EUROFISH Magazine 4 2020

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Turkey: Climate threat to Central Asian aquaculture and ďŹ sheries Armenia: Marked increase in production of farmed high-value species Sea cucumbers play an important role in ocean health is a member of the FISH INFO network

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In this issue

New label to promote sustainability of coastal ďŹ shery products The coastal fishing sector in Denmark has fought tenaciously to improve the conditions under which it operates. Although catches are relatively modest, it employs many, and the fish they bring is very high quality having usually only been removed from the water a few hours before it is sold. Coastal fishers also land at harbours big and small all along the Danish coastline, contributing to their prosperity directly and indirectly by attracting other businesses. In addition, the vessels they use are small (less than 17 m) and fishing trips are short so fuel consumption per kilo of fish is low. Many coastal fishers also use low impact gear such as gill nets or trammel nets which are selective and do little or no damage to the surroundings.

Because of these features the environmental footprint of coastal fisheries is low. Over the last years the Danish parliament has enacted legislation to encourage fishermen to join the coastal fishing schemes.

Currently, lawmakers are discussing another proposal that will give coastal fishers what, they have long sought—a label promoting the environmental credentials of their fishery. Read more from page 20 Developments in biotechnology are among the reasons for the runaway growth of farmed fish—527 between 1990 and 2018, according to the FAO (capture fisheries production grew 14 over the same period). Fish farming not only produces healthful protein, but it does so in a relatively sustainable way and in the process provides food and economic security to millions. Some biotechnologies have provoked a backlash among environmental groups and consumers, but others are less controversial and have contributed to significant environmental and economic benefits for society and to the wellbeing of the fish. Certain outcomes, such as the production of mono sex stocks or polyploidy, that are already being achieved today can be brought about more efficiently using biotechnological processes.

In the selection of desirable traits, rapid growth and disease resistance, for example, biotechnology offers solutions that are quicker and more reliable than conventional methods. Biotechnology also provides consumer-facing benefits such as accurate traceability that can prevent incorrect labelling and product fraud, so while some caution is justified that the field has much to offer must also be acknowledged. Read Dr Manfred Klinkhardt’s article from page 15 Blockchains are for many people an esoteric concept associated closely with cryptocurrencies. However, the ability of blockchains to underpin a cryptocurrency can also be deployed in other areas where transactions need to be recorded and stored securely. Blockchains are one kind of distributed ledger, but there are also others. A distributed ledger is a decentralised database where the history of all the stored information can be checked. In the fisheries sector this technology could have significant implications because there are typically many links in the supply chain which often spans several countries.

Transparency, verifiability, and security would be extremely valuable in transactions that involve several partners scattered across the globe and would contribute to increased trust between partners to a transaction. In addition, the digital structure of the blockchain will accelerate the speed of the transaction making the whole process faster. If transactions can be triggered automatically when agreed conditions are fulfilled in systems where there is virtually no possibility of fraud, it would obviate the need for lawyers, notaries, and other services enabling lower transaction costs. Read more on page 41 The European eel is threatened to the point where trade in the fish is restricted by international law and a management plan to nurse the stock back to health has been implemented by the EU. At a workshop on the state of the European eel held recently in Germany the first signs of a recovery in the eel stock were disclosed. Glass eel migration has been gradually increasing but there is still a long way to go before the eel stock can be said to have recovered. Restocking measures are an important mechanism to help the eel stock, and in parts of Germany scientists have noted a significant decrease in infections and deformities among the glass eels that are released for restocking. A study of mortality among glass eels caught on the French coast for release in Germany revealed that it was less than 15, where an earlier study had found it to be 42. Increasing numbers of eel fishers, farmers, traders, and processing plants are also going in for certification to the Sustainable Eel Group standard, which offers full transparency and traceability for products. However, while there are several positive developments in the eel situation, the fish still faces a number of threats including illegal trading and smuggling. Read more on page 47

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Table of News 6 International News

Events

13 Seafood Expo Asia, 18-20 November, Singapore Seafood Expo Asia jilts Hong Kong for Singapore

14 Regional workshop in Turkey on climate change impacts on Central Asian fisheries and aquaculture Economic, social, and environmental structures under threat

Aquaculture

15 Biotechnology can accelerate developments in aquaculture Consumers need more information about the benefits offered by today’s technologies

Denmark 20 Being a coastal fisher in Denmark has become more attractive Regulatory conditions have improved the last years

