded in integrating high pressure processing (HPP) into automated packaging lines and has also developed a method to use HPP on modified atmosphere packaged (MAP) products. Both refinements are the result of several new developments for which patents are pending. HPP is recognised as one of the most promising techniques to reduce the incidence of harmful bacteria in food products. It deactivates pathogens such as listeria or salmonella without affecting the nutritional value or taste of

mounted on each assembling pan that gives feedback about the content of the pan. This minimises the number of duplet, triplet and empty fillings. Tests with customer products showed a much higher incidence of a single piece being fed into each pan, improved product flow, higher weighing accuracy and reduced give-away.

the product. Multivac together with Uhde High Pressure Technologies has developed a process whereby the packaging material is placed under significantly less stress and retains its functionality even after the high pressure treatment. The second development, related to the integration of HPP into automated packaging systems, called for a rethink of the transport containers as well as the definition of specific packaging loading patterns. Multivac can now offer single chamber systems of 55, 160 and 350 litres, as well as a dual chamber system with a capacity of 700 (2 x 350) litres.

The sensor gates improved weighing accuracy and reduced give-away.

USA: Trade-offs in fish stock management Ray Hilborn, a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington, writes in the New York Times that while the world’s fish stocks on average seem to be stable those in the US appear to be growing and, in some cases, growing rapidly. Federal legislation in the US bans foreign fishing within 200 miles of the shore and has created fisheries management councils to regulate federal fisheries.

Partly as a result of this the picture of American fish stocks since the 90s has been largely positive, with few stocks being overfished and a quarter at less than the desired abundance. Conservative 10

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

management practices have enabled stocks to rebuild on both the east and west coasts, but have also held down harvests of species that are plentiful. Lower availability of fish will probably mean that consumers switch to other sources of protein such as beef, poultry and pork. But livestock production has significant environmental consequences including “…lost habitat, the need for ever more water, pesticides, fertilizer and antibiotics, chemical runoff and “dead zones” in the world’s seas.” The question those involved in the industry have to address is whether fewer fish in the seas is not in fact preferable to these impacts.

Multivac can now offer high pressure processing (HPP) modules integrated into automatic packaging lines. Single chamber systems are available with capacities of 55, 160 and 350 litres, while a tandem system has a capacity of 700 (2 x 350) litres.

Thailand: More stringent traceability may mean more checks on Thai exports to EU The Fisheries Department has warned the fishing and processing sector that spot checks by the European Union inspectors to verify that the permits held by fishing vessels, and processing factories are valid, are likely to increase in intensity in the future. The EU system of fisheries control is now fully operational and ensures traceability throughout the chain from catch to consumer. The checks will

verify that the fishery process in Thailand from capture through processing to export is legitimate and that the operators have the requisite licences and certificates that can document that the fish is not illegal. Somying Piamsombun, director-general of the Thai Fisheries Department, said that EU would also monitor the Thai state’s mechanisms for dealing with illegal fishery activities. www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Spain: Suspected illegal consignment of fish seized in Las Palmas

‘non-cooperating third countries’, which would mean they could no longer export seafood products to

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a UK-based NGO working to combat IUU (Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported) fishing, reports that a consignment of 500 tonnes of high value seafood has been seized by the Spanish authorities in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands. A press release from the EJF states that the multi-million euro consignment, which is believed to include octopus, squid, sole, shrimp and grouper, was destined for European fish counters, restaurants and hotels. The vessel and its suspected illegal cargo were brought to the notice of Spanish and European authorities by the EJF, which had been investigating

Denmark: It should be easier to be a fisher

the fishing activities of several vessels operating in Sierre Leone in inshore areas reserved for artisanal fishers without the consent of the Sierre Leone government.

These catches may have been illegally transferred to the vessel that is under investigation in Las Palmas. Under the new EU regulation to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, which entered into force on 1 January 2010, the flag state is required to validate catch certificates that confirm that the fish is legal. If the fishing vessels are found to have been operating illegally, possible measures include legal action against the operators, blacklisting the vessels concerned or identifying states as

Henrik Høegh, the Danish Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries will be in the limelight when negotiations on the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) take place under the Danish EU-presidency in the first half of 2012. Denmark has proposed that cameras on board fishing vessels document a fishers catches and that the entire catch is landed and counted against the quota. This could replace other regulations such as the kilowatt-day as well as requirements with regard to the

the EU. The investigations by the EU and the Spanish authorities are continuing.

size and type of gear. The idea is to simplify the existing control regime, not add to it, says the Minister, who would like to make life easier both for the fisherman as well as the controlling authorities. Several years talk of simplifying the CFP has so far not led anywhere, so the Minister is keen that the Danish proposal on the use of cameras is implemented and that it replaces other ways of monitoring the fishers to give a better functioning yet more economic system of control in the future.

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Belgium: European Aquaculture Society gets new logo

UK: Grieg Seafood Hjaltland acquires two farms

Since 1976, the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) has been pursuing its core objectives to promote contacts among all involved in aquaculture; to disseminate information and to promote multi-disciplinary research for the benefit of the sector. As EAS enters its 35th year, a new logo has been developed. As EAS President, Yves Harache commented “While the original EAS logo showing a focus on Europe on a global sphere has served EAS well over the years, a more modern and highly visible logo was felt

Grieg Seafood Hjaltland, the largest salmon farming and processing company in Shetland has acquired Skelda Salmon Farms Limited and G Duncan (Salmon) Limited for £2.19m (EUR2.45m).

The two licenses will increase the company’s farm site production to over 23,000 tonnes in 2012-13. The company is forecasting to increase production to over 24,000 tonnes by 2014-15.

The purchase also includes farm

necessary, as aquaculture is a truly global sector, and as EAS also creates new partnerships with organisations that are outside of the aquaculture sector.” The new logo will figure on all digital images of the society, and will be progressively introduced on all printed material over the coming year. Logo formats and detailed technical specifications for use will be provided on the EAS web site www.easonline.org for download and use with permission.

equipment, including a work boat, feeding barge, and cages.

The Grieg Seafood Hjaltland group already produces over one third and processes over 50 percent of Shetland’s total salmon production. Michael Stark, managing director of Grieg Seafood Hjaltland, says that the new acquisitions will strengthen the company’s market position as well as enable it to offer more customised products.

Spain: Alimentaria expands with two new exhibition halls Alimentaria, the International Food and Drinks Exhibition, will return to Barcelona 26–29 March 2012. Alimentaria 2012 will include two new exhibition halls at the Fira Gran Vía venue which will add 40,000 gross sq. m of exhibition space. In total there will be close to 100,000 sq. m of product offerings and culinary, business, and innovation activities, which will reinforce Alimentaria’s reputation as the think tank for the entire agrifood industry. The trade fair will focus all its attention on competitiveness, international expansion and brands in the food and drinks industry. The trade show promises once again to attract the sector’s major global operators. With an anticipated 4,000 companies – one third of them from abroad – and 140,000 buyers – 25 international, the show will confirm its position as an international hub for business transactions. Sixty percent of the show’s exhibitors intend to expand into the international market before long. To assist them the show includes International Projects, more than 8,000 business meetings to promote the international expansion for food and drinks companies.

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

Alimentaria, the trade show for the food and drinks industry, returns to Barcelona from 26-29 March 2012. www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] Denmark: Enzymes in fish diets have environmental benefits Salmon and trout can now be fed with enzymes so they can better absorb the phosphorus in their diet allowing fish farmers to save money and ensuring cleaner water, reports the Danish journal The Engineer. Danish Novozymes has been granted EU permission to supply phytase (an enzyme that helps the release of phosphorus

from its compounds) for fish feeds.

Phytase has been added to pig and poultry feeds for years. Animals, like humans, need phosphorus to grow, but much of the phosphorus in the plant-based ingredients of feed is bound so that it can not be absorbed. Feed producers therefore add extra phosphorus, which animals can absorb and thereby

UAE: Caviar production facility to go on-stream in Abu Dhabi Construction of a large recirculation aquaculture system for the production of sturgeon and sturgeon caviar has reached the stage when the fish are now being transported from Europe to take up residence in the tanks.

The plant has been built by the German company United Food Technologies AG, that specialises in the planning and design of aquaculture projects, for the Bin Salem Group in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates.

Some of the 140 tonnes of fish are being flown from Europe to Abu Dhabi in specially designed and equipped containers, that

maintain a temperature between 10 and 15 degrees C. The rest will be transported by sea from Europe, again in special containers that guarantee stable conditions in terms of water quality and temperature. The plant when running at capacity will produce 32 tonnes of caviar and 490 tonnes of sturgeon per year. The first production of caviar is already expected in 2011. The caviar will be marketed not only internationally but also to the many 5-star hotels and expensive restaurants in Abu Dhabi, as well as to the many cruise ships that drop anchor there.

grow faster. This means however that excess phosphorus is released into the water, which contributes to oxygen depletion. At the same time it is huge waste of phosphorus, a limited resource. ”When you add phytase to feed the animals can absorb the phosphorus, which is not otherwise available. This saves farmers money on feed and

substantially reduces the environmental impact,” says Sebastian Soederberg, marketing manager for feed enzymes at Novozymes.

Phytase works by supplementing the animals’ own digestive enzymes and helps to release otherwise indigestible phosphorus from the plant-based ingredients of the feed.

US dietary guidelines recommend Americans to increase consumption of seafood US dietary guidelines for 2010 released earlier this year urge Americans to eat greater varieties of seafood and to increase the volume of seafood consumed by using it to replace some meat and poultry products in the diet.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans is published every five years by the US Departments of Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. This latest edition appears against a background of rising concern that American diets are increasingly unhealthy and levels of physical activity are too low. By eating less and better, and being less sedentary Americans (and others) can

maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic disease, and promote overall health. One of the recommendations asks people to replace the consumption of saturated fats with monosaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). PUFA are found in fatty fish such as herring, mackerel, and salmon and are associated with a number of health benefits, such as the reduced risk of heart disease.

In 2009 Americans consumed just over 7 kg of fish per capita of which 1.9 kg was shrimp, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

USA: Wegmans partners with GAA to offer responsibly-farmed seafood

The new plant when running at capacity will produce 32 tonnes of caviar and 490 tonnes of sturgeon per year. www.eurofishmagazine.com

Wegmans Food Markets, a regional retail chain based in Rochester, NY, with 77 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland, has entered into a partnership with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) to develop guidelines for its aquaculture programme. The programme requires suppliers

to source their seafood from environmentally sustainable sources. Hatcheries, farms and processing facilities will all need to conform to the sustainability requirement. Wegmans is the latest in a growing list of retailers that seek to offer responsibly farmed seafood to their customers.

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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[ NEWS INTERNATIONAL ] UK: Evans Vanodine products first on new listing scheme A new UK Aquaculture Disinfectant Listing Scheme now enables manufacturers to publicly list products that have demonstrated efficacy against bacterial and/or viral fish diseases. To achieve listing, a product is subject to an intensive independent technical review that validates

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

the effectiveness of that product against certain pathogens. It must be independently proved that the product does what it says it will do. Such a listing by the Fish Health Inspectorate (FH) based at CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) ensures

that the fish industry can now purchase products completely confident that they will maintain high standards of hygiene and biosecurity. Evans Vanodine International plc is the first man-

ufacturer to submit products for evaluation under the new scheme and Fam 30 and Vanoquat New Formulation were the first products to be formally listed on 10 December 2010.

Brussels: Clear majority of Europeans support sustainable fisheries An overwhelming majority of EU citizens want the fish they buy

to come from sources that are sustainable and not overfished, according to an independent poll commissioned by WWF and carried out in 14 EU countries.

Yet, most citizens feel they do not have adequate information on whether the fish on sale comes from such sources. Not surprisingly a large majority support a reform of Europe’s Common Fisheries Policy to ensure the sustainability of fish products in future, reports megafishnet.com referring to the WWF poll. With 88 of respondents believing it is important that fish products on sale within the European Union come from non-overfished stocks, WWF believes a clear signal is being given to the European Union that ambitious reform of the failing Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is urgently needed. The poll comes as the European Commission is about to hand over its reform proposal to the European Parliament and Member States for approval. The results of the poll are especially impressive in Southern European countries (Portugal 92, France 93, Spain 91, Italy 95) and in Belgium (91) where over 90 of respondents think it is important that fish on sale comes from nonoverfished sustainable stocks.

The ongoing reform of the CFP is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to finally start managing fish in a responsible way, as a precious natural resource, says the WWF.

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

The processing factory is equipped with the most modern machinery.

Here the fish are being gutted prior to being processed further.

Antalya Balik aims to reach 25,000 tonnes production in 5 years

Vertically integrated producer of trout for markets abroad From 2000 to 2009 aquaculture production in Turkey has doubled from 79,000 mt to 158,000 mt, according to the Turkish Statistical Office. The main species contributing to this growth are seabass, seabream, and trout. Inland trout farming first started in the 70s, and now annual production amounts to 75 thousand tonnes.

T

he trout-farming industry is fragmented into companies with large production volumes, some of which are listed on the stock exchange, and others which are small family-run operations with limited production. One of the bigger companies producing trout is Antalya Balik, based as the name suggests in the province of Antalya on the southern coast of Turkey.

Antalya Balik was established in 1985 by two partners who started www.eurofishmagazine.com

the business selling wild-caught fish to hotels and restaurants.

Fish farming in Turkey was started to grow up at the time and the partners decided this was the field to be in. After considering both sea bass, seabream and trout, they felt that trout with its shorter production time, lesser fat content, and lower price was the more interesting species. Today, while trout is the company’s main product, it also supplies seabass and seabream, which it produces on contract.

Mr. M. Zafer Erel, Chief Executive Officer of Antalya Balik

Product assortment with 230 different items The company’s ambitions are increasing as its production grows, and it is seeking to become one of the biggest farmers of trout in Turkey. M. Zafer Erel, the CEO of Antalya Balik, explains that under the name Antalya Balik there are three different activities – farming, processing, and the hatchery.

Currently there are two processing facilities, one with a production capacity of 7,000 mt/y including

smoked trout. This factory serves the company’s export markets.

The second factory produces 2,000 tonnes of products per year, which are sold on the domestic market.

Antalya is prized for its weather and its sandy beaches which draw some 20 million tourists a year. The area hosts a number of up-market hotels, bars, and restaurants to cater to the more affluent of these tourists, and this is where Mr Erel also sells the company’s wide

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COVER STORY

Antalya Balik has its own hatchery at Korkuteli, about 60 km from Antalya, with a capacity of 24m fingerlings a year.

range of products. Today these number 230 different items.

own hatchery in Korkuteli, about 60 km from Antalya, with a production currently of 24 million fingerlings. The Korkuteli hatchery gets the eggs for the production from companies in USA,

In addition to the two processing units which are both based in Antalya, the company has its

Denmark and Spain. After the eggs hatch the young fish grow to a weight of about 1-2 gram in the hatchery and are then transferred to the grow-out farm. The fish are transferred into the tanks where they remain until they reach selling size and are then moved to net cages in trucks equipped with oxygen systems and special suspensions to ensure a smooth ride. Antalya Balik has its own farms located in three dam lakes.

The first farm was established in 2007 in Burdur Karacaören dam lake and has a capacity of 1,800 mt/y. The second farm was established in 2010 in the Yamula dam lake in Kayseri in the middle of Turkey, and can produce 4,750 mt/y, while the third and fourth farms are in the Karkamis dam lake close to Turkey’s borders

with Syria and Iraq. The latter were established in 2011 and production here will start at the end of the year. Their combined capacity is 3,400 mt/y. The flesh of freshwater trout is normally white in colour and the production from the company’s older farms is also fish with white flesh.

However, at the Karkamis dam lake the presence in the water of certain algae on which the trout feed causes the flesh of the fish to turn red, which makes it attractive for the French and German markets, says Mr Erel. The total production at the four sites is just under 10,000 tonnes, which the company hopes to increase to 25,000 tonnes in the space of the next five years. The first step towards achieving this has already been taken with a new

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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COVER STORY

One of the products made by Antalya Balik is whole, gutted trout that is vacuum packaged and frozen.

The factory has a production capacity of 7,000 tonnes including smoked trout.

grow-out facility being established in Ermenek dam lake in the south. When fully operational this site will have a production of 5,000 tonnes a year. The net cages in which the fish are raised have a diameter of 20m and a capacity of 30-40 tonnes of fish. But we are now trying bigger cages that were developed for the marine farming industry, says Mr Erel, which have a diameter of 30 m and a capacity of 75 tonnes.

but we can also deliver larger fish of 400 g if the client demands. At the moment sales are to 12 countries in Europe including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, France, and set to start in Russia.

The company has already sent several trucks to Russia and Mr Erel says that Antalya Balik is one of four companies approved to export fish there. As the production facilities in the Karkamis dam lake are so close to Iraq and Syria, he is of the opinion that selling fresh fish to these countries is also a real possibility.

The fish are available in several different product forms. These include gutted fish, butterfly and

Markets in twelve European countries The extreme Turkish summer can cause some problems for

the trout. For the fish the temperatures should be around 16 degrees C; beyond that the fish react badly. The water in the KaracaĂśren facility can get unpleasantly warm for the trout in summer. The company has therefore devised a way whereby water from the depths of the dam lake, where it is 12 degrees, is pumped up and mixed with the warm surface water to obtain an acceptable temperature for the fish.

Under optimal conditions the trout grow to market size of 280340 g in the space of about six months. This is the size that is in demand in Europe, says Mr Erel,

The processing factory is certiďŹ ed to the IFS, BRC, and the American FDA standards. Quality control is carried out by technicians from the inhouse laboratory. www.eurofishmagazine.com

single fillets, that are vacuum packed and frozen. The processing facility at Antalya includes smoking chambers and the company also supplies smoked trout fillets. Leading retailers such as Metro, Real, Edeka, and Aldi among others, are among the company’s customers for whom Antalya Balik makes private label products. Of course we would like to sell under our brand, but it is a very long and expensive process to build a brand, especially on markets in the west, explains Mr Erel. On the other hand in Russia, Poland, and Romania, the company is selling under its own label.

The farms are located in four dam lakes and have a total capacity of 10,000 tonnes of trout. A new farm soon to go into production will add a further 5,000 tonnes to capacity.

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COVER STORY

The delicate smoked fillets are carefully packed by hand to ensure that they are not damaged.

Smoked trout fillets are supplied to several retail chains including Metro, Real, Edeka, and Aldi as private label products.

First to get GlobalG.A.P. certification

Vertical integration has many advantages

We were the first trout farming company in the world to hold the GlobalG.A.P. certificate, says Zafer Erel proudly, and the processing factories are also certified to the IFS, BRC and the US FDA standards. Applying the GlobalG.A.P. standard commits a producer to minimising the deleterious effects of his operations on the environment, to reducing the use of chemicals inputs, and to taking seriously the welfare of employees as well as the animals on the farm.

The certification also requires that the eggs for the hatchery are a certain standard.

There are many companies that either farm fish or process it, but being fully integrated as Antalya Balik has several advantages.

We can control the whole process from egg to final product, to ensure that the quality never suffers at any point in the production chain, says Mr Erel. And if there is a problem our internal traceability system enables us to rapidly find the source of the trouble and rectify it. We try to ensure that growth is spread evenly so that we do not run into bottlenecks in the production process. If we expand

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the farm, then we also need to expand the processing capacity, and the hatchery. The new project at Ermenek dam lake, for example, also includes a hatchery with a capacity of 150 million fry/year.

Antalya Balik obtains all its feed from high quality suppliers. However, as Mr Erel says, we need to start considering our own feed production unit. In Turkey if you produce 30,000 tonnes of fish they say you should have your own feed production plant as you will need approximately 30,000 tonnes of feed. Our planned expansion will result in a production of 25,000 tonnes by 2016, so we need to start planning for a feed production plant from now itself. The cost of the feed is a major component of the cost of producing the fish and controlling

the feed price will be an important factor in the profitability of the company. By investing in a feed production facility, the company will also be in a better position to start experimenting with the feed, reducing the amount of expensive ingredients and using more plant protein.

