HUNGARY
Biharugra Fish Farm combines environmental with economic sustainability
A model for pond fish farmers everywhere The Biharugra Fish Farm has a long and complex history. Today, however, it not only produces fish for the market but also contributes significantly to the biodiversity of the area thanks to the management methods that are used to run the farm.
O
nce there used to be a marshy area in the place of the current fish ponds of Biharugra Fish Farm. But, as in many other regions, the large-scale regulation of rivers and draining of wetlands, which started in the mid-1800s, significantly changed the landscape. After the draining of the Kis-Sárrét marshes, the better-quality soils were farmed, while huge grasslands and pastures appeared in the rest of the area. As a result of the erratic location of wetland areas around Biharugra, a mosaic of bare sodic patches (areas with a high concentration of sodium) and saltland pastures developed on most lands.
The first ponds date back to the early nineteenth century The construction of fish ponds near Biharugra was started by the Chorhus brothers in 1910 and lasted until 1944. The farm was nationalised in 1946. Construction of new ponds started in 1951, which increased the pond area to more than 1,000 ha by the end of the 1950s. On the territory of the other pond unit of Biharugra Fish Farm, there used to be a village called Begécs. This medieval settlement was destroyed by the Nagyvárad campaign of the Turks. After the destruction, wetlands occupied the place where the village had been until river regulations transformed the landscape into a large
Over the years ponds have been added to the Biharugra Fish Farm so that it now extends to almost 2,000 ha.
grassland. From 1950, it was used as a reservoir of the oxbow lake of the canalised dead arm of River Körös, with the main purpose of receiving excess waters from Romania. Between 1962 and 1967, the Begécs fishpond system was built in this area, increasing the pond area of the farm to 1920 ha. A part of the aquatic and surrounding terrestrial areas were declared a nature reserve on 1 August 1949 and were managed as such until 31 January 1955, when the protection was lifted. The idea of establishing a landscape protection area emerged
once more in the 1970s, mostly because of the area’s ornithological value, but it was only on 31 March 1990 that it really obtained protected status. Since 1997, the territory has been a part of the core area of KörösMaros National Park. A part of the fish ponds is a strictly protected area, which has also been included into the list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar convention since April 1997. Since 1989, it has been an Important Bird Area and as part of the Natura 2000 network, it is also a Special Protection Area for birds.
Livestock and crop farming activities stop leaving only fish cultivation The fishpond areas were managed in a unified way until the fall of the communist regime in Hungary in 1989 and the subsequent privatisation. Until then, the fish farm was operated as an agricultural company with activities including cultivation of arable crops, aquatic poultry, and sheep farming in addition to aquaculture production. The fish farm was clearly the economic, cultural, and social
EUROFISH Magazine 3 / 2022
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