29 Scientists in Denmark come closer to breeding European eel in captivity Steady progress towards understanding the eel

Species 34 Growing demand and attractive prices are accelerating overuse Many sea cucumber stocks are heavily overexploited

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Contents Armenia 38 Fish breeding in Armenia Successful transition from carps to high-value species

(CC BY-SA 3.0) Map based on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Location_European_nation_states.svg

by Hayden120 and NuclearVacuum

39 Looking to Germany for slicing equipment A machine to process fish and meat

Technology 41 Blockchain’s potential for transforming the fish industry A new basis for international business 45 Fish skinning machines from Steen offer versatility and convenience Delicate products skinned with precision 46 FIAP’s Profinet, the aluminium fish landing net for commercial and recreational use Simple yet sturdy nets for fish farmers and anglers

Trade and Markets 47 Protective measures for the European eel are beginning to pay off Eel stocking must be further intensified

Worldwide Fish News

Africa

page

11

Guest Pages: Dr Laszlo Varadi 55 Stronger inter-regional collaboration could promote sustainable aquaculture around the world NACCEE encourages young professionals’ participation

Belgium/EU

pages

7, 11, 12

Croatia

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6

Italy/FAO

page

8

Japan

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8

Lithuania

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12

Norway

page

9

57 Diary Dates

Portugal

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6

58 Imprint, List of Advertisers

Russia

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10

Spain

page

8

UK

page

12

USA

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Service 53 Fish Infonetwork News

Scan the QR code to access the Eurofish Magazine website (www.eurofishmagazine. com), where you can also sign up to receive the Eurofish Magazine newsletter.

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ] Croatia: Adriatic species are threatened by extinction The Adriatic Sea has seen several changes over the last years. Initially local sponges started dying out.

Then the Noah’s ark (Arca noae) disappeared from some locations in Dalmatia. These changes have been accompanied by record breaking sea temperatures, according to Slobodna Dalmacija. In Istria, the head of Umag’s fishermen, Danijel Kolec, explains that today catches of the sponge Aplysina aerophoba, are so acidic that people have to wear gloves to avoid blisters on their hands. In addition, sea urchins (Echinoidea), sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) and brown alga native to the Adriatic (Fucus virsoides) have disappeared while somo crab species, have increased significantly.

This invasion of new species, some of which are very aggressive and/or poisonous is threatening biodiversity in the Mediterranean.

Croatian scientist, Prof. Jakov DulĂžiĂź, Head of the Laboratory for Ichthyology and Coastal Fisheries at the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split, says that the fish census in 2000 recorded 664 species classified into 156 families in the Mediterranean. In the past 15 years, the number has increased to 772 species. The biodiversity fish

stocks in the Mediterranean Sea has undergone dizzying changes in the last few decades. There have been several migrations, some caused by climate change in the Mediterranean Sea, Prof. DulĂžiĂź explains.

Many new species originating in the Red Sea have been transported via ballast water, but species from the Atlantic Ocean can also be found.

The Mediterranean, due to its geographical position, is among the areas most sensitive to climate change. The increased rates of introduction and distribution of marine alien species can be an additional stress factor for native marine organisms, says Prof. DulĂžiĂź, adding that stress due to climatic irregularities is already prevalent. Based on studies and research projects, a total of 113 foreign, exotic species have been recorded in the Croatian part of the Adriatic alone. One of the most significant threats in the Mediterranean and in the Adriatic is the bluespotted cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii), a distinct predator that feeds on many economically important species of fish, like red mullet (Mullus barbatus barbatus), picarel (Spicara smaris), and bogue (Boops boops). Its impact on the food chain is therefore very high.

Invasive species in the Adriatic Sea may not only bring economic problems but can have deadly consequences if the fugu fish is caught.

There is also the silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus), dusky spinefoot (Siganus luridus), and red lionfish (Pterois volitans).

So far, the latter poses a threat mainly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. However, findings of this species have already been recorded near Sicily, as well as in the Ionian Sea— near the entrance to the Adriatic Sea, says Prof. DulÞiß.

Behind the name silver-cheeked toadfish lies the famous fugu fish.

In Japan it is an extremely expensive delicacy. It is highly toxic with a strong thermostable poison in its muscles, gonads, liver and even skin. Fugu, along with some other species from the Red Sea, today accounts for almost half the catches

in coastal fishing in Cyprus and Turkey. It has also been found in the central and southern Adriatic.