Skilled employees form the core strength Expanding production will not only include the volume of fish, but will also involve superior equipment and technology and better international marketing.

Our strength lies in the skill of our team and their ability to rapidly adapt to new challenges, says Mr Erel. It is because we believe in the company, the product, and the process.

Antalya Balik AS Company Fact File Organize Sanayi Bolgesi 2.

Etap 24. Cad. TR 07190 Antalya Turkey Tel.: +90 242 258 19 20 Fax: +90 242 258 19 51 info@ antalyabalik.com.tr www.antalyabalik.com.tr Chief Executive Officer: Mr M. Zafer Erel

Hatcheries: 1 (24m fry per year) Grow-out farms: 4 (10,000 t / year capacity) Processing factory: 2 (1 for export, cap. 6,000 t + 1,000 t of smoked products; 1 for domestic market, cap. 2,000 t) Products: Frozen vacuum-packed trout, trout fillets, smoked trout fillets, sea bass, seabream.

Employees: 300 Turnover: USD 45m

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POLAND

Funds for fisheries areas

EU assistance encourages local development Until recently there was no special programme offering financial assistance from the EU funds to fisheries areas. The situation has now changed thanks to priority axis 4 of the Polish Operational Programme Sustainable Development of the Fisheries Sector and Coastal Fishing Areas 2007-2013 (OP Fisheries 2007-2013).

E

UR313m allocated for priority axis 4 are disbursed via fisheries local action groups (FLAGs) operating in municipalities (gminas) where the fisheries sector is an important element of the local economy. In the first call for proposals for FLAGs to implement local development strategies for fisheries areas (LDSFA), the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development selected 26 associations which received FLAG status. For each of them the Minister secured a budget starting from over 10 million (EUR2.5m) to several dozen million zlotys.

A FLAG is mainly a meeting platform for partners representing the social, public and economic sectors. Partners from each sector present varying points of view, have different interests and problems. The FLAG prepares a local development strategy for fisheries areas (LDSFA), i.e. a document taking into account various interests and defining the main sectors of the economy which should use the aid offered by axis 4. The approved LDSFA are implemented in the gminas of 11 provinces (voivodeships). The second and final call

for proposals will be completed soon to select other FLAGs which will receive funds for implementing their LDSFA.

Financial assistance under priority axis 4 All inhabitants of the area covered by the LDSFA, as well as persons from outside the area, who wish to invest or start an economic activity in the area where the FLAG operates, may apply for financing of their operations. Eligible beneficiaries include both natural and legal persons, research or cultural

institutions, non-governmental organisations involved in the development of a given area, as well as municipalities and local councils (poviats).

A special place among the beneficiaries is reserved for representatives of the fisheries sector, i.e. farmers, fish processors, vessel owners, inland fishers and their employees. Important beneficiaries of axis 4 of the OP Fisheries 2007-2013 include also those providing services to the fisheries sector, e.g. repairing fishing equipment. They can obtain

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funds to assist in the restructuring of their activity and to create additional jobs outside the sector.

Examples of initiatives implemented in the fisheries sector LDSFA are adapted to local specific characteristics and the problems and assets of a given fisheries area. However, several universal development policies are supported by all FLAGs. For many of the fisheries areas tourism is an opportunity, since they are often located in beautiful regions which attract tourists with their abundance of flora and fauna. Therefore, many LDSFA include support for operations such as: r Increasing opportunities for recreational angling, building “catch and release” fishing areas and furnishing such fishing areas with the necessary equipment; r Purchase of watercraft, creation or extension of infrastructure of companies offering rental equipment for water tourism, including boats and fishing vessels; r Angling tourism on fishing vessels, both at sea and on lakes and rivers; r Increasing the attractiveness of the offers for tourists; r Building and modernisation of tourist infrastructure; r Promotion of the area by means of media campaigns, creation of websites and publication of tourist brochures.

One of the key elements of axis 4 of the OP Fisheries 2007-2013 is the diversification of economic activities of companies in the fisheries sector. Its objective is to

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diversify the sources of income of fishing companies and fish farms, without affecting their main activities. Many LDSFA include support for operations which will result in fishers undertaking additional activity, e.g. offering agrotourism and catering services or selling finished food products.

Support under axis 4 is allocated for programmes consisting of : r Retraining of fishers; r Training of the unemployed; r Starting new businesses, in particular in services provided to local communities; r Development of trade services; r Development of craftsmen’s services.

Readily available fresh fish can attract tourists to local areas Projects financed under priority axis 4 include those aimed at adding value to fisheries products. Local foodstuffs with fish as the main ingredient are a treasure of fisheries areas. However, numerous FLAGS point out to a certain paradox in their LDFSA, i.e. that it is impossible to try fresh fish in areas with a centuries-old tradition of fishing or aquaculture. The popularisation of those products is a great chance not only for fishers.

Such culinary delicacies increasingly act as a magnet attracting crowds of tourists and consumers willing to discover new flavours and traditional dishes.

Therefore, FLAGs support activities related to: r Promoting fish consumption; r Developing distribution networks for fish products; r Improving catering infrastructure where local products are offered; r Promoting local dishes;

r Creating the possibility to try dishes from freshly caught fish in local catering establishments.

Nature is the chief asset of fisheries areas, which very often was only slightly modified by anthropogenic activity. Fishing activity was often conducive to the development of flora and fauna by attracting rare species of birds to fishing areas and ponds. The authors of numerous LDFSA are aware of this fact and therefore offer funding for programmes that: r Preserve and improve the environment, in particular lakes and rivers, and make them available for tourists; r Use natural and cultural heritage for local development; r Mark out tourist trails, and build bird hides to allowing bird watching; r Support organisation promoting ecological activities and educating youth in this regard.

Fishing is not only a trade, but also a way of life with a centuries-old traditions. Fisheries areas may offer great culture, folklore and customs. In an era of progressive globalisation and standardisation of behaviour, fostering local specific characteristics requires financial support. In many areas, fishing has an ancient history, which will perish, if it is not written down and protected.

Therefore, numerous FLAGs promote project that seek to: r Create memorial halls, fisheries museums, exhibition and open air museum dedicated to the history of the area; r Organise local folklore clubs, song and dance ensembles and associations reconstructing historical events; r Write down the history of fisheries in a given area;

r Organise classes for young people which will familiarize them with the fisher’s trade and the history of this sector in the region.

How to obtain financing The first place to obtain more information on opportunities offered by axis 4 is the FLAG office. Information about the location of the FLAGs is available at the municipality offices which actively participated in the creation of the FLAGs and the preparation of the LDSFA, as well as the provincial governments and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Each FLAG has the financial resources and an obligation to run an office, the tasks of which include, apart from the selection of projects to be carried out under the LDSFA, also assistance to potential beneficiaries in preparing the applications for financing.

If a potential beneficiary lives in the area where no FLAG was created, the beneficiary may carry out the operation in one of the municipalities covered

by LDSFA. The competent marshal’s office which processes applications for financing provides information about the municipalities which were covered by LDFSA in a given province. Provincial governments closely cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development which is the Managing Authority for the entire OP Fisheries 2007-2013.

Information about axis 4 of the OP Fisheries 2007-2013 is available at: www.minrol.gov.pl and www.rybactwo.info and at the websites of the marshal’s offices.

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POLAND

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Polish laboratory to create database to eliminate import fraud

Genetics-based identification of fish and seafood The Department of Aquaculture has been cooperating with the Szczecin Customs Office in the area of genetic identification of fish species for several years now. A new project involving both organisations seeks to create a reference database against which import samples can be compared. The purpose is to detect fraud in the form of food adulteration. An earlier collaboration between the two to detect illegal traffic in European eel was a huge success.

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n extension of the control capacity is very important to the Customs Office in Szczecin as the Szczecin port is one of the largest fish transhipment centres in Europe. Last year, over 160,000 tonnes of frozen fish and fish products with an approximate value of PLN1 billion (EUR255m) were brought into the Polish customs territory through the Szczecin - S´winoujs´cie Port.

As the origin or the declared content of some of these goods may be misstated, duties and derivative taxes are at risk of being calculated incorrectly. Only regular control based on contemporary genetic methods can reduce the scale of fraud and impose the correct duties.

Reliable fish product identification can impact customs revenues

In spite of the extensive experience of customs officers in clearing fish products, there is a risk that a false declaration on the identity of unprocessed fish would go unnoticed if the goods are only subject to physical control.

The purpose of the project is to create a genetic database and to develop new efficient methods of fish product identification for the needs of customs services and other state control bodies. A fish identification system would also be very useful to processors, importers and other entities involved in the fish product trade as it would allow control and verification of imported and

processed raw materials. The application of genetic methods allows the early identification of fish samples and can eliminate low-value fish, marketed as valuable, from imports.

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The project will include collecting reference samples of reference fish material from the largest producers and exporters worldwide. Researchers will

closely cooperate with the Szczecin Customs Office as well as foreign universities and research institutes and will use FAO statistics to determine the most important species in international trade. Additionally, data on current imports provided by the Szczecin Customs Office will be used to populate the list of species brought into Poland particularly frequently. In-depth

studies of local markets in particular countries will identify fish with higher risk profiles.

The measures are expected to result in a reference database which would facilitate detecting irregularities in international trade and reduce the adulteration of imported products. The scientists plan to collect and process approximately 10,000 samples of www.eurofishmagazine.com

POLAND

various fish species. On that basis, they will attempt to recognise local stocks and races to facilitate the identification of imported goods and to be able to determine the origin of specific fish products.

Such a database will be the first of its kind. The European Commission is highly interested in creating effective procedures in the EU and this project will allow the creation of unified rules of handling and identification of fish products throughout the European Union in the future. In spite of the extensive experience of customs officers in clearing fish products, there is a risk that a false declaration on the identity of unprocessed fish would go unnoticed if the goods are only subject to physical control. The risk is even higher in the

who are unaware that they are actually buying fish dishonestly imported.

Tissue samples from around the world

The database will serve as the reference point to compare samples from goods brought into Poland, which will conďŹ rm or rule out the species (or ďŹ shing ground) declared in the customs declaration.

case of fish product identity recognition. Apart from lower customs

revenues, the fraud also affects importers and final consumers,

The study envisages collecting 10,000 samples of fish tissue.

For absolute certainty as to the place where fish were harvested, material will be collected directly from fishing vessels and, should that turn out to be impossible, from local markets. Fish species (selected for particular countries on the basis of FAO data analysis) will be photographed on the spot and geotagged (geographical location data added); the collection site will also be described.

Once the samples are provided to

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POLAND

The study envisages collecting 10,000 samples of fish tissue directly from fishing vessels or from local markets.

the laboratory of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, they will be labelled to assign material imported into the Polish customs territory to a specific geographical region. Thus, a reference sample database will be created with benchmark data.

Characteristic parts of the fish species genome will be collected to form the public database.

Additionally, a market analysis will be performed for each species that will determine the average price of 1 kg on the local market and, if possible, specific features will be determined which would help to confirm species affiliation. Trips to collect samples are planned for three years: 2011, 2012 and 2013. Material will be collected by six people who are directly responsible for project implementation. In 2011 trips for three groups of two: to Asia (two trips), South America (one trip) and Africa (three trips) are proposed. Samples from 16 countries will be brought to the Fish 24

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Genetics Laboratory of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin in 2011. In the first year of the project 3,000 samples will be collected. In 2012 4,000 samples of fish from ten countries (Asia, South America and Africa) will be collected, while in 2013 3,000 samples will be collected from nine countries representing fishing grounds and aquaculture centres in Asia, Oceania and North America.

Sophisticated analysis to determine origin, species Once the samples are delivered, each sample will be processed in the following order: DNA isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing. If the processing stages are sufficient to determine molecular differences that allow verification of the place of origin, the procedure will be completed. If the differences in the genome are not defined, an additional analysis

of Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) will be conducted. This is a very modern method applied in molecular biology to evaluate features which require the analysis of large quantities of polymorphic uncoupled qualitative features.

Data in the form of sequences assigned to particular samples will create a reference sequence database in which data will be catalogued and ordered for particular countries. This database will serve as the reference point to compare and align sequences of goods brought into Poland, which will confirm or rule out the species (or fishing ground) declared in the customs declaration, on the basis of which duties and other taxes are calculated. The fish and fish product genetic identification system can also be used by the Customs Office to enforce the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The staff of the Fish Genetics Laboratory are already experienced in this regard as they used genetic methods to prevent the smuggling of several tonnes of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) declared as Japanese eel (a species not covered by CITES) into Poland.

Project coordinators: Jolanta Kempter, PhD; Maciej Kiełpin´ski, PhD Project Office: West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin Faculty of Food Sciences and Fisheries Department of Aquaculture, ul.

Kazimierza Królewicza 4 dr Magdalena Wielopolska, Tel. : +48 91 449 66 62 magdalena.wielopolska@zut. edu.pl www.celfish.pl; www.celfish.eu www.eurofishmagazine.com

POLAND

Fish processing in Poland

Steady increase in exports to the EU of them employ over 49 permanent staff while only 3 employ more than 250. According to the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Food Economy (IERiGEZ) employment in the fish processing industry rose from 9 thousand in 2003 to nearly 15 thousand at the end of the decade.

Fish processing in Poland has a relatively short tradition, just over 100 years, and cannot be compared with, for example, an already well-developed early nineteenth century meat industry.

The first business to be officially registered was a fish smokehouse in Puck established by Jakub Gojke in 1898. Then in 1932, in rapidly-developing Gdynia, a very modern fish freezer was launched, which allowed for the increase of fish imports. Around this time the herring salting and smoke-curing industries also developed and by 1935 there were 42 smokehouses and 30 fish canneries and the annual production value amounted to a million dollars.

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verage annual consumption of fish and fish products per capita in Poland after World War II steadily increased from 1.7 kg in 1950 to 8.1 kilograms in 1980; thereafter consumption declined and in 1989 was 6.1 kg/product per person.

The decade 1991 - 2000 saw an initial decline but then the intensive development of the Polish fish processing industry which is currently considered to be of primary importance to the entire fishing industry. For several years now, it has been among the fastest growing industries of the national food sector.

fishing companies engaged in the sale of live and fresh fish. The largest number of such companies is in the provinces of Wielkopolskie and Opolskie. The geographical distribution of the companies is uneven; nearly 60 of the plants

are located in two coastal provinces, while in the south-east there are only a few plants.

Production of highly value-added products climbs

Polish processing plants, as in other EU countries, are mainly small local businesses; only 70

The production volume of the processing industry in the five years 2004 – 2009 has ranged from about

Employment rises in the processing sector According to the data of the Chief Veterinary Inspectorate (GIWet) of January 2010, there are 255 processing plants in Poland allowed to export to the EU, 9 plants deal with fish farming and 6 with shrimp processing. The number of establishments authorised to sell only on local markets increased from 164 to 217 according to data from GIWet of January 2010. This group is dominated by farms and www.eurofishmagazine.com

Despite a thriving processing industry Poland is among the EU countries with the lowest consumption of fish per capita.

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POLAND

For several years fish processing has been among the fastest growing industries in the Polish food sector.

There are 255 processing plants in Poland authorised to export to the EU.

300 to 390 thousand tonnes per year. The value of production has seen significant progress due to the introduction of more and more highly refined products which add proportionately more to the production value. In 2009 the main products by volume from the processing industry were: marinades (21), canned fish (16), smoked fish (23), and fresh and frozen fish fillets (12). The production of traditional salted products for the Polish market has declined significantly, which could be because consumers are seeking to reduce salt consumption.

processing 2004-2006." According IERiGEZ, investment expenditure, aimed mainly at improving competitiveness amounted to nearly PLN240m. The policy of obtaining credits, and subsequently the aid funds, enabled a large number of Polish processing facilities to improve the competitiveness of Polish products on the Community market.

According to the IERiGEZ, the economic situation of the fish 26

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

processing industry been relatively stable and 2009 was be the best year for the industry since Polish accession to the European Union. In the 5 years after accession a significant investment boom has been observed; in 2007-08 alone the value of investments exceeded 250 million zl (EUR64m), four times more than in the years preceding accession.

As a result of the pre-accession SAPARD program, in the processing and distribution industries, nearly 120 million zl worth of EU and domestic funds were invested. Significantly higher amounts (273 million zl) were provided by the Sector Operational Programme "Fishing and fish-

Domestic consumption lags the EU average Today the Polish fish processing industry is one of the leaders in Europe and prospects for growth, especially on the common European market are

strong. The export of fish and fish products to EU countries over the last decade has grown steadily and now accounts for over 50 of the sector’s revenue. The value of production in 2009 was a record 4.8 billion zl. However, according to the FAO Poland is among the EU countries with the lowest consumption of fish per capita. While global consumption is approximately 16 kg/ person, and in the EU around 22 kg/person, in Poland for the year 2008 it was about 13.5 kg/ person; and in 2009 it was 13.18 kg/person. However, in recent years consumption in Poland has grown by about 1.5 kg per person.

Consumption of fish and fish www.eurofishmagazine.com

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products depends on wealth and on the socio-economic group, to which the consumer belongs. In Poland the highest consumption, around 50 of the total, has been reported among retired people, and the lowest among agricultural workers. Similar results appear in studies carried out in Germany. For several years the consumption of fish in Poland has been dominated by marine fish with about 70 of consumption. In 2009 this was mainly pollock with 3.08 kg/person, followed by herring at 2.48 kilograms/person, then mackerel. and sprat. According to IERiGEZ a Pole eats about 1.94 kg of freshwater fish, 1.1 kg of which is panga and tilapia. The consumption of traditional Polish fish, carp, has not changed for years and amounts to about 0.5 kg/person.

– The interest in health and nutrition, coupled with the low domestic consumption should lead to an increase in demand for fish products.

– Demand from other EU countries will create opportunities for the Polish processing industry to export.

– Managers of Polish fish processing plants have proven that they are adept at using EU funds to keep their factories up-to-date and develop innovative products.

– The primary threat to the fishing industry is the persistent problem of the lack of raw material, which in the future will be even more expensive and even less available. The Polish processing industry is already 90 based on fish imports. Hence, greater use of domestic resources such as Baltic fish, freshwater fish and the further development of aquaculture, is necessary. It is also necessary to introduce a wide range of certification measures of raw materials earmarked for processing.

– Increased automation is important. Another problem is the lack of qualified personnel with higher education.

This is particularly important because of the introduction of more advanced quality management systems.

– Adapting the manufacturing process to the current requirements of environmental protection. Compliance with these regulations will require costly investments.

– The constant increase in regulation especially concerning the protection of consumer health and safety of manufactured products.

– Requirements related to the globalisation of trade and the removal of barriers and restrictions will cause, for example, the enforcement of rules and the implementation of so-called "anti-terrorist" measures to food products, which will add to the costs of production.

However, there are also a number of threats that could have a negative impact on the Polish fish processing industry.

Prof. Piotr J. Bykowski Vice-President Polish Association of Fish Processors

Opportunities and threats Among the factors that will affect the further development of the Polish fish processing industry are:

www.eurofishmagazine.com

Polish Association of Fish Processors The Polish Association of Fish Processing (PAFP) was established in 1998, as a trade organisation for registered Polish fish processing companies. It currently has 42 members. The Association represents the interests of its members at the local, national, and EU levels, by shaping proposed legislation, initiating favourable laws, and fighting rules inimical to its members’ interests. The association promotes the sector at home and abroad, and works to popularise fresh and processed fish and seafood. It organises training to keep

its members abreast of the latest developments in the industry and disseminates information about EU politics, programs and support funds. The Association works closely together with academic institutions including the Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia, the Agricultural Academy in Szczecin, and the Technical University of Szczecin for the benefit of its members. PAPF is itself a member of AIPCE, the EU Fish Processors Association and CEPEU, the Federation of National Organisations of Importers and Exporters of Fish.

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Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

27

POLAND

Results of a Polish survey on fish consumption

Promote fish as a natural source of omega-3 In Poland fish is considered “healthy”. A popular Polish saying goes “as healthy as fish”. Apart from high quality protein, some species of fish also contain important nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, a fact that needs to be promoted among Polish consumers. This article is based on the results of surveys conducted at the Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.

T

he dietary awareness of the public is increasing as a result of educational programmes, various claims on food labels, and other sources of

information. Food and nutrients are an increasingly discussed topic. The issue of nutrition claims in the context of omega-3 acids consumption was discussed in

an article What is actually proven and what is just speculation? published in Eurofish Magazine issue 6/2010.

Table 1. What consumers associate with omega-3 acids Products associated with omega-3 acids

Number of answers Men

Women

Total

Not heard about omega-3 acids.

67

67

134

Drugs

19

42

61

Supplements for athletes

9

1

10

Dietary supplements

86

250

336

Milk

3

1

4

Eggs

4

6

10

Spreadable fats (e.g. margarine, blends)

39

110

149

...

(Own answer in the subsequent question)

81

198

279

Total

308

675

983

Chart 1. The primary role of fish in diet 600 501

Number of answers

500

400

300

200

184 163

129

100 41 0 Substitute meat

28

As a source of protein

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

As a source of fat

Don't know

Other

Foods with supplements are increasingly widespread Nutrients occurring naturally in unprocessed foodstuffs and substances in processed products were the basis for developing dietary recommendations. Clear guidelines created an opportunity to shape lasting dietary habits. However, the widespread use of food enrichment technologies results in the production of innovative, functional foods containing nutrients which do not occur in them naturally. This revolutionary change in establishing nutritional value affects the approach to dietary recommendations. The sources of omega-3 acids currently include dietary supplements, spreadable fats (including margarines), eggs, dairy products (e.g. cheese), cold meats (also with high saturated fats), cereal products (e.g. pasta), crisps and many other products in which those acids do not occur naturally.

A 2008 survey conducted in Poland on a group of 1020 consumers showed that for almost half the respondents fish was the primary source of protein (Chart 1). For many respondents fish was simply a substitute for meat, while a slightly smaller group of consumers stated that fish was a source of fat. The comparison of results broken down by gender reveals that men more often consider fish to be a substitute for meat, while for women fish are mainly a source of fat.

Another question from the survey asked the respondents to state their own associations concerning the primary role of fish in the diet. Answers were received from 131 persons, of whom only 48 stated that fish are the sources of omega-3 acids. The respondents also answered that fish are the sources of essential fatty acids www.eurofishmagazine.com

(21 answers), that they are tasty (16), provide Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) (15), are a source of minerals (respondents stated which minerals) (15), have a positive impact on the body (respondents provided various examples) (15), are a source of protein (10), contain minerals (without providing their names) (9) and add variety to the diet (8). The results reveal a low level of awareness about the nutritional value of fish among consumers in Poland. Women more often answered that fish are a source of omega-3 acids, while the taste proved to be the most important for men.

What are omega-3 acids?

The questionnaire first asked respondents about the primary role of fish in the diet. The results are presented in Table 1. The subsequent part of the questionnaire consisted of two questions solely concerning omega-3 acids. The first asked about the presence of omega-3 acids in the listed products (Table 1), while the second could be answered freely.

The largest group, i.e. over one third of the respondents, declared that they associated omega-3 acids with dietary supplements. As many as 61 persons associate them with drugs which could also include supplements for some respondents. Many respondents associate omega-3 acids with spreadable fats or do not know them at all (“I have not heard about omega-3 acids”). Since the survey concerned fish and fish products, the answer "they are found in fish" was intentionally excluded from the set of available answers. The consumers had to freely answer the second question, to which 325 responded.

They associated omega-3 acids mainly with a positive impact www.eurofishmagazine.com

on health (99 answers), fish (97), EFA (54), fatty fish or fish fat (31), healthy or good fat (31), fatty acids or fat (26), well-balanced diet (20), sea fish or consumption of certain fish (18), cod liver oil (17) and oils (10).

What are the sources of omega-3s?

The so-called nutrient profiles have not been established yet for products which may be enriched with omega-3 acids and labelled with nutrition or health claims. In the case of fish products naturally rich in omega-3 acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the EU regulations only allow to use the term „naturally/ natural“ as a prefix to the nutrition claim stating “source of omega-3 fatty acids” or “high omega-3 fatty acids”. Taking into account the research results presented above and the increasing range of products enriched with supplements, the fish industry should focus on promoting fish by putting an emphasis on the natural nutrients they contain. This concerns not only omega-3 acids, but also high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. Omega-3 acids are currently associated with dietary supplements and spreadable fats in Poland. Nutrients occurring naturally in fish now add value to other products, which may create inappropriate dietary habits.

At the same time, a new type of competitiveness has appeared on the food market where companies compete for the highest nutritional value of products.

This represents an opportunity for fish and seafood producers, which they should exploit.

Monika Kołodziejczyk Department of Fisheries Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

29

POLAND

Development of intensive aquaculture in Poland

New technology fosters opportunities for growth The Polish farming sector is half way through the implementation of the financial support mechanism for the aquaculture and fisheries sector, defined in the Operational Programme under the European Fisheries Fund (EFF). The shape and size of the support provided to Poland was unprecedented, but now it is time to analyse how the EFF has influenced professional aquaculture and what its prospects are for development in the future.

The aquaculture sector in Poland is highly polarized between the traditional farms and intensive fish production facilities. The former are earthen ponds managed by companies or small family enterprises dealing with different fish species on a small scale. They often have diverse income sources. The second kind includes intensive grow out farms producing mainly trout, and recirculated farms, also with heated water, that are designed for the production of other species. The two groups differ in terms of technology, costs structure, market position, legislative and administrative burdens, and each has its own set of problems.

The differences are even more evident when considering the potential for development.

Limited scope for development of traditional aquaculture The scale at which traditional aquaculture is conducted in Poland and neighbouring countries, mainly carp farming in ponds, is unprecedented in other parts of Europe. Large areas of ponds and open water 30

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

used for fishery purposes pose several problems. It is difficult to protect them from predators, the risk of disease is very high, pressure from environmentalists to restrict professional fish farming is increasing - although the attractiveness of many natural areas stems from the fact that ponds are being used for fish production. Carp ponds play also a role in micro-retention of water, have an impact on the climate and biodiversity of flora and fauna. It is, however, increasingly difficult to maintain the economic feasibility of fishery activities. It is hard to imagine any growth in this type of activity.

Intensive aquaculture uses advanced levels of technology, often due to the fact that the farmers are relatively young, and with a higher education in fisheries. There is also the high prestige associated with this type of activity in Poland. However, despite the good development prospects and very strong growth of the industry in the last twenty years, there is now a stagnation of production levels in spite of new investments.

The development strategy for intensive aquaculture in Poland Intensive aquaculture has solid growth potential in Poland. The barriers that now cause the stagnation of output, are possible to overcome in the short term.

New technologies including the rapidly growing field of environmental protection engineering open new directions for the development of aquaculture.

One of the barriers, the impact of aquaculture on the environment, can practically be neutralized. Another issue is the need to present a reliable analysis of the environmental load of aquaculture businesses, for example, by comparing this pressure with other branches of agriculture and farming. The legal environment that is often poorly matched to the specific characteristics of the sector, both in Poland and at the EU level, should also be reviewed.

Falling production from capture fisheries Another issue to be considered is the perspective for aquacul-

ture development in the context of the market for fishery products. Shrinking marine capture resources and little hope for their fast recovery are evident. A falling supply of marine capture fish leaves the market dependent on fish farming to meet its needs. But is farmed fish necessarily to come from Europe?

Until recently, aquaculture production in Europe was considered to be economically inefficient especially in comparison with the global giants China and Norway. It was a common argument against the financial support for the sector which was supposed to influence market mechanisms. But the much higher production costs within the EU related to the environmental and sanitary requirements cannot be ignored.

These affect in particular the rate of return on investments in aquaculture.

The second very important factor in the market for fish is the changing income structure in the countries of the Far East. With the culture of fish consumption in that region of the world, and increasing standards of living, www.eurofishmagazine.com

POLAND

these societies can completely change the balance of power in the market. Is it certain that in a few years Europe can still afford to import fish? Of course it is possible to survive without fishery products, but this would affect the nutritional security and health of European societies, as well as employment in the fish processing sector, which already has problems with the purchase of raw materials.

Impact of the EFF on aquaculture development in Poland The financial support for aquaculture in Poland implemented in 2007-2013 was designed to influence the intensive development of the sector. The Operational Programme assumed

a 50 increase in production and a 35 growth in revenue for aquaculture (target 2013).

There is a high risk that these targets are not going to be fully achieved. There are several reasons for this. Difficult years for the sector, the financial crisis and the resulting insecurity which do not foster the courage to take investment initiatives.

Delay in the implementation of the EFF for political reasons and the chosen system for project selection (not dividing the financial resources into tranches and the lack of competitive procedures) resulted in the release of the support at an unfortunate moment - the culmination of the financial crisis. Investors therefore opted for measures that lowered production costs and modernized the business,

leading to growth, but on a small scale.

The strategic plan to guide all stakeholders in the industry The Polish Trout Breeders’ Association (PTBA) is attempting to initiate a strategic plan for the development of intensive aquaculture in Poland. This is to be a road map for the industry and it would be beneficial for all if it is used by representatives of the administration in the country and the EU. There are positive signs of a preliminary agreement with representatives of the processing sector who support the development of aquaculture as a potential source of fish for processing. This is a very important signal for aquaculture producers

as it would secure the sale of their increased production volume. The processing sector will be able to secure a stable supply of fish from the internal market instead of being dependent on imports. It will also let processors maintain employment and potential, developed greatly thanks to the EFF. Potentially, the development of the aquaculture sector in Poland could rival that seen in the processing sector, the greatest success story of the fisheries sector in Poland.

Ziemowit Pirtan Polish Trout Breeders Association Str. Wolnosci 30/105, 84-300 Lebork, Poland Tel.: +48 59 862 27 27 biuro@sprl.pl www.sprl.pl

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31

POLAND

Promotional campaign draws nationwide attention

Mr Carp fights imported fish The Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn and the Fish Promotion Society in conducted a promotion campaign for carp, the most traditional Polish aquaculture product. Carp breeders were facing growing competition from fish and seafood in particular from outside the EU and the campaign sought to reassert carp’s position on the market. The campaign was supported with funds from the EU. ecology, and recipes. Information regarding the promotional campaign was constantly updated on the website. To make it more interesting, it also included photo competitions and reports from farmers’ events.

The Mr. Carp stand at the Polfish fair in 2009.

F

ive promotional campaigns were conducted in the years 2005-2009 at a cost of PLN7m (EUR1.8m) that was co-financed by the EU. The efforts of the Institute and the breeders, producing about 20 thousand tones of carp annually, were focused on four major elements: The development of a common "Mister Carp" logo for all the producers; issuing certificates; development of the pankarp.pl website; and production of labelled clothing to facilitate the identification of producers and the product. It was important that as many fish farms as possible from all over the country participated in the campaign, displaying the certificates, banners, and other 32

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

material with the "Mister Carp" logo. Other merchandise including flyers, posters, calendars, and pens were also introduced.

Merchandise was also related to the season. In December, for example, Christmas decorations, cards and calendars were produced with the logo. Stained glass pictures were awarded to people who had contributed most to the campaigns. Information regarding the campaign was also repeatedly published in specialized magazines ("Przegla˛d Rybacki," "Magazyn Przemysłu Rybnego") and cooking magazines. National contests were organized, in which gifts were handed out and spon-

sored articles contributed to the popularisation of carp and carp farming.

Exhibitions, trade fairs, and other field events The Fish Promotion Society farmers supported by the Institute and the local authorities, organized several events promoting carp consumption, including special cooking contests called "Polish Cuisine Festivals." These were held in 10 different location in the country. The field events often attracted up to ten thousand locals and tourists. Usually presentations of fishing techniques and carp tasting were accompanied by folk culture shows and other attractions, giving a touch of local colour to the event. These

Website a major support for promotion Sales people wore orange branded clothing with the logo including hats, t-shirts and aprons, and, after a few years, consumers in many parts of the country associated this uniform with carp sales. The pankarp.pl website significantly supported the promotion. It contains information for journalists related to the history of carp breeding, modern production methods, many interesting facts regarding

Prof. B. Zdanowski, Director of the Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn. www.eurofishmagazine.com

POLAND

The Polish Cuisine Festival in Augustów.

schools abroad, so the books also reached the Czech Republic, England, USA and Lithuania.

Map of Poland showing the location of farms supporting the promotional campaign Mr. Carp.

meetings of consumers with fish farms strengthened the position of the producers on the local and regional markets. Representatives of the Society participated in national fairs (including Polfish and Polagra), as well as in international industry events (Brussels and Bremen). At Polfish in 2009 a smoked carp fillet won the “Mercurius Gedanensis” medal.

Promotional actions among children Several national competitions were organized for primary school children. The main themes were the carp, its natural habitat, the history of carp breeding in Poland, and the magic of carp’s Christmas Eve scales. At the same time, three richly illustrated children’s books with the same themes were published.

So far, children from a few hundred kindergartens, schools, day centres and community centres across the country have participated in the competitions. A fourth book, with the title "Mister Carp versus Black Bird" is under www.eurofishmagazine.com

The Mr Carp logo

way. Each year the children make more than ten thousand works of art. Mister Carp books include special inserts with miniature reproductions of the winning artwork from the different contests.

Mister Carp publications were also presented at the largest Polish book fair in Krakow. Each year the publications reached hundreds of children participating in the contests, and they were also promoted at meetings with children, during which, apart from reading fairytales, there was always time for a talk about the biology of fish and water organisms, the tradition of carp breeding and its methods. The campaign organisers were also contacted by Polish

Commercials aired at primetime As part of the promotion TV commercials were produced. The first one highlights the tradition of serving ecologically farmed carp on Christmas Eve. The spot showed how deeply the tradition of eating carp at Christmas Eve runs in the Polish culture. It was presented in a warm, family light which aimed to encourage the viewers to cultivate this tradition. The advertisement was aired on all public and commercial TV channels for a period of 3-4 weeks around Christmas. The

spot targeted everyone, but the air times were selected for women aged 25-60 running their own household. The other commercial showing the cultural bond between generations as illustrated by the age-old tradition of breeding carp in ponds, was also aired on different channels.

The joint promotional activities of the Institute and the Fish Promotion Society enjoys the support of fishing circles, as well as the trade and the media. Thanks to the carp promotion campaign, the Fish Promotion Society was a finalist in a national innovation competition organized by the Ministries of Science and Higher Education; Economy; and Regional Development.

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33

POLAND

Mare Foods’ new coldstore is set to open in weeks

Niche importer of exotic seafood products Mare Foods, an importer of frozen fish and seafood, has existed for a decade this year. The company is celebrating its tenth anniversary by moving to a logistically more favourable site, where an 1,800 tonne coldstore is approaching completion.

M

are Foods imports frozen seafood from around the world for distribution in Poland. The company also has clients in neighbouring countries including Denmark, Germany, and Lithuania, but its primary customers are Polish wholesalers and processors such as smokehouses. Marcin Kiezik, the owner and managing director of the company, comes from a family that has several decades of experience in the fisheries sector.

Well connected location in Szczecin From three employees at the start the company has grown steadily over the years and today employs 10 people. Its location in Police although close to Szczecin, the capital of the Polish seafood business, was starting to become inconvenient, as the company was hiring space in coldstores in Szczecin.

Finally the decision was taken to build its own coldstore and, with the help of financing from the European Fisheries Fund, the company invested in 20,000 sq. m of space in the Goleniow Industrial Park, where many Polish and foreign companies have established their premises. The park is situated couple of kilometers from Szczecin on the highway linking the two main Polish ports Szczecin and S´ winoujs´cie at the German border. It is 15 km from the centre of Szczecin, 100 km from Berlin, 34

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

and less then 10 km from Szczecin international airport and is thus well connected with road, air, rail, and shipping links.

The new coldstore has a capacity of 1,800 tonnes. It is owned by a company Frigomar in which Mare Foods has a 50 stake, while the remainder is owned by other investors. Under this arrangement Mare Foods will be Frigomar’s most important customer. Volumes in the trading company currently amount to some 2,000 tonnes a year. As this is not enough to keep the coldstore operating at maximum capacity Mr Kiezik will also be looking to market the space in the coldstore to other potential users. For the first five years the coldstore may however only store fish and seafood products says Mr Kiezik, as this was among the terms of the funding from the

EFF. If this side of the business grows as expected Frigomar will expand the coldstore, which should not pose any problems as far as the space is concerned.

Seafood from around the world Mare Foods started with eel, but higher prices and lower availability have pushed the company into expanding into a wider range of products that are sourced from different parts of the world. Polish processors are well known for their products prepared from Norwegian farmed salmon, but salmon is only a small part of what we import, says Mr Kiezik. One of the reasons for this is that many salmon processors are so big as to be able to negotiate directly with the suppliers in Norway, so Mare

Mare Foods Ltd Company Fact File Tanowska 2d PL 72-010 Police Poland Tel.: +48 913 121 300 Fax: +48 91 3176 855 marefoods@sz.home.pl www.marefoods.pl Managing director: Mr. Marcin Kiezik Activities: Trading in frozen seafood Markets: Poland, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania

Products: North Atlantic fish including Greenland halibut, redfish, saithe, haddock, cod, mackerel and herring; Pacific fish such as oilfish, tuna, marlin, and farmed tilapia; silver warehou (savorin), freshwater fish from North American Great Lakes Facilities: Modern coldstore of 1,800 tonnes capacity (opened 2011); refrigerated trucks

Mare Foods imports frozen seafood from around the world for distribution in Poland to processors and wholesalers.

Foods has a niche supplying the smaller smokehouses with salmon.

In addition our range of products includes traditional fish species from the North Atlantic including Greenland halibut, redfish, saithe, haddock, cod, mackerel and herring, but also species from the Pacific such as oilfish, tuna, marlin and farmed tilapia, he specifies.

From South America we also buy kingclip, grenadier, hake, hoki, brotola, while from the North American Great Lakes we buy freshwater fish and from New Zealand we source jack mackerel, continues Mr Kiezik, so we can truly say we source from all over the world.

Volumes however are not huge.

Greenland halibut and silver warehou (savorin), which is a popular fish for smoking in Central and Eastern Europe, are two of the company’s biggest products and their volumes amount to a couple of hundred tonnes each on an annual basis. Mr Kiezik is confident that fish consumption in Poland will grow steadily as it is still some distance below the EU average, but he notes too that the market is conservative, reluctant to try new products and very focused on price. With this in mind he is looking to increase the volumes of some of the traditional fish species on the Polish market such as mackerel and herring. www.eurofishmagazine.com

CROATIA

Interview with Toncˇi Božanicˇ, State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development

Adding value to fresh fish is the only way forward Toncˇi Božanicˇ, State Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development spoke recently with Eurofish at length about several issues concerning the Croatian fisheries sector.

EUROFISH: Croatia has been a candidate country for EU Membership since June 2004.

The Hungarian presidency has announced its goal to finish all negotiations in the first half of 2011, if all criteria and benchmarks are fulfilled. Is the conclusion of accession negotiations on track with regard to fisheries issues?

TONCˇ I BOŽANICˇ : Although the overall negotiations were open in June 2004, Chapter 13 – Fisheries was only open in February 2010.

As it is always the case in highly sensitive sectors, the overall

process had to be well coordinated, and had to involve a wide group of stakeholders with whom the issues on the table were discussed and the positions prepared. At this point in time, the chapter has not yet been provisionally closed, but we are expecting the process to be finalized by June this year at the latest. Our accession negotiation process had certain specific elements compared to previous enlargements. For instance, the benchmarks for opening and closing the chapters were introduced for the first time in the case of Croatia. In

Toncˇi Božanicˇ, State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Croatia

addition to the already challenging task of harmonizing Croatia’s legal framework with the acquis and making all the technical preparations necessary, the bencharks presented an additional challenge. A lot of our efforts have gone in that direction, and the Government has really undertaken a huge job in meeting all the requirements.