And it is so lethal that consumption is banned in all EU countries.

All these changes can have dramatic socio-economic effects on fisheries, the food chain and biodiversity. They can ultimately produce instabilities within the entire marine ecosystem. Some invaders can cause a drastic decline in the population of certain economically important species such as salema porgy (Sarpa salpa) to the extent that they can no longer meet the demands of the fishing industry and perhaps are even driven to extinction, warns Prof. DulĂžiĂź.

Putting seaweed on Portuguese dinner plates With conventional agriculture facing challenges in feeding seven billion people and fish resources under pressure, algae are a promising possibility as an affordable global food supply with low environmental costs. While seaweed and other algae are a popular ingredient in Asian cuisine, in Europe consumption and production could easily increase.

Against this backdrop the EU is providing financial support to the Alga4Food project. Alga4Food

aims to explore the benefits of edible macro algae (seaweed) from the Portuguese coast and promote their use in Portuguese family cooking. Alga4Food analysed different types of seaweed to understand their flavour and nutritional value, to find the best ways to conserve them, and to develop suggestions for their culinary use.

Similarities between seaweeds and traditional Portuguese foodstuffs like cabbage, sea cucumbers, and goose barnacles inspired ideas as to which kinds of seaweed might

Traditional products like these goat cheeses have been reinvented by adding seaweed.

work as substitutes for these ingredients in traditional cooking. This has resulted in the creation of two cookbooks along with a series of

seminars and cookery demonstrations. The books and more information are available on https:// alga4food.wixsite.com/page

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ] EU adds EUR500 million to fisheries fund to help recovery of sector a reinforced budget for 2021-2027.

As part of the proposal, the EMFF has been allocated an additional EUR500 million. This is a more than 8 increase compared to the budget initially proposed for the EMFF in 2018.

This additional money will feed Member States’ programmes for 2021-2024, frontloading financial support in the crucial first years of recovery. Member States will have to channel this investment to the objectives of the European recovery plan. The Commission will work closely with them during the preparation of the next generation of EMFF programmes. The recovery plan aims to repair the damage from the crisis by investing in a sustainable, inclusive and fair future for Europe. In this respect,

©European Union 2019, source: EP

Many coastal communities that rely heavily on fisheries for their livelihoods, have been faced with the often dramatic consequences of the coronavirus crisis. Businesses have experienced severe losses because of lockdowns and the disruption of the European seafood market. With measures including support for temporary cessation, storage aid and temporary state aid, the European Commission has reacted to prevent a worst-case scenario. Now, as economic activity slowly regains momentum, the Commission is moving to the next phase of action, which is to support the recovery. The Commission presented the Recovery Instrument, consisting of new financing raised on the financial markets (Next Generation EU) as well as

Virginijus Sinkeviþius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, explained the decision to increase the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) with EUR500 million to support the recovery process.

investment supported by the EMFF should strengthen the resilience of the sector and contribute to the European Green Deal, including the 2030 Biodiversity and the Farm to Fork strategies, as

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well as the circular economy. Additionally, EMFF funding should continue to promote the achievement of the economic, social and environmental objectives of the common fisheries policy.

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ] Italy: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture The 2020 edition of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture is focused on sustainability This year, 2020, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and several Sustainable Development Goal indicators mature this year. In addition, FAO hosted the International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability in late 2019, and, 2020 sees the finalisation of specific FAO guidelines on sustainable aquaculture growth,

and on social sustainability along value chains. While the first part of the report retains the format of previous editions, the structure of the rest of the publication has been revised relating to Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life below water) and its indicators and covers various aspects of fisheries and aquaculture sustainability. The topics reviewed range widely from data and information systems to ocean pollution, product legality, user rights, and climate

change adaptation. The final part of the publication covers projections and emerging issues such as new technologies and aquaculture biosecurity and concludes by outlining steps towards a new vision for capture fisheries. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience of stakeholders. The publication can be downloaded at: http://www.fao. org/3/ca9229en/CA9229EN.pdf

2020

IN BRIEF

THE STATE OF

WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION

The 2020 issue of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture focuses on sustainability.