EUROFISH: The reform of the CFP might lead to a very different policy from the current one. Does Croatia have any priorities with regard to the direction this reform

will take and does it have any way to influence the process?

TONCˇ I BOŽANICˇ : It is rather difficult to make comments on the future of the CFP from the point of view of Croatia, given that we are still not a member of the EU. This puts us in the rather demanding position of running after a steaming train. Although we are well advanced in the harmonization of our legal system with the acquis, the acquis keeps changing and growing. For a small country like Croatia, this means a lot of adaptations “on the run”. We are eagerly

Croatia to close fisheries chapter in accession negotiations Croatia has fulfilled all the measures needed to close the European Union negotiations chapter 13 on fisheries, but some of the concessions may be unacceptable to the country's fishermen, writes the Croatian Times quoting the daily Jutarnji List.

The European Union anticipates that EU member states will be excepted from the protected fishery zone (ZERP) until a joint solution “in the spirit of the EU” is found. The 56,000 sq km ZERP was established in 2008 and was hotly protested by the two most affected states, Slovenia and Italy.

Croatian fishermen may also not be happy with Croatia's responsibility to open its territory to www.eurofishmagazine.com

other member states for fishing.

According to professor Alen Soldo from Split University, there is significant interest in extending the ban and he believes Zagreb should insist on it. Daniel Kolec, the President of the Umag association of fishermen Mare Croaticum, says his colleagues will be unhappy if they cannot keep fishers from other EU member states out of the zone. He is also afraid that Slovenia may be allowed to fish all along the western coast of Istria. Although this would mean Croatian fishermen could also fish in Slovenian waters, Kolec believes this is not a fair deal as there are not as many fish there.

“If this information proves true,

Croatian fishers may not be happy to open Croatian waters to fishermen from other member states.

we are likely to have another protest. We have had enough with blackmail,” says Kolec. In other news Jadranka Kosor, the Croatian Prime Minister held talks with Donald Tusk, her Polish counterpart, who declared afterwards that European nations were unanimous in their belief that Croatia belonged to the EU. Poland takes over the EU presidency from Hungary in July and if everything goes

well with Croatian negotiations the accession agreement could be signed in the second half of the year. Ms Kosor said that Croatia would soon submit the final report on chapter 23 on judiciary soon adding that she was convinced that Croatia would finish the negotiations in June. The month has a special significance as it also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the country’s independence.

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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CROATIA

awaiting the presentation of the new CFP rules, as we will need to make further and prompt adjustments to take on board changes that the future package might contain. The forthcoming reform is a rather all-encompasing, containing all the elements – from market organization, to structural measures, to basic rules. Such a wide reform will necessarily mean changes, some of which might not be easy to implement. Unfortunately, as a candidate country, Croatia is not in a position to influence the developments of the future CFP, which puts us in a rather tight spot, given the envisaged time for the closure of negotiations and the accession. But, I also believe that the priorities of Croatian fisheries policy are in line with the overall CFP directions. Some shortcomings of the past policy frameworks are difficult to erase and amend, particularly today when the global economic situation burdens everybody. But, for countries like Croatia it would be important that some of the mechanisms available under the present framework remain in force in the next coming period, in order to secure the livelihoods of fishermen and their communities.

EUROFISH: The 2010 progress report on Croatia’s alignment with the acquis mentions a national fisheries strategy that is being finalised. What are the key elements of this strategy?

TONCˇ I BOŽANICˇ : I would not call it a national fisheries strategy, it is rather the national strategic plan as required under the present EFF framework. Croatia has already adopted a national strategy in 2002, and that one is still in force. The national strategic plan required under the present EFF framework considered the most important activities we see as cornerstones necessary for securing 36

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the viability of the sector. These include measures targeting fleet, processing and marketing, aquaculture and measures of common interest. The measures directed towards fleet primarily relate to fleet reduction, compensations for the loss of fishing possibilities and compensations for closure of fisheries. Within this priority axis, our plan was to co-finance the increase of safety at sea and improvement of working conditions. Since the supplies from the capture fisheries are decreasing worldwide, it is our firm belief that aquaculture might be the future source of highquality protein from the sea. However, the times when it was enough to just offer fresh fish are long gone, and the offer needs to move towards higher value products.

This means linking processing and marketing to aquaculture production, and to local production in order to secure the best possible livelihood for local suppliers. As no high-level production is possible without securing, first and foremost, the landing sites and ports, measures directed towards this segment have been detected as an important segment as well.

Croatia has a somewhat specific situation. Although it has a long tradition in fisheries, we still lack proper coastal infrastructure for the fisheries. Coupled with the fact that the fishermen are still not well organized, most of our measures were directed towards securing better livelihoods of the fishermen, while at the same time securing the sustainability of the sector. The strategic plan is one of the requirements for the EFF cofinancing, but since we still may not benefit from that instrument, the measures are currently being funded at the national level to the extent possible. Given the status of Croatia, where we are obliged to implement the same mechanisms as applicable in the EU-member states and yet not have the same

possibilities as the EU-member states, it sometimes can be rather difficult to explain to the sector and the operators how their colleagues can obtain certain kinds of support and they may not.

EUROFISH: How does the government encourage the sustainability of stocks and catches. Have any Croatian fisheries been Marine Stewardship Council-certified or entered other types of certification schemes? Is this considered important by the industry?

TONCI BOŽANIC: The main measures securing the sustainability of stocks and catches in Croatia are based on a complex set of technical rules, from limits to capacity to temporal and spatial closures.

For example, a large percentage of internal waters in Croatia are permanently or temporarily closed for bottom trawlers, and there is a temporal closure for purse seine fishery. In addition to technical management measures, Croatia annually monitors of the status of resources both in demersal and in pelagic fisheries. We introduced logbooks in 2001, and in 2009 we introduced further reporting obligations, such as landing declarations and sales notes. Coupled with monitoring, surveillance and control measures, this framework allows for close monitoring of the sustainability of the fisheris. Being a multi-species and multi-gear fishery, as all of the Mediterranean fisheries are, the management measures differ from those in fisheries targeting a single species or a similar group of species.

Just like other Mediterranean fisheries, none of the Croatian fisheries have ben certified by the MSC. Certification schemes are an important mechanism for securing the viability, but they require adequate fundings and awareness, both from the operators and the market. One has to put into the

equation the value of the fishery, the quantity caught, and the social and economical implications of the certification. In addition to being a management mechanism, whereby the scheme guarantees that a certain fishery is operated in a sustainable manner, it is also a market mechanism whereby it relies on the assumption that the consumers shall, given the option, prefer products from a well-managed and sustainable fishery. Croatian catches reach some 50,000 to 55,000 tons annually, and most of the quantities – over 80 – come from the small pelagic fishery.

Recent scientific data indicate that the status of the stocks supports the fishery and is sustainable.

I believe that certification schemes will become more and more widespread in the future, but in order for them to gain a strong foothold awarenes-raising activities need to be put in place.

EUROFISH: How has the Croatian fisheries sector been affected by the financial and economic crises and what steps has the government taken to mitigate their impact on the industry?

TONCˇI BOŽANICˇ : The present global economic crisis has affected all activities, including fisheries.

The most prominent consequence was of course the price of fuel, which is difficult or impossible to mitigate. In bottom trawling, for example, fuel costs may account for as much as 80 of the overall costs. Strangely enough, the prices of fresh fish on the market have not increased at the rate the costs have been increasing, which is probably due to the fact that the purchasing power of the buyers has either stagnated or decreased as well.

Although the price at which you sell your fish may not be enough to cover your costs, you need to sell it or lose any gain you might have. In order to somehow try and aid the www.eurofishmagazine.com

CROATIA sector, the Government has put in place a set of measures directed primarily at the fishermen, trying to alleviate the burden. One of the important measures we set up was directed towards co-operatives.

In Croatia there are no producer organizations as they are recognized under the CFP, but we are fully aware of their importance and potential. Traditionally, the sector has been organized in fishermen cooperatives, and we are currently trying to enable them to become the POs once Croatia becomes the member state. The role of the co-operatives, or future POs, as we see it is to secure the pooling of the offer and thus achieve a better position on the market. Furthermore, the cooperatives have received co-financing for storage capacities and logistic support.

All these measures were targeted towards reducing the costs of the fishermen. Whether or not this was enough, it is difficult to say.

EUROFISH: Croatian seabass and seabream farming is modest compared to Turkey and Greece. Where does Croatia see its strengths compared with these countries? Is the manufacture of value-added products from seabass and seabream gaining ground?

TONCˇ I BOŽANICˇ : Croatia has been one of the pioneers in the marine aquaculture sector, but has regrettably now come to the position of lagging behind, for a number of different reasons. Nevertheless, Croatia still has a lot of development potential in bass and bream farming, both in terms of spatial availability of suitable sites as well as in terms of product diversification. Offering just fresh fish may not get you the best place on the market any more, but offering high-value products or certified products or well-labelled products might. Our main comparative advantage to the production in other Mediterranean www.eurofishmagazine.com

countries is our relative closeness to the European market, and our development of products from farmed fish. Some companies have already started exploring these possibilities, and more different products have started appearing on the market. Starting from the very basic offering of ready-to-bake fish, in packages with small recipes and an already completely cleaned product, is a step in the right direction. Further development involves preparation of smoked or marinated products.

The next step is to further increase and diversify this production, and of course to market it well.

EUROFISH: What is the status of the tuna fattening industry in Croatia as the quota for tuna has been showing a falling trend?

TONCˇI BOŽANICˇ : Tuna farms in Croatia are operated as farming sites, not fattening sites.

Farming in our case means that smaller fish are caged, and then farmed for a period of minimum 18 months, to sometimes almost 3 years. This is a different practice from the one in other Mediterranean regions, where fish are caught large and then simply fattened for up to 6 months.

In addition to the farming practices, Croatia is specific in terms of catching practices as well. As opposed to the situation in other Mediterranean states, Croatia catches smaller tuna which do not school as the one in the open waters of the Mediterranean.

This practice, particularly given the catching season which lasts only for a month and given the very much reduced quota, makes the whole sector rather sensitive.

For Croatia it is of paramount importance that the ICCAT recommendations are fully implemented, and we have put a lot of efforts into this process. The management measures seem to be yielding results, but with the

increased number of sightings of tuna some new problems are appearing which will need careful attention and consideration.

Recently, Croatian purse seiners targeting small pelagic fish have been reported difficulties in catches of sardines and anchovies, which are attributed to large pelagic species, and in particular the tuna. When catching the small pelagic species, the fish needs to be encircled in the purse seine when they are aggregated.

But shoals of small pelagic species attract the tuna, which is a predator. When tuna appears, the groups of small pelagic species disaggregate, and fishermen are also reporting increased number of incidents with damages on the nets. Given the quota and the requirements of the fishery, it is actually forbidden to catch the tuna while fishing for small pelagics, and the fishermen are left without the targeted catch of sardines and anchovies as well.

As for the farms, the reduction of the catch quotas has resulted in a smaller quantity entering the cages, which lead to a slow decline of the industry. From 6 operational farms in 2008, we are down to only 3 in 2011. Tuna farming represents one of the most important elements of fisheries in Croatia, since it participates significantly in the value of exports and it is linked with catches of small pelagic species which are used for fish feed. This is by all means a highly sensitive issue, whereby the necessity to secure the conservation of the species and the necessity to secure the viability of the whole industry have to be balanced.

EUROFISH: Croatia is at the forefront in the use of coastal zone managment? What has this meant for the coastal fishing, fish farming industry, and tourism and does the concept now cover the entire country?

TONCˇ I BOŽANICˇ : The most important steps forward in this regard have been taken in terms of planning and zoning of marine aquaculture. Zadar county, for example, has adopted the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) plan targeting this particular activity, whereby all relevant environmental, spatial planning and marine aquaculture requirements have been taken into account. Unfortunately, not all the counties have followed suite. At the overall level, Croatia has adopted and started developing rules for the implementation of the ICZM. The process is still developing in terms of fishing industry as a whole, but with the Integrated Maritime Policy Framework at the level of the EU I believe this issue will gain importance. Croatia faces similar problems as other coastal countries as regards the integrated planning.

It is often that planning activities are undertaken on a sector basis, with different sectors not communicating and not taking into account the needs of one another.

In Croatia, the main competition in usage of coastal and maritime areas is between the tourism and fishery as a whole, including capture fisheries and marine aquaculture. Tourism is, as in many Mediterranean states, a more lucrative and a more important activity.

But, it is fisheries that provides the job opportunities on islands and on the coast year-around, which is an element that should not be neglected. Our goal is to make sure that the fisheries receive adequate attention in the planning process, guaranteeing that they are not overlooked as an ”old” activity that does not yield high revenues. With this in mind, further planning and development need to take into account the necessity to plan and develop fishing ports, landing sites, aquaculture sites and areas reserved for certain traditional fishing activities.

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Conex Trade specialises in marinated and frozen small pelagics

Conex Trade specialises in the production of small pelagics that are caught by its vessels exclusively in the Adriatic.

Customised production of Adriatic sardines and anchovies Croatian catches of pelagic fish have been rising significantly over the five years to 2009. Catches of pilchards almost doubled from 16,500 tonnes to 29,000 tonnes. That year pelagic fish amounted to 80% of all catches.

The fish is typically processed into salted, frozen and marinated products, which are exported to western markets.

C

onex Trade specialises in the production of small pelagics that are caught by its vessels exclusively in the Adriatic. Fish from the Adriatic is special and we are proud of the fact that all our fish comes from these waters, says Boris Radic, the production manager.

The targeted species are sardines and anchovies which are used as the raw material in a variety of products.

Large anchovies for delicatessen product The sardines are individually frozen in 10 and 20 kg boxes, 38

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head on or head off, while the anchovies are salted in barrels.

These barrels are typically 100 litres each containing 120 kg of fish, but the barrel size can be adjusted to the customer’s requirement or the customer can even supply his own barrels. The company also has a line of five kilo cans which are used to package large-sized salted anchovies. This product is considered a delicatessen item, but is more difficult to make and takes a longer time to mature. There is also a line of marinated fillets of anchovy, where the fillets are placed in vinegar together with salt and water and left to mature.

At the end of this year or the beginning of 2012 Conex Trade will open a canning facility with a capacity of 20m cans a year of sardines. The sardines will be combined with different sauces, vegetables, or oils, or will be prepared in accordance with a recipe supplied by the customer. The current processing capacity of the factory is some 1,500 tonnes of sardines and 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes of anchovies. All this fish is caught by the company’s own vessels. There are two 42 m vessels that were recently purchased and are equipped with all the necessary equipment to find, catch, and store the fish. In addition to the two new vessels chris-

tened the Neptun I and II, Conex Trade works with three other boats each about 30 m in size.

The captains of these vessels have agreements with the company and supply it with their catch.

Fish processed on arrival All the fish that comes into the factory is processed immediately. The fish is landed at the harbour and two hours later it is being processed, giving a very high quality product, due to the freshness of the raw material.

If there is too much fish to handle, the excess is frozen, but www.eurofishmagazine.com

CROATIA

The company’s production of salted anchovies is destined primarily for the Spanish market, although some also goes to Italy.

because it is so fresh when it is frozen there is little difference between the fresh and the frozen raw material, says Boris Radic.

Most of the processing is done manually. To make the salted anchovies for example the fish is headed and then placed in layers which alternate with layers of salt. Apart from the fish and the salt nothing else is added to the product. The barrels are placed in a room where the fish can mature, a process that is very

The fish is landed at the harbour and two hours later it is processed giving a very high quality product.

dependent on the temperature.

In summer when it can be 17-19 degrees C, the maturation process will take 2-3 months, while in winter it can take considerably longer. With a full shift of 60 people the company can process over 20 tonnes of raw material in a day. The company’s production is destined primarily for the Spanish market, although some also goes to Italy. The cans too when production starts are intended for export.

Conex Trade d.o.o. Company Fact File Don Frane Bulica bb HR 21210 Solin Croatia Tel.: +385 21 217890 Fax: +385 21 217887 conex@conex-trade.com www.conex-trade.com Owner: Mladen Milakovic Activities: Production of salted, marinated, frozen pelagic fish

www.eurofishmagazine.com

Species: Anchovies, sardines from the Adriatic Sea Products: Salted or frozen anchovy, sardines; marinated anchovy; canned anchovies and sardines in different sauces (from 2012) Volumes: 1,500 tonnes of sardine, 3,000-4,000 tonnes of anchovy Markets: Spain, Italy

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Viribus d.o.o. looks forward to EU accession

Lean portion-sized trout for the EU market Freshwater fish production in Croatia consists primarily of carps and trout, with small amounts of other fish such as amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and catfish (Siluris glanis). Production includes both the wild catch in freshwater bodies by commercial fishers, as well as farmed fish.

V

iribus d.o.o. is one of the companies in Croatia farming trout, primarily rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), but also small volumes of sea trout (Salmo trutta). The owner Emin Teskeredžicˇ is a veterinarian with many years of experience in the production of farmed fish.

Today the production amounts to about 120 tonnes per year of rainbow trout and some ten tonnes of sea trout. The farm has two sites, one is the hatchery located near Zagreb in the northern part of Croatia, while the other is the ongrowing facility in Knin in central Croatia, where the company has access to the water from a spring.

Rainbow trout eggs are imported from Troutlodge in America and are certified disease free.

Veterinarian background helps keep disease at bay As a veterinarian Emin Teskeredžicˇ is very familiar with diseases and the damage they can cause if the stock is infected. Consignments of eggs from Troutlodge are imported twice a month and brought to the hatchery to incubate. Over a period of three months as the eggs hatch and the fry grow to a size of 1 or 1.5 g they are monitored carefully to ensure that there is no sign of infection. Although Troutlodge guarantees disease-free eggs we 40

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

Viribus d.o.o. is one of the companies in Croatia farming trout, primarily rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), but also small volumes of sea trout (Salmo trutta).

take every precaution to ensure that the eggs are healthy, says Emin Teskeredžicˇ. Both the hatchery and the farm have stringent requirements regarding hygiene and sanitation to reduce the risk of infection, and so far there have been no incidents.

With 42 tanks having dimensions 7 x 1 x 1 m the hatchery is capable of stocking 10m fry, although the current requirement is only for 500,000 rainbow trout fry.

The hatchery is also used for the

production of sea trout fry, the eggs for which are not imported, but obtained locally. After three months the fry are transported from the hatchery to the growout tanks in Knin where there are 20 basins of dimensions 10 x 2 x 1 m and 15 of 6.5 x 33 m. The facility draws water from a spring on the river Krka that yields 100 cubic meters a second and has a yearround temperature of 9.5 degrees C plus or minus 0.5 degrees C. This is the perfect temperature for the fish says Mr Teskeredžicˇ and

the water is very clean. A system of cascades ensure that the water is well oxygenated when it comes into the tanks and no additional aerators are required. The fish are grown slowly until they reach a size of 250-400 g when they are harvested.

Round the year production Production at Viribus is planned to try and avoid peaks and troughs, periods when there are www.eurofishmagazine.com

CROATIA

feed which he gets through a local supplier as there are no extrusion plants in Croatia.

Fighting to reduce water charges

The fish has a fat content of only 1-2% which makes it closer to the wild variety. This is a selling point when marketing to western customers.

large quantities of fish that are ready for the market and periods when there is no fish. I order eggs from Troutlodge three or four times a year and manage the production so I can harvest a continuous flow of 10-12 tonnes of fish a month, says Emin Teskeredžicˇ.

While most of the fish is portionsized the farm also produces some larger fish of 600 – 1,000 g.