Tuna is usually the species most associated with Japanese sushi and sashimi. But salmon has been a consumer favourite for several years, the Global Aquaculture Alliance reports, with a consumption of about 400,000 tonnes annually. Of this amount between 250,000 and 300,000 tonnes are imported, primarily from Chile and Norway. The popularity of salmon is seeing an increase in locally farmed salmonids with over 100 brands from across the country. For instance, in the mountainous region of Nagano in central Japan, a hybrid farmed trout called Shinshu salmon (Shinshu is

the historic name for Nagano) is now being promoting as a food that is typical of the region.

The Shinshu salmon is an allfemale sterile triploid crossbred from a female rainbow trout and male brown trout by the Nagano Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station.

Shinshu salmon’s rich, savoury flavour has been a hit among Japanese consumers both locally and in larger cities like Tokyo and Osaka where restaurants also purchase the fish. When female salmonids store nutrients in their eggs, the quality of their flesh can change, and the taste can

deteriorate temporarily. But since Shinshu salmon do not reproduce, the nutritional resources are not deployed to make eggs. The hybrid also appears to be resistant to diseases that often infect rainbow trout. But most importantly the product looks appealing to consumers and has an excellent taste and melt-inyour-mouth texture. Production of Shinshu salmon has increased from 38 tonnes in 2005 to 415 tonnes in 2018 and the growing interest in salmonid production in the country has been supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

ŠRacool_Studio

Growing hybrid salmon in Japan shows potential

Shinshu salmon is a hybrid species bred from a female rainbow trout and male brown trout.

Spain: Improved bio sanitary control for aquaculture For aquaculture, fish health management is key to the sustainable development of the sector. Bio sanitary control directly affects the health of the fish on the one hand and, on the other, the quality and safety of the food produced while also reducing its environmental footprint. The Spanish aquaculture

sector has proposed launching measures that contribute to the improvement of bio sanitary conditions. Such measures could, for instance, be related to improving the efficiency of vaccination systems. This project, coordinated by the APROMAR Network for Innovation (APROMAR-REMA), aims to

improve the exchange of information and knowledge related to current vaccination practices among the different links in the aquaculture value chain (farms, veterinary laboratories, feed manufacturing companies, and technology centers). The project will run until the end of the year with participation

from marine and terrestrial fish farmers, feed producers, veterinary product manufacturers, the Spanish Federation of Health Defense Groups (FEADSA) and the technological centers, Aquaculture Technology Center (CTAQUA) and the Cluster of Galician Aquaculture (CETGA).

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ] Norway: Three out of four want to eat more seafood Analyst at the Norwegian Seafood Council.

The Seafood Consumer Index, an annual study performed on behalf of the Norwegian Seafood Council, has surveyed seafood consumer preferences and behaviours of more than 25,000 respondents from 25 markets, and is the world’s largest seafood consumer study. “This year’s study offers interesting insight into how the corona pandemic may affect the future market for seafood. The pandemic has changed our everyday habits, definitely short-term, but many of these changes could also manifest themselves long term. For example, we see increased focus on healthy eating, and this is a great opportunity for seafood. Findings differ somewhat between regions and from market to market, but almost unanimously people are saying they would like to eat more seafood than they do today,“ said Dr Lars Moksness, Seafood

Whilst there is a unanimous desire to eat more seafood across different markets, the reasons differ. Health and taste are overall the main drivers for consumption, but there is a growing focus on sustainability and food safety. Asian markets lead the way, with 90 of consumers in China and Thailand “stronglyâ€? or “completelyâ€? agreeing with the wish to eat more seafood than done today. In Europe, 80  of respondents in Portugal, Europe’s top seafood consumer per capita, say they would like to eat more fish than today, and 81  say the same in Italy. It is interesting that in markets and age groups where people are already eating a lot of seafood, they want to eat even more.

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People wanting more seafood in their diets need inspiration and easy access to seafood.

The study shows only around half the respondents report eating seafood two or more times per week, which is the recommended amount according to many health authorities. These results are encouraging and offer potential for the seafood sector.

However, forming new habits take

more than just desire to change, as factors like price, availability, and knowledge, also play important roles. Communicating the benefits of seafood and providing inspiration and products to make it easy for consumers to act upon this desire can help people include more seafood in their diets.

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ]

James Corwell, a master chef, and David Benzaquen, the CEO, who launched Ocean Hugger at the end 2017 with their product “Ahimi�, a tuna alternative made from tomato, sesame oil, water, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce have been forced to close down operations. The company showed great momentum following participation at the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) annual show signing deals with Nishimoto Trading Company, a Japanese distribution titan, and Whole Foods, who placed their products on ready-to-go shelves next to pre-packaged sushi.