Apart from their larger size these fish also have red flesh, due to the canthaxanthin that is added to the feed. The fish is sold on the domestic market (about 30) and is exported to a trout producer in Slovenia, who cannot meet the demand with his own production.

The farm has its own outlet where some of the fish is sold while the rest is distributed to the cities in the region. This fish is generally too expensive for the local market explains Mr Teskeredžicˇ, which is supplied by fish from Bosnia at more competitive prices. Labour costs in Bosnia and other costs www.eurofishmagazine.com

of production are also lower.

Croatians are generally comfortable with whole fish and so only 10 of the production sold on the domestic market is gutted.

Viribus also supplies local angling ponds and put-and-take lakes with live fish for sports fishers.

Emin Teskeredžicˇ has had enquiries from Austria about supplying fish there, but it calls for an investment in a big truck with 12 fish transport tanks with a capacity of 5 tonnes of fish. He is reluctant to hire such a vehicle because if it has been transporting fish around Europe there is some risk that the tanks have not been cleaned thoroughly and could transmit diseases. His own truck has a capacity of 800 kg and is used to supply the Slovenian buyer twice a week. These days the truck has a wait of up to 3 hours at the border where it has to go through customs formalities before it can enter the EU. When Croatia joins

the EU this would certainly ease the problems at the border, but Mr Teskeredžicˇ is also worried that the free flow of goods and people may also increase the risk of his stock contracting an infectious disease. On the other hand he anticipates that the kind of fish produced by Viribus will be in demand in Europe because of its lean meat. My fish has a fat content of only 1-2, he says, which makes it closer to the wild variety. He uses an extruded Dutch

Viribus has a processing facility where small quantities of the fish can be filleted and hot smoked.

In Croatia the demand for these products is low as the fish is cheaper if sold whole rather than gutted and filleted and besides there is no tradition for eating smoked fish so there are no immediate plans to expand the processing operation. Mr Teskeredžicˇ is more interested in getting the authorities to reduce the amount he pays for the use of the water from the spring. As he sees it the water is just borrowed from the river and returned again after being cleaned, so he does not see the reason to pay such high charges. Before re-entering the river the water is passed through three sedimentation tanks to remove all the impurities. Viribus cannot afford to send dirty water back into the river as 5 km downstream is a national park which would be affected by the pollution. We had some success in reducing the veterinary inspection fees which used to be higher than they were in the EU, so I am optimistic that we can do the same here, feels Mr Teskeredžicˇ.

Viribus d.o.o. Company Fact File Viribus d.o.o.

Radiceva 70 HR 10000 Zagreb Croatia Tel.: +385 1 4680943 etesker@irb.hr Owner: Mr Emin Teskeredžicˇ Activity: Trout farming

Products: 120 tonnes trout, 10 tonnes sea trout Product forms: Whole, gutted Markets: Slovenia, Croatia Facilities: Hatchery near Zagreb, grow-out facility in Knin

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Riba Mljet is Croatia’s sole producer of organic seabass and seabream.

Riba Mljet is Croatia’s only organic producer of seabass and seabream

Exports to target German-speaking markets The Mediterranean is an area with a large production of seabass and seabream. Apart from the giant producers Turkey and Greece, these species are also farmed in Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, and Croatia, where one producer is carving a niche for itself in the market for organic fish.

R

iba Mljet essentially means fish from Mljet, an island in the Adriatic off the coast of southern Croatia. The company is owned by a group of shareholders, one of whom is Paul Clements Sparreboom, a Dutch management consultant, who came on board in 2003. At the time production amounted to 42

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13 tonnes of fish. A year or so later the company decided to become an organic producer of fish, a process that took almost two years to complete, and made it the only producer, certainly in Croatia, that farmed fish to an organic standard. The organic certification has been carried out by the German certifier Naturland and

is verified by the IMO, the Swiss Institute of Marketecology.

Domestic sales depend too much on tourism Today, seven years later, production stands at about 120 tonnes of fish and the company is hoping to achieve 200 tonnes in the

course of the next year. More than that is currently not possible as our concession permits only 200 tonnes says Mr Sparreboom.

The product mix is seabass and seabream which together accounts for 75 of the production while the remainder is meagre (Argyrosomus regius).

The actual volumes of seabass www.eurofishmagazine.com

CROATIA

Production today stands at about 120 tonnes of fish and the company is hoping to achieve 200 tonnes in the course of the next year.

and seabream vary depending on which species is in demand, sometimes it is seabream at others it is seabass. The meagre is a newcomer that the company produced and then supplied to some of its customers as trials. Almost all of them came back and said they wanted to buy more of the fish, says Mr Sparreboom, as it was popular. Until now the Riba Mljet has been supplying the domestic Croatian market, mainly

restaurants and hotels, as well as some supermarket chains. The problem with this is that these places are very dependent on the tourist industry. In the summer months of June, July, and August demand is very high, but once the tourist season is over it slumps.

However, right from the outset we were aware that supplying to the domestic market alone was not a sustainable strategy

Riba Mljet has been supplying the domestic Croatian market, mainly restaurants and hotels, as well as some supermarket chains, but now is moving into exports.

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Riba Mljet d.o.o. Company Fact File Svetog Kriza 3 HR 20000 Dubrovnik Croatia Tel: +385 20 313638 Fax: +385 20 313645 www.ribamljet.com riba.mljet@du.t-com.hr Co-owner: Mr Paul Clements Sparreboom

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Product: Organic farmed seabass, seabream, meagre Volumes: 120 tonnes per year rising to 200 tonnes in 2012 Product forms: Whole, gutted, fillets, smoked, frozen, vacuum packaged Markets: Croatia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria

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would appeal to this market.

With a production of 120 tonnes rising to 200 tonnes Riba Mljet’s output is still too small to be able to justify investing in processing machinery. Filleting, freezing, and smoking machinery is not cheap and then there is the question of space.

Processing activities outsourced

The German-speaking markets in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria are the biggest consumers of organic products in Europe and that is where Riba Mljet wants to be present with its products.

for the company, says Mr Sparreboom. The company owners have always only considered this a stepping stone that would give us the time to establish production and set up the necessary infrastructure to be able to target export markets, which was the real objective. The Germanspeaking markets in Germany, 44

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Switzerland, and Austria are the biggest consumers of organic products in Europe and that is where Riba Mljet wants to be present. Mr Sparreboom, who also speaks fluent German, has been attending the biggest organic trade fair in Europe, BioFach in Nuremberg, to find customers for his fish. He has had

discussions with Die Regionalen, an organic wholesaler, as well as other traders in organic food. The issue has been that unlike in Croatia, where customers are used to whole fish, the export markets under consideration are only interested in scaled and filleted fish. Riba Mljet therefore needed to develop a line of products that

Mr Sparreboom’s response has been to outsource the processing activities. Over the last couple of months he has discussed with potential partners and now has a solution in place. Finding a partner was not entirely straightforward as the processor had to meet all the quality and hygiene requirements as well as subject itself to inspections by Naturland.

Now however the company is in a position to supply gutted and scaled fish in vaccum packaging, gutted and scaled frozen, frozen fillets, and smoked fish. The quality of the fish is excellent, claims Mr Sparreboom. The organic requirements strictly regulate the density and lower density makes for a better product. The size requirement varies from market to market and customer to customer. Some chefs want a minimum fish size of 700 g, others 250-300 g. In Germany the company has been discussing the supply of both 80 g and 150 g fillets, so Riba Mljet is ready to supply what the market wants.

Mr Sparreboom is keenly hoping that Croatia will soon join the EU as he feels that it may reduce some of the bureacracy he has to tangle with now and then. Currently the firm is negotiating the relocation of its farming site and it is proving an uphill battle. However, he is optimistic that everything will fall in place in the not-too-distant future. www.eurofishmagazine.com

USA

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill and its consequences

Billions of dollars damages to the fishery The seafood industry in the southern states of the USA along the Gulf of Mexico had just recovered from the havoc caused by the hurricanes Katrina in the year 2005 and Ike in 2008 when a much more devastating catastrophe befell it. The explosion on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon led to the pollution of large areas of the Gulf with oil, putting an end to fishing for months. There are hardly any more visible signs of the damage but no one knows what the long-term effects will be.

T

he Deepwater Horizon oil spill can in many ways not be compared to the hurricanes that repeatedly hit this region. Tornados are natural catastrophes which can hardly be avoided, whereas the disaster which struck when the rig that was drilling an exploratory well exploded was the result of human action. A hurricane may be destructive but it moves quickly over an area. What happened around Deepwater Horizon proved to be a tormentingly long, seemingly never-ending sequence of delays, mishaps and failures. It revealed embarrassing breaches of duty, negligence and human error and was to lead to severe consequences. And whereas the physical damages after a hurricane can be repaired relatively quickly it could take years before the economic and ecological consequences (some of which are presumably as yet unknown) of the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico – the worst of its kind in history – have been corrected and finally overcome.

On 20th April 2010 a fountain of oil, gas and drilling mud suddenly shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded – the much-feared blowout. Located above a water depth

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of approximately 1,500 m, the rig was, at the time of the explosion, drilling an exploratory well that penetrated 5,500 m into the seabed. It was almost complete. The highly explosive mixture ignited, the platform caught fire and sank into the sea just 36 hours later. To make matters worse the blowout preventer which should have, by closing the well, provided protection against this very occurrence, failed. Despite all efforts, the technicians and other experts were unable to gain control of the problem and up to 16 July large quantities of crude oil gushed out of the ascending pipe. Just how much can only be roughly estimated. Whilst initial estimates named at least 5,000 barrels a day (equal to just under 800,000 litres) this assumption rose higher and higher as time passed. By 15 June, one month before the flow of oil could finally be sealed, between 5.6 and 9.6 million litres were said to be flowing into the sea every day. Based on these assumptions between 500,000 and 1 million tonnes of oil would have escaped from the well in the period from 20 April when the platform exploded to 16 July 2010 when the well was finally capped.

Already just a few hours after the accident an oil slick was swishing around the oil rig whose spread

could not be stopped despite measures introduced to halt it.

These consisted, for example, of burning the oil on the water surface or the release of special chemicals – dispersants – to bind and finely distribute the oil. On the contrary, it grew quickly. When

the sticky, smeary oil slick first hit the US coast on 29 April and penetrated as far as the Mississippi Delta it already measured over 10,000 square metres. At the end of June researchers discovered a gigantic plume of toxic hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico at

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U.S. Coast Guard

USA

On 20 April 2010 a fountain of oil, gas and drilling mud suddenly shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform, and then ignited and exploded – the much-feared blowout.

a depth of 1,000 metres with a length of 35 kilometres. Animals and plants within the complex marine ecosystem along broad coastal stretches of the northern area of the Gulf of Mexico partly suffered huge damages, not only from the oil but often additionally as a result of the control measures.

The attempt to burn off the oil film, for example, led to considerable air pollution in the region.

Numerous people complained of breathing problems, sore eyes and headaches and some of the affected were taken to hospital.

What impacts certain partly toxic components of the oil combustion residues and dispersants on fish and seafood organisms, sea birds, marine mammals and other living creatures have or whether they will accumulate in body tissue along the food chain is largely unclear and hardly predictable. Added to this are dam46

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ages caused by the mass use of large vehicles for transporting the oil slick and numerous voluntary helpers on the beaches and coasts. The American Bird Association reported that the oil cleanup crews had destroyed numerous nesting places of birds during their efforts to reduce the impact of the spill.

Tens of thousands of tests to track damages over time and space State authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reacted to the looming environmental catastrophe with a host of measures. These ranged from the precautionary collection of 28,000 turtle eggs from along the beaches that were threatened

by oil to detailed records of the ecological damages for a “Natural Resource Damage Assessment”.

Based on this document it should later on be possible to ascertain responsibilities and thereby process possible damage claims. In scrupulous and painstaking work hundreds of specialists and scientists collected a great amount of facts which together constitute a picture of occurrences over a wide area and a broad time span.

At the beginning of 2011 the US government announced that the participating scientists alone had inspected nearly 6,500 km of the coast on foot and taken 35,000 photographs as proof. Over 40,000 samples of water, soil and tissue were analysed.

One of the main tasks of all those involved, however, was to test the safety of seafood products from the affected area in order to be

able to rule out any health risks to consumers. When the full extent of the catastrophe became recognizable the NOAA closed the affected marine region for any kind of commercial and private fishing. That was on 2 May. Anyone infringing against the fishing ban was liable to a fine of 140,000 dollars or even withdrawal of their fishing licence. The initial zone of 17,650 km2 was gradually extended to 225,290 km2 by 21 June. This is equal to one third of US waters in the Gulf of Mexico or to an area the size of Great Britain. The fish industry was drawn deeper and deeper into the maelstrom of events. On 24 May 2010 the US government finally declared a state of emergency for the fisheries in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Based on cautious estimates losses suffered within the fishery run to 2.5 billion US dollars. They do not only result from losses within the commercial fishery (fishermen from the southern states landed 576,000 t of seafood with a landed value of 659 million USD in 2008) but also, and even more, from fishing sport. Every year more than 3.2 million hobby anglers go to the region to hunt tuna, marlin and red snapper. In 2008 they participated in 24 million fishing trips to the waters of the Gulf. These recreational fishermen leave a lot of money in the coastal towns because they need accommodation, they charter boats, buy food and make use of tourist attractions.

The fishermen in the states affected by the oil (Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida) mainly catch shrimps, crabs and high-value fish species like grouper, red snapper, king mackerel, cobia, amberjack and yellowtail, with oyster production also being of considerable www.eurofishmagazine.com

U.S. Coast Guard

USA

It could take years before the economic and ecological consequences of the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico – the worst of its kind in history – have been corrected and finally overcome.

significance in some regions. Two thirds of US oysters are farmed in the southern states. In the year prior to the oil spill fishermen in these five states together caught nearly 90,000 t shrimps, about 34,000 t of them in the marine regions affected by the oil. That is hardly more than 5 of annual consumption in the USA. This comparatively small gap can easily be filled by additional imports from Asia and Latin America but it nevertheless constitutes a threat to the fishermen’s livelihood, particularly since the product’s image, too, has been seriously www.eurofishmagazine.com

harmed by possible contamination with crude oil or dispersants and this damage goes far beyond the actual catastrophe. The emergency assistance and promised payments of compensation to the fishermen can do little to change this situation.

The ecosystem seems to be recovering faster than expected Even if the region in the meantime seems to have recovered from the oil spill no one knows what long-term damages the complex

ecosystem will suffer from it. On the one hand, from the oil itself but on the other hand perhaps also from the dispersants which were sprayed onto the oil slick. A mixture called Corexit was to “dissolve” the oil in the water, remove it from the surface, and disperse it in the deep sea. Critics are of the opinion that certain components in Corexit might be more toxic than the oil itself. Apparently the substance is to blame for the decrease in herring off Alaska three years after the sinking of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez. Corexit had destroyed a proportion of the young herring but this was only recognized years later when there were seen to be less herring in the fishermen’s nets.

It is also unclear what consequences the methane gas that was released from the oil well with the oil might have for organisms living in the sea. In June 2010 methane concentration in the affected marine region was said to be 100,000 times higher than normal and the total volume of the gas was estimated at 200,000 t. This leads to a reduction in oxygen content in the water which can cause particular damage to sessile organisms (such as mussels) or plankton if the condition continues over a longer period. In autumn 2010, marine researchers from the University of California sounded the all clear signal, however: their samples had shown that methane content was back in its normal range. This was contradicted by researchers from the University of Georgia, however, who had still registered much higher methane levels during the same period.

These and other inconsistencies in the findings and analyses make it difficult to make any general statements on the consequences of the oil spill. The local picture that is gained can be compared to a huge puzzle in which some of the pieces

are missing and the available facts don’t really match one another.

Statements on how much oil remained in the sea once the well was closed are no less contradictory. Whilst the NOAA assumes that about three quarters if the oil had been sucked out of the sea, burned or biologically degraded, researchers from the University of Georgia claim exactly the opposite: that 80 of the oil released from the well are still drifting in the sea. The dispersants had only succeeded in removing it from the surface, thereby taking it out of the observer’s sight. It was therefore all the more surprising that Terry C. Hazen from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory stated just a few weeks after the well had been capped that oil residues were no longer to be found under water either. Although his laboratory’s technical equipment allowed the identification of even the tiniest quantities of oil, it had not been possible to detect oil residues in samples that had been taken from the waters around Deepwater Horizon. He explains this phenomenon with a population explosion of microorganisms that are specialised in the consumption of oil particles. Whilst such effects are hard to prove in the case of compact oil slicks the solution of the oil into minute droplets offered the bacteria considerably better possibilities for attack. His working group had discovered bacteria which develop their optimum effect at low temperatures and at great water depths.

It is unnecessary to emphasize that people contradict this verdict, too. At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science other scientists reported that extensive oil plumes were still to be found in deep water. The ecosystems near the seafloor had suffered immense damages, and Eurofish Magazine 3/ 2011

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numerous dead starfishes, worms and corals had been found.

Lasting damage to the image of seafood products from the region Beyond regional fishing bans, what impact does the oil spill have on the fish industry in the Gulf of Mexico? Contact with oil can render fish and seafood unfit for consumption. It gives them a petroleum-like flavour which makes them unsuitable for food. In the case of longer contact, however, marine organisms can also accumulate dangerous, partly even cancer-producing components, for example polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These pose acute health risks for consumers at the latest when permissible limits have been exceeded. In order to be able to fully rule out such risks the NOAA and other authorities took samples constantly during and after the oil spill for sensory and chemical analysis. Since the closure of the oil leak more than 300,000 individual samples of oysters, shrimps, crabs and fishes were tested, among them grouper, tuna, swordfish, snapper, red drum, and grunts. Apparently not one single sample contained contaminations that would constitute

a risk to consumers. Particularly thorough testing was carried out prior to the reopening of the affected areas for the fishery. At the end of September 2010 83,000 km2 (13 of state waters) were still closed but today practically the whole of the northern Gulf region is already open again for fishing.

Viewed superficially it almost seems as if the oil disaster has been overcome. But this impression is deceptive since it is still unclear whether and what longterm damages the oil and the control measures might have had in the sea. The shrimp fishery in particular fears economic losses in this region. It lands products worth 350 million US dollars (landed value) every year.

The most important species, i.e. brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus), white shrimp (Penaeus setiferus) and pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum), mainly live in coastal regions but the postlarvae migrate over the course of the year to the deep sea where they could have been directly hit by the oil. The possible consequences of this will only become visible this year and in the years to come. The situation is similar where crabs are concerned. To what extent young and mature blue crabs, Gulf stone

crabs and stone crabs were damaged can not yet be fully assessed.

Predictions with regard to fishes are even less certain. Some particularly mobile species presumably evaded the oil. Territorial species like the commercially significant red snapper or coral fishes might on the other hand have suffered damages.

In this context it must also be considered at what depths the different species prefer to live. As long as the oil slick was still floating on the surface demersal species were probably less hard hit. With the use of dispersants, however, the oil spread temporarily over the whole water column before becoming concentrated in the deep waters. Although suspension of the oil offers advantages for oil-consuming microorganisms it still entails additional risks. The tinier the oil droplets are the better they can attach themselves to fish larvae, corals, aquatic plants and other structures. This thin coating of oil on the substrates can cause severe damages and even death. It will not be possible for a few years to see whether recruitment figures in the important fish species is going to be lower.

In the case of bluefin tuna researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast

were able to sound a partial ‘all clear’ when the feared total loss of the 2010 year class did not become reality. Although several spawning grounds in the Gulf were directly hit by the oil spill the scientists found considerable quantities of larvae in their surveys. They were not, however, able to quantify how high the losses for this fish species were.

There are probably at present no waters nor products worldwide that are subject to more frequent or more thorough controls than the Northern Gulf of Mexico and the seafood from this region. In spite of all controls and analyses, however, no one has been able to completely dispel consumer mistrust and fears. For large parts of the public the region is still felt to be “contaminated” and it is likely to take a while for seafood from the south of the USA to regain the good image it enjoyed before the oil disaster. Advertising and specific marketing campaigns can help, but they cost a lot of money.

Within its spill response fund the oil company BP has thus provided not only 18 million $ for tests to assess seafood safety and 13 m $ for studies on the ecological consequences of the oil disaster but also 30 m $ for marketing measures.mk

Gulf seafood is safe, says FDA A year after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an official from the the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States government body charged with assuring the safety of the nation’s food supply, has said that steps taken to ensure the safety of seafood have worked, according to FoodProduction Daily website. Don Kraemer from the FDA’s Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) stated that samples of seafood taken regularly during and after the spill had consist48

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ently showed levels that were 100 to 1,000 times less than the levels that were a cause for concern, “…

We’re quite confident that the seafood harvested in the Gulf that’s in commercial channels is safe.”

Mr Kraemer added that levels of contaminants in seafood from the Gulf of Mexico are so low that a person would have to eat about 60 pounds (22 kg) of shrimp a day for 5 years to approach a level that was of concern. The FDA, working together with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-

tration has taken and tested more than 10,000 samples and these tests are set to continue through the summer reassure consumers that seafood from the area is safe.

More than 99 of the samples had no detectable residues. Following the spill, about 20 of the fishing grounds in the area were closed, but most of them have re-opened since then. However, reopening was conditional on all the samples from the area passing all the tests, says the FDA. Many consumers are still nervous about eating

Tests of more than 10,000 samples of seafood from the Gulf since the oil spill showed that more than 99% had no detectable residues.

fish from the Gulf and there have been suggestions that the scope of the testing should be widened to include other contaminants. www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ PROJECT ]

Within PathogenCombat, scientists from several European universities worked together to develop the FSMS self assessment tool.

PathogenCombat: Reducing food-borne diseases in Europe

Tool for self assessment of Food Safety Management Systems The food industry goes to great efforts to ensure the microbiological safety of the products it delivers to the consumer. But how reliable are the measures and controls that are supposed to guarantee food safety? In the context of the European research project PathogenCombat, scientists developed a special tool that enables food companies to assess their food safety management systems (FSMS) themselves.

V

iewed superficially foods are today safer than they have ever been before.

The food industry has made tremendous progress in the field of product safety. The driving force behind this development is not only stringent legislation but also the growing concern shown by a large number of consumers. The demands placed on industry are rising constantly in reaction to ever-changing markets, products and consumer behaviour. Foods that used to be produced and offered for sale locally are today often traded worldwide and this has lengthened the marketing

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chain. Eating out has also become more widespread and people are becoming much more aware of the significance that diet has for health and well-being. Today, the food we eat should not only be nutritious and tasty but also healthy, optically appealing, and always available – and on top of these qualities it should also have a long shelf-life. It is taken for granted that food products are additionally absolutely “safe” for the consumer, i.e. free from contaminants and pathogens of any kind. This shows just how much pressure there is on the food safety management systems (FSMS) of

companies operating within the food industry. At all costs they have to be absolutely reliable, because “unsafe” products might even lead to a product recall which would not only damage a company’s image but generally have serious economic consequences, too.

Of course, every company that produces foods has its own food safety management system that fulfils all the legal requirements and standards that are common and expected in their branch of industry. But is this really enough in order to meet the growing complexity of in-company processes?

Might there not still exist weak points within a company’s technological operations? Are staff members suitably and sufficiently trained? And are all hygiene requirements adhered to strictly?

Food safety management systems always have two components. The first consists of the control activities that include all measures that aim at maintaining an acceptable safety level for both products and process conditions. This component can be seen as the “hardware” of an FSMS. The second component consists of the assurance activities, or the “software” and includes the setting of system

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[ PROJECT ] requirements, evaluation of the performance of individual systems (maintenance of standard values and tolerances), and the necessary adjustments that have to be made.

Only when equal attention is paid to both components will an FSMS be sufficiently meaningful and capable of offering the necessary, desired safety level.

To put this in a different way it would be possible to carry out numerous measurements and controls and yet still achieve nothing for the safety of a product if they were not absolutely exact, if they were obtained using unsuitable methods, if the equipment that was used to take measurements was not precisely calibrated, or if the measurements were taken in the wrong place. And it isn’t just the number of measurements that leads to an increased safety level: the FSMS has to correspond to the production risks involved. A canning factory in which every can undergoes thermal treatment at the end of the production process, thus rendering it pathogen-free, is subject to other risks than a company that produces chilled food or fresh ready-to-eat convenience products. That is why there is not just one FSMS for all products and production processes but a whole host of very different management systems that have to be finely tuned to the type of production concerned and the risks associated with it. What unites all producers, however, is the pressure to constantly further develop and perfect their in-company FSMS. And that means that they all have to ask themselves the same question: How good is their own FSMS? Because only a producer who knows the exact location of any possible weak points within his company’s safety management system will be capable of making the necessary specific changes to improve it.

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Diagnostic tool for food safety management systems In the context of the European research project PathogenCombat a team of researchers headed

by Pieternel Luning developed a technique for analysing company food safety management systems.

The technique is based on microbiological safety because pathogens are one of the biggest risks for food products. The method the researchers developed works like a diagnostic tool which helps to locate existing weak points and thus contributes decisively towards finding starting points for improvements.

The tool evaluates the technological and technical design of process sequences within a company, but also assesses work processes in relation to the know-how and concrete behaviour of the company employees. This is necessary because the performance and efficiency of an FSMS depends equally on both of these factors.

Even the best technology can entail risks if work processes are poorly designed, if a system is set wrongly or wrongly operated. Investment in a modern machine is in itself not enough to reduce microbial risks. The machine has to be operated correctly, systematically cleaned and disinfected.

Every employee has to know what is important, what really matters in his/her workplace. A good FSMS should thus be exactly tailored to the individual process situation concerned. During slaughtering, skinning and gutting in a factory the hygiene requirements are different from those later on in the chain when the fish is portioned and prepared for sale.

The diagnostic tool designed by the PathogenCombat researchers distinguishes between three basis

control strategies, each of which – in its own way – contributes towards reducing risks: 1. Prevention. This includes all activities that contribute towards preventing pathogens from entering, spreading, or growing within the chain.

The spectrum of measures involved here ranges from personal hygiene among employees to sufficient cooling of the products and the hygienic design of surfaces and machines to lessen the risk of cross contamination.

2. Intervention. This group of measures aims at inactivating, eliminating or reducing to an acceptable level any pathogens that have entered the chain. This can be done through physical methods (e.g. heat, high pressure processing and intense light pulses), chemical or biological means (e.g. weak organic acids and protective cultures). The efficacy of these measures does not only depend on whether they are appropriate for the risks but also from whether they are used correctly, and equipment and tools are exactly calibrated and sufficiently maintained.

3. Monitoring. This provides information on the current status of the system and enables correction of individual processes. Does the choice of critical control points (CCP) really correspond to requirements, and are the process parameters (e.g. pH value, water activity, modified atmosphere, temperature and humidity) within the necessary targets? Products that do not meet requirements can be singled out.

To enable adequate evaluation of the control strategies the research-

ers developed special grids. These enable the allocation of an FSMS to one of three levels based on given indicators. ‘Basic’ (Score 1) is the lowest level (no scientific evidence, results not predictable with any certainty, variable), ‘Average’ (Score 2) corresponds to the practical level of knowledge (results are predictable but nevertheless often variable) and ‘Advanced’ (Score 3) which is the highest level. At this level everything is scientifically verified, stable and exact, and the chosen technology fits the individual situation. The diagnostic tool is based on the assumption that a higher level of FSMS also offers more microbiological safety, and that the expected results are more clearly predictable and will have a lower fluctuation range.

Support system offers help How the diagnostic tool works is best shown by using an example. One of the four indicators in the grid for evaluating prevention measures is the available cooling facilities. In this case the researchers assume that cooling in accordance with the process concerned prevents or retards the growth of microorganisms. Companies that have unspecific cooling facilities that have not been tested and whose capacity is thus not known are classed at the lowest level (Score 1). Companies that have sufficient industrial cooling facilities but have not tested them because they trust the information supplied by the manufacturer are classed at the next level (Score 2). In order to gain the highest score (Score 3) the cooling facilities do not only have to be of adequate size but must also have been tested and adapted to the specific process conditions. Companies can use these or similar indicators in the individual grids to evaluate their food safety managements system themselves. www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ PROJECT ] The detailed diagnostic tool works like a check list which can provide suppliers step by step with valuable information on processes, procedures and employees. The employees and the care they take with their work are of immense importance because sensitive processes often have to be carried out not a hundred times but several thousand times with exactly the same degree of accuracy. The diagnostic tool contributes towards an broad analysis of a company’s FSMS at any given time. It helps users to recognize whether any weak points that are discovered within safety management are sooner of a technical or an organizational nature and what has to be changed to achieve a higher microbiological safety level. A full diagnosis with the diagnostic instrument will support companies in identifying weak points in their FSMS in view

of their context and actual food safety performance.

The fact that the effectiveness of in-company food safety management systems cannot be evaluated solely on the basis of this kind of scoring is also clear to the researchers who developed the tool. The in-company situation is decisive, too, as is the process environment, and above all, the type of foods that the company in question produces, i.e. whether they belong to a low or high risk category.

Because not every user in industry will be immediately familiar with the concept and terms of the diagnostic tool the PathogenCombat researchers also created an FSMS support system which provides a well-structured overview of common knowledge, scientific literature, guidelines, legislative re-

quirements, new tools, techniques, protocols, methods, best practices, etc. It has the same structure as the FSMS diagnostic tool, and consists of three levels of information: r The explanatory level – each control activity or contextual factor is firstly explained: r The application level – this refers to the practical tools and guidelines that can be used by companies (either on their own or with expert support): r The scientific level – this refers to the scientific sources (articles, handbooks) which can be used by consultancies and experts to help companies improve their systems.

The support system can also be used as a source of information about tools, techniques, methods, and protocols to further analyse and/or strengthen weak points in the company’s current FSMS.

This information and knowledge can be used for various purposes, e.g. to analyze in more depth the microbiological performance of the FSMS, to improve existing control and assurance activities, to implement new intervention techniques or methods, or to improve procedures. The FSMS support system also provides generic information for the beef, lamb, poultry, dairy and pork sectors.

The tool for self assessment of Food Safety Management Systems and the FSM Support System are available on the PatogenCombat homepage (www. pathogencombat.com). So far a total of almost 150 SME`s and larger food industries mainly from Belgium, The Netherland, Spain and Greece have made use of the PathogenCombat self assessment tool. mk

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[ FISHERIES ] Certification procedure based on transparency and independent oversight

Sustainability – the MSC model Sustainability is a term which has rapidly become an integral part of our everyday vocabulary. Once something of a fringe concept, it is now a fundamental consideration in almost everything we do. Ultimately, this stems from an ever-increasing understanding that the natural resources we consume are far from inexhaustible. Essentially, if we don’t modify our consumption to allow these resources to replenish themselves, then they will simply disappear.

T

Chain of Custody Standard

his is the seed from which the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has grown.

An independent charity, the MSC came into being over a decade ago as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Unilever (amongst others) sought a realistic path to rebuild and conserve the planet’s wild fish species.

Balancing precision with adaptability A great deal of effort has been devoted to how best to achieve this mission through the MSC Sustainable Fishing and Chain of Custody Standards. The world’s fisheries are not neat, easily definable and measurable things.

Fish stocks grow and shrink and move around with no regard for political boundaries. This means involvement and communication across the lines that lie between nations, continents, fishing organisations, producer organisations, different consumer markets, different wholesalers and retailers and finally on to the consumers themselves. This makes the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard necessarily complex. For it to be robust enough to provide a set of clear rules and guidelines that can cater for all of the different ecosystems, species, management systems and fishing practices in use around the world, the mechanisms that define it 52

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As fish stocks grow and shrink and move around with no regard for political boundaries, a standard that takes all circumstances and stakeholders into account is necessarily complex.

need to strike a delicate balance between precision and adaptability. By the nature of the industry, there are many interested parties who must all be involved in a way that is structured and objective enough to yield accurate, measurable outcomes.

This is where the independent Certification Bodies (CBs) come in. There are currently nine certification bodies accredited to assess fisheries against the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard and 21 accredited to assess against the MSC Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard. The process by which a CB becomes accredited is exhaustive and is overseen

by the MSC’s appointed accreditation body Accreditation Services International (ASI), wherein an aspiring MSC Certification Body must prove that it has the expertise, credentials, systems and procedures in place to correctly implement and interpret the requirements of the Standard itself. The CB is an independent and impartial body which takes the standard which the MSC has created and holds it up against the existing practices of a fishery or chain of custody client to determine whether they meet these requirements. The requirements for the two Standards (Sustainable Fishing and Chain of Custody) are very different.

A Chain of Custody assessment is required by any company that takes ‘ownership’ of MSC certified product and who intend to sell product that will carry the MSC logo. The applicant company is assessed by a rigorous on-site audit of their operating procedures, management practices and traceability systems to ensure that only fish products that come from an MSC Certified fishery carry the MSC logo and the systems they have in place will ensure there is separation from any non-MSC approved products being handled. This is carried out by a qualified auditor, with support from the CB’s administration and certification staff.

Sustainable Fishing Standard By contrast, a full MSC fishery assessment can take anything from 12 months to (in exceptional circumstances) several years. The process usually, though not always, begins with a Pre-assessment, which is essentially a desktop summary assessment to determine whether an applicant already complies with the different criteria within the MSC Standard. This provides the opportunity to bring to the applicant fishery’s attention any areas where compliance is potentially www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ FISHERIES ] lacking before entering full assessment. Certification is determined by a detailed and far-reaching full Assessment. The full assessment process and the accredited CBs which carry out these assessments must all adhere to the MSC’s Fishery Certification and Assessment Methodologies which lead to realisation of the Standard’s principles and criteria.

This means that there are certain key processes and deliverables that are common through every CB, though their internal systems and processes often differ.

The CBs stand at the centre of the fishery certification process. They are a filter by which to translate the methodologies and technical procedures of the MSC Standard into real terms, both for the understanding of the clients themselves and also so that the working practices of the client operation can be expressed in clearly defined, measurable terms. Some CBs split these tasks into distinct areas of responsibility. Food Certification International Ltd (FCI) is a good example of this. The administrative and project management side of the assessment process is carried out in-house by a dedicated and experienced team who focus entirely on ensuring the applicant fishery progresses within agreed timelines along the assessment process while meeting the required milestones. They act as the lynch pin between the client and the experts who form the assessment team and provide oversight on the correct implementation and interpretation of the MSC methodology. The technical assessment of the applicant fishery is undertaken by carefully selected experts who are contracted by FCI to act as the assessment team and it is they, under the close supervision of FCI, who travel to the fishery itself, meet with key stakeholders, review all www.eurofishmagazine.com

the information that is available to them and carry out the process of scoring the fishery against the MSC criteria before preparing an exhaustive report detailing and justifying their findings.

Stakeholder input contributes to accuracy Beyond these core competencies at the heart of the assessment, there are other parties who make valuable contributions to the process. The MSC strive for transparency at all times, and actively encourage the involvement of any and all relevant stakeholders for each assessment. A stakeholder can be anyone with an interest in the fishery: the client themselves, governmental departments, NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs) such as WWF, research bodies, producer organisations or indeed other fishing operations – both partners and competitors.

Through key stages in the assessment process, their input is actively sought to provide insight or additional information which may help to formulate as clear and objective a picture as possible of both the fishing operation itself and the context in which it operates.

In this, the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard incorporates a level of independent oversight which goes beyond the majority of certification standards available in this sector. The expert assessment team compile a report detailing their findings and the conclusions derived from these findings – gathered through consultation, desk study and direct observation. This report goes through many stages of checking and re-checking before being finalised. It is reviewed by the client operation to ensure that what is written is fair and accurate, followed by external review

by two or more peers of the assessment team, carefully chosen for their expert knowledge of the specific fishery being assessed.

After being reviewed again by the assessment team, this is then released for public comment for a period of thirty days and all stakeholder input submitted during this period is required to be included within the body of the report itself. This then becomes a Final Report and Determination, which is again published for public scrutiny, with a 15 working day period set aside for anyone who may disagree with the determination to potentially lodge an objection.

Transparency vital for credible results So transparency is upheld throughout the process with clearly defined roles for all the various parties involved:

Certification to the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard is a highly transparent procedure to ensure the most accurate assessment.

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[ FISHERIES ] multi-annual audits on CBs to ensure that the standard is correctly and competently implemented at every stage.

Once certification is granted, the CB will carry out a surveillance audit yearly for the duration of the certificate (five years), whereupon a full re-assessment of the fishery must be carried out, beginning the entire process again.

The MSC Standards, taken as a whole, provide a means to trace fish and fish products all the way back from the supermarket shelf or the fishmonger’s slab to the body of water where they were first caught.

The MSC Standards, taken as a whole, provide a means to trace fish and seafood products all the way back from the supermarket shelf or the fishmonger’s slab to the body of water where they were first caught.

The number of MSC-labelled products available in stores worldwide has now reached 9,000.

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r the MSC provide the Standard itself and the methodologies required to assess against the Standard, revising and adjusting this to ensure that it is as accurate and well-formed as possible; r expert assessors and peer reviewers provide their considerable expertise and technical knowledge to apply these methodologies to the fishery seeking certification; r stakeholders provide an essential body of additional knowledge and input throughout; r bringing all of this together and co-ordinating the process is the accredited Certification Body who has the responsibility of recommending and then ratifying the certification of the fishery if it successfully reaches the end of the assessment process; r the CBs in turn are held accountable by the appointed accreditation body, ASI, which carries out annual or

Increase in standard complexity adds to certification costs The process of achieving certification is not an easy one, and as the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard becomes ever more complex and more demanding, so the price of bearing the ecolabel rises.

Certification standards such as these live and die not just by their provenance but also by their relevance to the consumer and return on investment for the producer, so a balance must be struck between provenance, practicality and the cost to the fishermen of achieving certification. The MSC Standards have handled their first few hurdles well, bringing together an extremely diverse set of contributors who together have laid a strong foundation to help safeguard the sustainability of our oceans and commercial fisheries.

It will be their ability and willingness to adapt and listen to the markets that demand MSC product, while still maintaining the integrity of the Standard, which will determine whether they can continue to realise their vision.

Food Certification International Ltd www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ FRAUD ] Fraud in the seafood trade

Pressing claims against dishonest suppliers Faults and mistakes can happen in any business. Due to the variety of seafood species, different fishing and handling methods, ways of freezing and packing, product quality problems can arise from time to time with virtually any seafood exporter. Problems with quality or quantity can also sometimes be deliberately created by a fraudulent seller, or a deceitful buyer can send the supplier an unlawful claim.

W

hen a problem with a consignment arises a prompt and correct reaction from both buyer and seller can assure that the issue will be successfully solved. The willingness to cooperate and the good will of both parties is the main guarantee that an acceptable solution will be found. However not all claims can be resolved successfully. This is especially the case when a dishonest buyer tries to avoid payment for the cargo received or wants a price deduction. Another situation is when a dishonest exporter intentionally breaches the contract and supplies sub quality or underweight product. In both situations the parties should be prepared for long arguments and must be able to provide evidence that proves their position.

Design contracts to reduce risk of unfair complaints Unjustified quality and quantity complaints is the easiest method to either reduce the purchasing price or completely avoid payment for the goods. This method works especially well when the product is sold on open credit or if the buyer used a bank guarantee as a payment instrument. www.eurofishmagazine.com

A seafood producer, company ABC Limited, sold several pallets of frozen fish fillets to an overseas importer, DEF Imports Ltd. Some days after the receipt of the cargo the buyer sent the producer a quality report where it was stated that the glazing percentage was several percent higher than agreed and the consignment had an excessive number of broken fillets. Because of that the buyer deducted a certain amount from the invoice. The producer was surprised as the quality was controlled during the production and packing. When he asked for an independent inspection of the fish the buyer told him that the whole lot had already been used in production and could not be inspected. The seller had no other option but to accept the deduction. The third time this happened ABC Limited decided not to dispute the results of the buyer’s inspection. He immediately prohibited the buyer from touching the consignment and asked his freight forwarder to move the fish to another warehouse at the seller’s expense. In a few days the producer managed to find another company which took all pallets from the stock and paid cash. No quality complaints were made and afterwards it the two companies started a fruitful cooperation between them.

Partners in a transaction should try to prevent situations arising where the counterpart can raise claims. Preventing conflicts from arising in the first place is usually easier than resolving them.

We see that DEF Imports Ltd. used the well-known trick of sending the claim only after the product was “sold” or “used in production” making it impossible for a third party to check its quality. We can say that ABC Limited could have avoided losing money from the very beginning of the story. The companies should have made a contract where it was stated that in case of any quality or quantity claim the buyer was prohibited from using the product by any means and an independent inspection should have been performed. The costs of the inspection should have been paid either by the buyer or the seller depending on the inspection results. The results of the independent survey should be final for both companies.

Independent inspections can prevent conflicts A trader XYZ Ltd. purchased a container with frozen fish from an overseas trading company JHG Limited. The firms made a proper contract where the timeframe of a possible quality and quantity complaint was agreed to five days after the arrival of the container to the port of destination. According to the contract the buyer paid in full for the product before it arrived. The container was received by XYZ Ltd and due to the lack of time and facilities was sent directly to their customer and no inspection was performed. But ten days later XYZ Ltd. received a serious quality claim from their buyer where it was stated that the product was Eurofish Magazine 3/ 2011

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[ FRAUD ] of very poor quality and it was almost impossible to use it in their production. XYZ Ltd. sent the complaint to JHG Limited but it was immediately rejected as the claim was made much later than was stated in the contract signed by the parties. After calculating the costs of the legal procedures against the supplier the importer preferred to write off the debt and compensate his customer for the loss.

We can see that XYZ Ltd. made several mistakes during the deal. First, they should have demanded an inspection report from an independent surveyor before the container left the port of loading. Second, the buyer should have stated a realistic time of the inspection upon arrival, and, most importantly, should have inspected the goods on receipt.

It is obvious that it is easier to avoid problems rather than trying to solve them later. Quality and quantity issues can be easily avoided by performing an independent pre-shipment inspection of the product. The inspection is especially important when the exporter and importer have no previous experience in doing business with each other. Independent surveyors can be found in almost any region and the cost of their services can be a small fraction of the possible loss. Buyers are advised to inspect upon arrival even if a pre-shipment inspection has been performed. This will assure that the product was not damaged during transport.

The preliminary control can be done by the quality managers of the purchasing company; if any problem is found, an independent inspection should be made.

It is important for both the buyer and seller to stipulate in the 56

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contract the timeframe for submitting and handling a claim and this timeframe should be realistic. Usually the parties agree that the claim should be submitted in writing after, say, X days after the arrival of the cargo to the buyer’s warehouse and if the seller does not react to the claim within the next X days the claim is considered to be accepted. If dealing with chilled or live seafood products the time for complaints should be minimised to several hours after the cargo receipt.

What should a buyer do when he discovers problems with the consignment?

First, the buyer should inspect the received cargo as soon as possible and within the timeframes set by the contract. In many countries the incoming cargo is controlled by the local customs’ authorities who will check the quantity of the incoming product. When the importer discovers the problem he should immediately inform the supplier about it. The claim should be made in writing not just over the phone. Make sure that the seller has received the claim.

Call him, send several emails and demand confirmation of the receipt of the information.

If the seller does not respond to your correspondence, continue sending the reminders and

necessary papers. Inform the seller about the consequences of his neglect. It is very unlikely that the seller will remain silent if the goods were supplied on open credit, but he could ignore your claim if you have prepaid the product. If the seller does not accept the claim the buyer should invite representatives of the local Chamber of Commerce or an internationally recognised independent inspector.

The seller must be informed and he should be given an option to approve the surveyor and/or send his own representatives to be present during the inspection. If the supplier cannot or is not willing to send his representatives to participate during the inspection the control can be done without their presence. The buyer should remember that he cannot use any part of the product for production or sell it to other companies until the matter is settled with the supplier.

All agreements should be in writing Once the results of the inspection are ready the buyer will have a complete picture of the product’s condition and can claim compensation from the seller. If the importer receives the seller’s acceptance, he should insist on having it in writing. Acceptance over the phone is not enough as it is impossible to prove.

BL International Ltd. Company Fact File 518, Eurotowers, Europort Avenue Gibraltar Tel: +350-54015717 / +44-2032395902 Fax: +350-21628708 / +44-2030148627 Email: info@black-lists.com www.black-lists.com

Business activities: Anti-fraud consulting services, international claim exchange, debt recovery and conflict settlement assistance.

Manager: Alex Sergeev Area of activity: worldwide Clients: importers, exporters, traders, and manufacturers

The letter of claim acceptance must include the following information: r Exact date when the compensation will be paid and how it will be done: by issuing a credit note and debiting the account, by supplying extra quantity of goods or any other method; r Acceptance or rejection of extra costs and charges occurred in connection with the claim, such as: customs duties, transportation costs, warehouse charges, inspection costs etc.

Importers should be aware of particular regulations valid in the country they are dealing with.

China can be one example. If the supplier rejects all complaints and is unwilling to compensate the loss the only possibility for the buyer to receive his money back is to apply to the Chinese courts.

These rely mostly on documentary evidence so the claimant must provide as much proof as possible (reports from the shipping line, coldstore, Chamber of Commerce, surveyor, customs, etc.). All documents must be translated into Chinese and it is advisable to notarise them in the local Chinese Embassy.

When the supplier receives a claim he should immediately act on it and complete it within the timeframe in the contract. Usually the results of an independent inspection can only prove problems with the quality of the product. Problems with the quantity are more difficult to handle once the goods have been taken from the customs zone and if no quantity control was performed there.

Our advice is simple. Try to avoid claims rather than trying to solve conflicts after the delivery. www.eurofishmagazine.com

[ PROCESSING ] High pressure processing – Technology with great potential

Longer shelf-life and higher yield We have known for a century that extremely high pressure has a sterilising effect. But only today is technology so advanced that this effect can be put into practice. High pressure processing (HPP) not only extends the shelf-life of foods but also enables the meat of raw shellfish and crustaceans to be removed from the shell completely and still intact. The result: higher yield.

S

ubjecting live tissue and other cellular structures to isostatic pressure of between 300 to 600 MPa for just a few minutes denaturalises some of the proteins they contain. This process can still not be explained in all its individual details but it seems that longer molecule chains in the proteins are destroyed leading to the modification of their outer coatings and membranes. Watching this process under a microscope reveals that they partly actually “dissolve”.

The cell membranes thereby lose some of their original properties, particularly their firmness and stability. This effect which has been known for nearly a hundred years can be put to excellent use in the food processing industry.

One of the possible applications is lengthening the shelf-life of seafood and other foods: the ultra high pressure of about 300 MPa inactivates or kills microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, funguses and yeasts as well as parasites. This effect can be compared with pasteurisation, only that during High Pressure Processing (HPP) no high temperatures are necessary. Analogous to thermal pasteurisation, HPP is thus also called cold or pressure pasteurisation. The term “pascalisation” is occasionally used, too. This refers to the pascal, the unit for measuring pressure. www.eurofishmagazine.com

HPP is an ultra modern, environmentally friendly technology which, compared to conventional pasteurisation, offers some convincing benefits. And it is just as safe because it reliably knocks out dangerous germs (e.g. Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli) which lengthens the shelf-life of the products at least twofold and sometimes even threefold. In contrast to heating, pressure treatment maintains a product’s freshness much better.

Sensory properties like flavour and texture, but also colouring, nutritional value and vitamins remain largely intact. High pressure technology enables the production of “clean label” products that do without preservatives and other additives. Furthermore, the technique gets good marks for environmental friendliness, too, because the pressure pumps only need water and electricity, i.e. no chemicals are required.

Pressure treatment possible in airless packs HPP thus enables the production of products the way today’s consumers want them: fresh and natural, additive-free, germ-free, safe, produced in an environmentally friendly way, with a high convenience grade and a long shelf-life. The food industry’s first attempts to make practical use of HPP technology go back about two decades.

The basket containing the products enters the chamber of this horizontally arranged high pressure machine from above.

This technology has since asserted itself and is being used increasingly during food production processes: for example, for meat and ready-to-eat products, fruit and vegetables. HPP is a particularly good alternative here because, by avoiding heat, ingredients that are sensitive to higher temperatures such as vitamins and antioxidants remain

more intact. The high pressure’s sterilising effect has a preserving effect and so the products do not need to be salted as much which is of benefit with regard to a healthy diet. HPP is also ideally suited to sliced or diced products that are packed in flexible airless bags (e.g. vacuum packs). The pressure takes effect through the elastic cover and kills any germs it

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Gourmet Chef Packers

Gourmet Chef Packers

[ PROCESSING ]

The high pressure technique enables the removal and use of meat from complicated body parts.

Sensory properties like flavour and texture, but also colouring, nutritional value and vitamins remain largely intact after the product is subject to HPP.

contains. The volume of “pressure pasteurised” products is growing continuously: They include high-quality fruit juices and milk products, as well as certain pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Although the market for HPP products is estimated at only 2 billion US dollars it is growing worldwide at an above-average speed.

processing to keep the shells together. After HPP, the meat is no longer attached to the shell but it remains “ready to eat” in its natural “packaging”. To enjoy it, the consumer only has to remove the elastic band, after which the upper shell can then be lifted without the use of a knife, and the meat slides out. This is a very consumer-friendly product because the easy opening mechanism prevents the risk of accidents that can occur when newcomers to oyster opening try their hand with a knife. Yield is high and after pressure pasteurisation the oysters keep for up to two weeks.

The Canadian company Gourmet Chef Packers has developed a whole range of convenience products based on lobster meat with the intention of shifting lobster out of its “noble” niche. The high pressure technique enables the removal and use of meat from complicated body parts such as the legs and this is noticeable in the price asked for such products.

The spectrum of these products includes seasoned lobster meat and lobster skewers as well as lobster carpaccio (pure lobster meat in the shape of a sausage that can be sliced), and formed sticks of

High pressure processing offers particular advantages in the seafood sector where in the case of shellfish and crustaceans it offers not only its well-known sterilising effect but also destroys the proteins that are responsible for attaching the meat to the shell.

This means that the meat is released completely so that it can be removed fully intact. Mussel and crab meat thus suffers no mechanical damages giving it a more attractive appearance. Yield rises, too, because no meat at all is left in the shell. In the case of scallops and oysters there are not even remains of the muscle that is responsible for closing the shell, and in the case of lobster and spiny lobster the meat can even be removed easily from delicate parts such as the legs or 58

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the antennae. The meat from the tail and claws almost falls away from the shell on its own. HPP thus enables nearly 100 yield.

This was previously impossible to achieve with raw products, even after meticulous handwork.

With the help of HPP it is said that nearly 25 more meat can be gained from lobster claws. Pressure apparently also improves the ability of muscle proteins to bind water which prevents drying of the meat during storage and cooking. And it is of course also of advantage that crab or mussel meat is sterilised during HPP which lengthens shelf-life.

HPP enables the development of high-convenience products So HPP products have a natural, perfect appearance, as well as a longer shelf-life and this gives them premium character. Apart from that, this technology enables the development of new kinds of products with a high level of convenience. One such is “easy open” oysters which are produced by putting an elastic band around the oyster prior to high pressure

pure lobster meat. This product is ideal for the gastronomy sector in that it is relatively low-priced and very versatile in its use.

High pressure processing is an amazingly uncomplicated process. At the heart of the technology are special high pressure machines that are in the meantime available from nearly all manufacturers as either vertical or horizontal constructions. With these machines extremely high pressures of between 300 and 600 MPa can be reached, as are necessary to achieve the described effects. In comparison: 600 MPa correspond to a sea depth of 60 km, more than five times the pressure at the deepest point in the ocean, the Mariana Trench which is about 11 km deep. The products are put into the pressure chamber and, after this has been filled with water and tightly sealed, are subjected to pressure for a certain time. Two to three minutes are usually sufficient. The water in the chamber ensures even distribution of the pressure which can then take effect on the product from all sides. This also explains why the products are not squashed despite the immense pressure and can at www.eurofishmagazine.com

Gourmet Chef Packers

[ PROCESSING ]

the end of the treatment be taken out of the chamber without any deformation.

High costs currently impede wide usage In spite of all the merits of High Pressure Processing there are several drawbacks that should not be overlooked. The relatively low product throughput is certainly one of the reasons why this technology is not suited to broad use within the food industry. Manufacturers like the Spanish NC Hyperbaric or the US-American Avure offer high pressure systems with capacities ranging from just a few litres (mainly for use in the research and development sectors) to several hundred litres, but even the biggest pressure chambers are by no means sufficient to cover the requirements of large processing companies. Apart from that, pressure treatment is only possible in batches which is not particularly good for continuous mass production. At the moment the technology is mainly used by small and mediumsized companies that produce www.eurofishmagazine.com

high-value products in not very large numbers.

Furthermore, scientific tests point to the fact that some foods are more strongly modified by HPP than was presumed so far.

As stated above, high pressure is known to influence proteins and the functionality of cell membranes which also play important roles in cell metabolism. Experiments with fish that is rich in fat have revealed that the activity of lipases, enzymes which break down fat, is not slowed down by high pressure but, on the contrary, is accelerated. In the first three to six days after treatment, fat oxidation rises rapidly. This can be seen, for example, in a reduced Omega 3 fatty acid content. This would, of course, not be very desirable because the health value of fish and seafood is a key sales argument. Further, the researchers criticised that some fillets looked â&#x20AC;&#x153;cookedâ&#x20AC;? in places, despite the fact that the temperature used in the experiments did not rise above 35°C. They admit, however, that so far little is known about the processes that take

The product range of Gourmet Chef Packers from Canada includes several convenience products that are produced using High Pressure Processing.

place during pressure treatment and that, by changing the basic conditions, it was very likely that the results could be optimised.

The main obstacle to the use of HPP, however, is the high costs of this technology. The investment costs alone for a small plant with a throughput of 150 kg per hour are about half a million dollars. The price of a plant with a throughput of 1,500 kg per hour already exceeds the one million dollar mark. Added to this are the running costs for processing which, depending on product throughput, are said to be between 4 and 12 cents per kg (the bigger and the more efficient the system, the

lower the cost). So although high pressure processing has a lot of advantages, in the face of such high costs a lot of small potential users will probably decide against it. One solution to this dilemma might be to set up specialised companies that offer high pressure processing as a service.

The pay-per-use principle would make the technology more attractive for a lot of customers, particularly since HPP products are very suitable for exporting to demanding markets with ambitious requirements... and HPP technology is recognised by the FDA, the USDA and other international food safety authorities. mk

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[ AQUACULTURE ]

Guide to Recirculation Aquaculture Chapter Two: The recirculation system step by step (continued) Degassing, aeration and stripping Before the water runs back to the fish tanks the accumulated gases must be removed. This degassing process is carried out by aeration of the water, and the method is often referred to as stripping.

The water contains carbon dioxide from the fish respiration and from the bacteria in the biofilter in the highest concentrations, but free nitrogen (N2) is also present.

Accumulation of carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas levels will have detrimental effects on fish welfare and growth. Under anaerobic conditions hydrogen sulphide can be produced, especially in saltwater systems. This gas is extremely toxic to fish, even in low concentrations, and fish will be killed if the hydrogen sulphide is generated in the system.

Aeration can be accomplished by pumping air into the water whereby the turbulent contact between the air bubbles and the water drives out the gases. This underwater aeration makes it possible to move the water at the same time, for example if an aeration well system is used.

The aeration well system is however not as efficient for removing gases as the trickling filter system.

In the trickling system gases are stripped off by physical contact between the water and plastic media stacked in a column. Water is led to the top of the filter over a distribution plate with holes, and flushed down through the plastic media to maximise turbulence and contact, the so called stripping process. The trickling filter is often referred to as a CO2 –stripper.

Oxygenation The aeration process of the water will add some oxygen to the water through simple exchange between the gases in the water and the gases in the air depending on the saturation of the oxygen in the water. The equilibrium of oxygen in water is 100 saturation.

When the water has been through the fish tanks, the oxygen content has been lowered, typically down to 70, and the content is reduced further in the biofilter.

Aeration of this water will typically bring the saturation up to around 90, in some systems 100 can be reached. Oxygen saturation higher than 100 in the

inlet water is however often preferred in order to have sufficient oxygen available for a high and stable fish growth. Higher saturation levels call for an oxygenation system using pure oxygen.

Pure oxygen is often delivered in tanks in the form of liquid oxygen, but can also be produced on the farm in an oxygen generator.

There are several ways of making super-saturated water with oxygen contents reaching 200300 . Typically oxygen cones or deep shafts are used. The principle is the same. Water and pure oxygen are mixed under pressure whereby the oxygen is forced into the water. In the oxygen cone the pressure is accomplished with a pump creating a pressure of typically around 1.4 bar in the cone.

Pumping water under pressure into the oxygen cone consumes a lot of electricity. In the deep shaft the pressure is reached by digging a pipe loop down to for example 6 metres depth, and injecting the oxygen at the bottom of the loop.

The pressure from the water column above, in this case 0.6 bar, will force the oxygen into the water. The advantage of the deep shaft is that pumping costs are low, but the installation is troublesome and more expensive.

so rapidly in organic matter that controlling bacterial numbers in traditional fish farms has limited effect. The best control is achieved when effective mechanical filtration is combined with a thorough biofiltration to effectively remove organic matter from the process water, thus making the UV radiation work efficiently.

“The UV dose can be expressed in several different units. One of the most widely used is micro Wattseconds per cm2 (μWs/cm2).

Ultraviolet light

Figure 2.12 Aeration well system.

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UV disinfection works by applying light in wavelengths that destroy DNA in biological organisms.

In aquaculture pathogenic bacteria and one-celled organisms are targeted. The treatment has been used for medical purposes for decades and does not impact the fish as UV treatment of the water is applied out of the fish production area. It is important to understand that bacteria grow

Figure 2.13 Photo and drawing of trickling filter wrapped in a blue plastic liner to eliminate splashing on the floor (Billund Akvakulturservice, Denmark).

The aeration/stripping process is also called CO2-stripping.

The media in the trickling filter typically consists of the same type of media as used in fixed bed biofilters – see Figure 2.10. www.eurofishmagazine.com

AKVA group.

[ AQUACULTURE ] unwanted organisms by the heavy oxidation of organic matter and biological organisms. Ozone treatment can be preferred when the intake water to a recirculation system needs to be disinfected.

In many cases, however, UV treatment is a good and safe alternative.

pH regulation

Waterflow

In

Out

6m

O2

Figure 2.14 Oxygen cone and deep shaft.

The efficiency depends on the size and species of the target organisms and the turbidity of the water. In order to control bacteria and viruses the water needs to be treated with roughly 2,000 to 10,000 μWs/cm2 to kill 90 of the organisms, fungi will need 10,000 to 100,000 and small parasites 50,000 to 200,000 μWs/cm2.” UV lighting used in aquaculture must work under water to give maximum efficiency, lamps fitted outside the water will have little or no effect because of water surface reflection.

Ozone Today, ozone (O3) is seldom used in fish production itself as the effect of over-dosing can cause severe injury to the fish. In fish farms placed inside buildings ozone can also be harmful to the people working in the area as they may inhale too much ozone.

However ozone treatment is an efficient way of destroying www.eurofishmagazine.com

The nitrifying process in the biofilter produces acid and the pH level will fall. In order to keep a stable pH a base must be added to the water.

In some systems a lime mixing station is installed dripping limewater into the system and thereby stabilizing pH. An automatic dosage system regulated by a pH-meter with a feedback impulse to a dosage pump is another option. With this system it is preferable to use sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as it is easy to handle making the system easier to maintain. Anyone handling acids or bases must be careful as it can severely burn eyes and skin. Safety precautions must be taken, and glasses and gloves must be worn while handling the chemicals.

Heat exchange Maintaining an optimal water temperature in the culture system is most important as the growth rate of the fish is directly related to the water temperature. Using the intake water is a fairly simple way of regulating the temperature from day to day. In a closed recirculation system inside an insulated building the heat will slowly build up in the water, because energy in the form of heat is released from the fish metabolism and the bacterial activity in the biofilter. Heat from friction in the pumps and the use of other installations will also accumulate. High temperatures in the system are therefore often a problem in an intensive recirculation system. By adjusting the amount of cool fresh intake water into the system, the temperature can be regulated in a simple way.

Figure 2.15 UV treatment system.

In the wintertime in cold climates simple heating using an oil boiler connected to a heat exchanger to heat up the recirculated water is most often sufficient. The use of energy for this kind of heating depends mostly on the amount of cool intake water used and its temperature, although some heat also escapes from the building. In some cases, a heat recovery system, consisting of a titanium plate exchanger, can also be installed.

The process water in the recirculation system is used to heat up (or cool down) the intake water by passing the water through the plate exchanger. The system is regulated by the use of a water temperature sensor connected to a temperature control unit that regulates the function of the titanium plate exchanger.

often positioned in front of the biofilter system and the degasser as the water preparation process starts here. In any case, pumps should be placed after the mechanical filtration to avoid breaking the solids coming from the fish tanks.

Pumps

The total lifting height in most systems today is less than 2 metres, which makes the use of low pressure pumps most efficient.

However, the process of dissolving pure oxygen into the process water requires centrifugal pumps as these pumps are able to create the required high pressure in the cone.

Different types of pumps are used for circulating the process water in the system. Pumping requires electricity, and low lifting heights and efficient and correctly installed pumps are important to keep running costs at a minimum.

The lifting of water should preferably occur only once for every recirculation cycle, whereby the water runs by gravity all the way through the system back to the pump sump. Pumps are most

Calculation of the total lifting height for pumping is the sum of the actual lifting height and the pressure losses in pipe runs, pipe bends and other fittings. This is also called the dynamic head. If water is pumped through a submerged biofilter before falling down through the degasser, a counter pressure from the biofilter will also have to be accounted for.

Details on fluid mechanics and pumps are beyond the scope of this guide.

In some systems, the water is driven by blowing air into aeration wells. In these systems the degassing and the movement of water

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[ AQUACULTURE ] New Series Guide to Recirculation Aquaculture

are accomplished in one process, which makes low lifting heights possible. The efficiency of degassing and moving of water is however not necessarily better than that of pumping water up over the degasser, because the efficiency of aeration wells in terms of using energy and the degassing efficiency is lower than using lifting pumps and stripping or trickling the water.

The Guide to Recirculation Aquaculture is the result of a collaboration between EUROFISH, Thomas Moth-Poulsen, FAO Fisheries Officer for Central and Eastern Europe, and Jacob Bregnballe, Akva Group, who authored the book.

The stringent environmental restrictions to minimize pollution from hatcheries and aquaculture plants in northern European countries have sparked the rapid technological development of recirculation systems. However, recirculation also secures a higher and more stable aquaculture production with less diseases and better ways to control the parameters that influence growth. State-of-the-art of the recirculation methods use far less water than conventional flow-through farms and sophisticated filtering technologies are used to treat the water. Recirculation systems thereby offer two immediate advantages: cost effectiveness and reduced environmental impact. However, running these systems calls for additional skills and training and the hope is that the Guide to Recirculation Aquaculture will provide readers with some useful insights into the workings of recirculation systems.

The Guide will be serialised over the next issues of the Eurofish Magazine. It is also available as a hard copy from the shop on the EUROFISH webite, www.eurofish.dk, for EUR35.

Monitoring, control and alarms Intensive fish farming requires close monitoring and control of the production in order to maintain optimal conditions for the fish at all times. Technical failures can easily result in substantial losses, and alarms are vital installations for securing the operation.

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction to recirculation aquaculture (EM6 2010) Chapter 2: The recirculation system step by step Components in a recirculation system -Fish tanks -Mechanical filtration (EM1 2011) -Biological treatment (EM1 2011) -Degassing, aeration, and stripping -Oxygenation -Utraviolet light -Ozone -PH regulation -Heat exchange -Pumps -Monitoring, control and alarms -Emergency system -Intake water Chapter 3: Fish species in recirculation Chapter 4: Project planning and implementation Chapter 5: Running a recirculation system.

Chapter 6: Waste water treatment Chapter 7: Disease

In many modern farms, a central control system can monitor and control oxygen levels, temperature, pH, water levels and motor functions. If any of the parameters moves out of the preset hysteresis values, a start/stop process will try to solve the problem. If the problem is not solved automatically, an alarm will start. Automatic feeding can also be an integrated part of the central control system.

This allows the timing of the feeding to be coordinated precisely with a higher dosage of oxygen as the oxygen consumption rises during feeding. In less sophisticated systems, the monitoring and control is not fully automatic, and personnel will have to make several manual adjustments.

automatic back-up systems are installed.

Whatever the case, no system will work without the surveillance of the personnel working on the farm. The control system must therefore be fitted with an alarm system, which will call the personnel if any major failures are about to occur. A reaction time of less than 20 minutes is recommended, even in situations where

The use of pure oxygen as a backup is the number one safety precaution. The installation is simple, and consists of a holding tank for pure oxygen and a distribution system with diffusers fitted in all tanks. If the electricity supply fails a magnetic valve pulls back and pressurized

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Emergency system

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Chapter 8: Case story examples Salmon smolt production in Chile Turbot farming in China.

Model trout farms in Denmark Recirculation and re-stocking Mega farms References Appendix -Checklist when implementing a recirculation system.

oxygen flows to each tank keeping the fish alive. To back up the electrical supply, a generator is necessary. In many cases the toxic ammonia will build up in the system when the water is not circulating. This problem will be the next to overcome after the oxygen availability has been solved by the oxygen back-up system. It is therefore important to get the water flow up and running within an hour or so.

Intake water Water used for recirculation should preferably be from a disease-free source or sterilised before going into the system. In most cases it is better to use water from a borehole, a well, or something similar than to use water coming directly from a river, lake or the sea. If a treatment system for intake water needs to be installed, it will typically consist of a sandfilter for microfiltration and a UV or ozone system for disinfection. www.eurofishmagazine.com

DI ARY D ATE S

31 May – 2 June, 2011 POLFISH Gdansk, Poland Tel. : + 4858 554 93 62 Fax : + 4858 554 91 17 monika.juszkiewicz@mtgsa.com.pl www.mtgsa.pl

15 – 16 June, 2011 The future of European freshwater aquaculture Warsaw, Poland Tel.: +32 4 338 2995 Fax: +32 4 337 9846 secretariat@eatip.eu www.eatip.eu

24-25 June, 2011 Scottish Skipper Expo 2011 Aberdeen, Scotland, UK Tel.: +353 74 954 8936 / 954 8935 Fax: + 353 74 9548940 hugh@maramedia.ie www.scottishskipperexpo.net

16-19 August, 2011 Aqua Nor Trondheim, Norway Tel: +47 73 56 86 40 Fax: +47 73 56 86 41 Mailbox@nor-fishing.no www.nor-fishing.no

12-14 October, 2011 DanFish International Aalborg, Denmark Tel. : +45 9935 5542 ed@akkc.dk www.danfish.com 6-8 September 2011 Asian Seafood Exposition Wanchai, Hong Kong custserv@divcom.com www.asianseafoodexpo.com

12-13 September, 2011 Tuna Vigo 2011 Vigo, Spain Tel.: +34 986 469301 Fax: +34 986 469269 creboredo@anfaco.es www.anfaco.es

15-16 September, 2011 International Carp Conference 2011 Kazimierz Dolny, Poland Tel.: +48 668 815 097 www.carpinternational.eu

22-24 September, 2011 Icelandic Fisheries Exhibtion Kópavogur, Iceland Tel: +354 567 6004 Fax: +354 567 6044 bjarni@icefish.is www.icefish.is

18-21 October, 2011 AQUACULTURE EUROPE 2011 Rhodes, Greece Tel.: +32-9-2334912 Fax: +32-9-2334912 mario.stael@scarlet.be www.easonline.org

23-24 May 2012 Aquaculture UK 2012 Aviemore, Scotland, UK Tel.: +44 1862 892188 info@aquacultureuk.com www.aquacultureuk.com

11-13 June, 2012 AquaVision 2012 Stavanger, Norway Tel.: +47 9137 7825 post@blueplanet.no www.aquavision.org

1-5 September 2012 AQUA 2012 Prag, Czech Republic worldaqua@aol.com www.was.org

10-14 October, 2011 Agroprodmash Moscow, Russia Tel.: +7 499 795 3735 Fax: +7 495 609 4168 piskareva@expocentr.ru www.agroprodmash-expo.ru

A d d y o u r e v e n t t o w w w. e u r o f i s h . d k

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Alistair Lane, European Aquaculture Society

CFP reform looks promising for European ďŹ sh farmers The European Aquaculture Society is a network of individuals and companies that promotes the development of sustainable aquaculture through multidisciplinary research and the dissemination of information. EuroďŹ sh spoke with Alistair Lane, Executive Director, to learn his views on the future direction of European aquaculture.

Eurofish: Aquaculture is still a tainted activity in the eyes of many NGOs, who feel that farming fish and seafood pollutes the environment, destroys natural habitats, and the products themselves are laced with antibiotics and other drugs. What can the industry do to improve its reputation and be more proactive in the future?

Alistair Lane: The image of aquaculture has two facets: the first is the perception of the quality of aquaculture products. We know from perception studies in several European countries that this image is generally very good for products produced in Europe.

For the majority of products that are imported into the European market, certification and retailer charter programmes are looking to solve product quality issues such as residues at source. The second facet is the image of the activity and here, the emphasis is on good governance, best practice and (potentially) certification. Positive messages need to get to consumers from trusted 64

Eurofish Magazine 3/ 2011

sources (family, doctors, consumer organisations...) and this is where we need to be more proactive in our communication.

EF: There is a debate about the sustainability of farmed fish as it depends on harvesting wild stocks to be converted into fish meal and fish oil. How can the farming industry respond to this?

AL: The industry has already responded to this by replacement of fish meal and to an extent fish oil in aquaculture feeds and by certification of the fisheries that provide the source of our marine meals and oils.

There is significant research effort based on increasing our understanding of the biological basis of nutrition in many cultured species. However, I personally believe that replacement by terrestrial plant protein is not the only way forward and that we should continue efforts to look at aquatic sources of plant protein and oils as our targets for feed ingredients. The argument that wild fish stocks currently used

Alistair Lane, Executive Director of the European Aquaculture Society.

for meal/oil could be used as direct food sources for humans is easy to reinforce for terrestrial plants, if these become the main aquaculture feed ingredients. And for consumers, there is nothing more natural than using

marine plants and other sources for feed for cultured (marine) species.

EF: Aquaculture is seen as the only way to ensure that global fish consumption does not flag. www.eurofishmagazine.com

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However growth in aquaculture in Europe is lagging behind other parts of the world. What is the reason for this and do you see any future improvement in the situation.

AL: The reasons are clear and have been very well communicated to the European institutions. The implementation of the 2009 strategy for the sustainable development of aquaculture is the key. It will look to address issues such as licensing, provision of suitable rearing sites and reducing the legislative burden.

However, the emphasis is on Member States to provide the political will; the availability of sites and the enabling legislative environment that will be necessary to stimulate investment and hence growth. The current CFP reform and associated initiatives (funding, observatory...) looks very promising to stimulate and facilitate expansion in the European sector.

EF: Carps, among other fish, are popular in Central and Eastern Europe particularly at certain times of the year such as Christmas and Easter, but volumes are by and large not increasing? What is the reason for this and what can producers do to increase demand for carp?

AL: It will be difficult to increase the demand for carp, despite advances in processing. But the sustainable development of pond aquaculture in Europe will come from the revenue generated from their provision of ecosystem services. The pond production system does not need to be fed or intensive. Its value in water management, in biodiversity and in educational and recreational activities should provide a diversity of revenue www.eurofishmagazine.com

streams for companies operating these systems and there should also be recognition and reward from government for their important contribution to conservation, flood protection and these other ecosystem services.

EF: Closed recirculation systems are better for the environment than flow through systems, and reduce the risk of disease, but they are expensive and require a degree of technical expertise to operate. Do you see them becoming more widespread in Europe in the future and what species are likely candidates for this technology?

AL: RAS systems are of course already in use for much of European trout production, where reduced use of water is the key.

For the very high density recirculation systems, we also have examples of industrial level upscaling. But I see a certain paradox here. At present, RAS systems may be less competitive than other systems for the production of ‘same species’ – otherwise the sector would have already switched to that system. And for the culture of ‘exotic species – catfish, tilapia, barramundi... – it would appear that they are less competitive compared to high volume imports at present, where the food miles advantage needs to be balanced by, for example, energy utilisation and cost. So it is not clear to me what the species mix in RAS systems would be, with the notable exception of turbot and sole in marine recirculation systems.

EF: Organic aquaculture of fish and seafood though still very limited has grown to about 80,000 tonnes (against 60m tonnes of conventionally farmed

products) per year. Do you see a significant shift from conventional over to organic production in the near future?

AL: While certain producers in certain countries are producing to organic standards to reply to specific market niches and increase competitiveness, I personally don’t see this becoming ‘mainstream’. In almost all food sectors, the gap between organic and responsibly produced ‘conventional’ produce is narrowing and so, seemingly, is the premium that consumers are prepared to pay. I do not see that farmed aquatic products would be so different.

EF: The certification of aquaculture products has become something of a minefield with several labels that represent slightly different, and often overlapping, criteria. This does the industry no favours as it confuses the consumer. Do you see a way out of this tangle?

AL: The tangle could be straightened out by clear EU ecolabels and organic standards and will most certainly be driven by the retail sector, that will decide its preferred own-brand or other B2C label.

EF: Finfish farming in the Mediterranean is dominated by seabass, seabream, and trout.

Which other species do you see coming up in the region?

AL: Ah, the eternal question!

While the expansion of sea bass and sea bream in the Mediterranean has been an excellent success story, we still do not have the species mix that allows value addition through faster growing species and higher filleting yield.

Some believe that meagre could

be the candidate, others in other species. We are still experimenting here...

EF: Which new farmed freshwater and marine species do you see becoming popular in Europe and why? Are you familiar with species of fish that have suffered on the market because their names failed to resonate with consumers?

AL: Although we have few, high volume “staples”, the diversity of the offer in fish and shellfish products is a major strength of the seafood sector in general. Our species mix will need to answer to consumer demand and find a competitive position in various market forms (chilled, frozen...) and segments (traditional point of sale, multiple retail, hotel restaurant and catering...). I hope very much that we will achieve a better trade balance between exports and imports in the near future. Concerning actual species, I would like to see a focus on highest quality products that are possibly already known to consumers and where their production in aquaculture systems shows a clear advantage to society faced with declining catches.

So turbot, sole, charr, pike-perch are all good finfish candidates.

But also we have other candidates such as urchin, octopus, cuttlefish and especially seaweeds that can contribute to this diversity in our European seafood heritage. As far as names are concerned, then we have to avoid national market common names that give rise to confusion in the best case, and to fraud in the worst. Finally, we should not forget the valuable contribution that aquaculture activities can provide in enhancement of fisheries for food or recreational purposes.

Eurofish Magazine 3 / 2011

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Alaska Seafood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inner front cover

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Lahsen Ababouch, Audun Lem

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Mare Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ISSN 1868-5943

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Sirena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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Szegedfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Ambitious plans to expand trout production in Turkey Poland: Carp promotion campaign draws support from children Croatia: Organically-farmed seabass and seabream for western markets High Pressure Processing: Higher yields from shellfish is a member of the FISH INFO network

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■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ SUPPLY SOURCES ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Crustaceans

Insulated Containers

Salmon slicers

Styropor® ( polystyrene ) compressors

Ristic AG Am Espen 15, D-90559 Oberferrieden Tel.: 0 91 83 / 40 90, Fax: 0 91 83 / 4 09 49 Web: www.ristic.com, E-Mail: info@ristic.com

Frozen seafood specialties

Transport SALMON SLICER... worldwide R. MAASS + PARTNER GMBH Röntgenstrasse 12 D-21493 Schwarzenbek Tel.: +49 41 51 / 866 955 Fax: +49 41 51 / 867 188 www.maass-slicers.de

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tasty-Smoke GmbH Hövelsstr. 27 48488 Emsbüren Tel.: +49 (0) 591 610 4451 Fax: +49 (0) 591 610 4507 www.liquid-smoke.com

Liquid smoke BBQ-Oil Hickory-Smoke Smoke Powder Liquid-Smokers

Our Reputation and Experience are Your Guarantee Promens is the world’s leading manufacturer of rotational molded insulated plastic containers and pallets.

Promens is the manufacturer of Sæplast, one of the best-proven brands in the world of food approved multi-purpose containers.

Packaging

For more information see our website:

www.promens.com/saeplast

ISSN 1868-5943

275_27-04-11_Icefish

June 3 / 2011

2011

s Fisherie on

Exhibiti , Kópavogur, Iceland Smárinn

September 22-24

Eurofish Magazine

D ICELANDIC FISH RELATEG! EXPORTS ARE THRIVIN

at the Icelandic te supply chain Meet the comple & Awards 2011 ion Fisheries Exhibit

33 countries* 489 exhibitors from s*.

– s from 50 countrie Fishing Industry 12,429 attendee ity to join the Icelandic This is your opportun another 3 years? wait Fisheries can you afford to the 3rd Icelandic industry which incorporates The Exhibition, commercial fishing everything for the customers and Awards, covers to network with including the chance old and new friends colleagues and

a Balik on Antaly trout producti s to expand

* 2008 figures

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PO16 0RA Quay, Fareham, Hampshire dia.com The Old Mill, Lower 825335 www.mercatorme Tel: +44 (0)1329

www.icefish.is Official Icelandic

Publication

cargo handler Official airline/air & hotel chain

Organisation

Icefish is a Mercator

EUROFISH International

g Rasmussen-Coullin n contact: Marianne sen@mercatormedia.com For further informatio mrasmus 825335 email: tel: +44 (0)1329

SALMCO Technik GmbH Reinskamp 1 D-22117 Hamburg Tel.: +49-40-713 14 72 Fax : +49-40-712 98 70 Internet: www.salmco.de E-Mail: info@salmco.com

Wire ropes Drahtseilwerk GmbH P.O. Box 100325 D-27503 Bremerhaven Ph.: 0471/93189-0, Fax: -39 Trawl-Wires, Atlas Ropes

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FRANKFURT / MAIN-AIRPORT Gebäude 456 A, Raum Nr. 3435 Telefon 0 69 / 69 76 76-30 Telefax 0 69 / 69 76 76-50

C 44346 June 3 / 2011

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D-27472 CUXHAVEN Grodener Chaussee 61 Telefon 0 47 21 / 208-0 Telefax 0 47 21 /208-100

Ambitious plan in Turkey

tion campaign draws

Poland: Carp promo

n

support from childre

western markets and seabream for farmed seabass Croatia: Organicallysh yields from shellfi Processing: Higher netwo rk High Pressure the FISH INFO of is a memb er

Eckhard Preuß

Aleksandra Petersen

Marderstieg 7, D-21717 Fredenbeck, Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 4149 8020, Fax: +49 (0) 4149 7292 e.preuss@freenet.de

H.C. Andersens Boulevard 44-46, DK-1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark Tel.: +45 333 777 63, Fax: +45 333 777 56 aleksandra.petersen@eurofish.dk

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