The company also introduced

another product, an awardwinning eel alternative dubbed Unami, based on aubergine and using a patent-pending process to simulate the firm texture of sushi. The company distributed to Europe through Harro Foods and NTC Wismettac Europe.

Expanding its distribution to university and business cafeterias along with restaurants proved to be an ill-timed gamble as the spread of covid-19 hit foodservice customers extra hard. “We believe that the need for sustainable, ethical, and healthy food offerings has never been more critical, and that the opportunity for businesses addressing this

ŠOcean Hugger Foods

USA: Plant-based seafood maker forced to shuts down activities

With its tomato- and aubergine-based tuna, and eel alternatives, the company has proved the potential of plant-based “seafood�.

need is extraordinarily promising. While we mourn the loss of our business and so many others to the terrible pandemic facing our communities, we hope that

our success as a pioneer in plantbased seafood will inspire new entrepreneurs to take action on behalf of our oceans,� the company stated.

Russia well on its way to substitute salmonid imports with domestic production Trout producer Kala Ranta on Lake Ladoga, outside St. Petersburg, had a visit from Russia’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Ilya Shestakov. With a 4,000tonne annual capacity Kala Ranta is Russia’s largest producer. During his visit Mr Shestakov stated that salmon production had grown by more than 36 from 2018 to 2019 reaching almost 91,000 tonnes. Production has more than doubled compared to 2014 when Russia applied import restrictions in response to sanctions imposed by the west. The Deputy Minister highlighted the country’s aim to develop fish production, as agreed in November 2019, and to increase salmonid production in the region to 120,000 tonnes before 2030. “We are almost close to replacement,â€?

Mr Shestakov said, indicating the wish to fill the market with domestic salmon. The additional 30,000 tonnes are expected to be produced using recirculation

systems.

Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery stated that Russia is close to having replaced imports of salmonids.

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ] Chinese fishing is making Africa poor The Chinese fishing fleet, the largest in the world, is even larger than thought. With a distant water fleet of at least 12,490 vessels nearly 17,000 vessels are estimated to have the capacity to fish beyond China’s national waters, The Spectator reports. New figures compiled by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London show that the Chinese fleet is much larger than the 3,432 vessels it was assumed to be in 2014. The largest registry of Chinese vessels outside China is in Ghana, with 137 ships according to ODI, making up almost all the trawlers in Ghana. In addition, the trawler agents – the people who profit from arranging the sale of licences to fish are Member of Parliament. At the same time over two million Ghanaians depend directly or indirectly on marine fisheries for income or employment. Incomes of artisanal fishermen have fallen 40 since the turn of the century, according to the ODI report with growing criticism of the damage Ghana’s politicians are doing to their country.

A similar situation prevails in the nine West African countries where, according to World Bank figures, 78 of the 602 foreign trawlers in 2018 were Chinese. The EU and Russia were there before the Chinese

came, doing similar deals with ministers behind the backs of their ministries and scientific advisors.

Russia currently has a fleet of seven factory ships working in Guinea Bissau, estimated to be taking more sardinella, a small pelagic that people depend for protein in West Africa, than the allocated quota.

A large part of the world’s supply of fish is now caught by a Chinese fleet of 12,490 vessels, compared to the European Union’s distant water fleet of around 300 vessels and the US with around 230. The latest figures show just how much of a challenge China faces in limiting its fleet to 3,000 vessels, as it promised to do by 2020 at world trade talks in 2017.

In Senegal, local fishing groups wrote the President opposing proposals to grant licences to more than 50 Chinese trawlers to fish under the Senegalese flag. Around 600,000 people depend on the declining resources of Senegal’s continental shelf. The 50 Chinese vessels, the letter pointed out, would be fishing the same over-exploited resources such as sardinella, horse mackerel, and ground fish. The most recent scientific assessment recommends catches of 3,000 tonnes of hake, of which 1,750 tonnes have already

Overfishing by foreign fleets will not only affect the fish but will have global consequences.

been granted to the European Union under a controversial ‘partnership agreement’. The Senegalese fisheries minister turned down all 50 trawler licences at the weekend in a move that one must hope will start a regional trend.

West African waters produce catches of 440,000 tonnes a year for foreign fishing vessels, worth USD1.2 billion (~EUR1.07 billion).

The sad fact is that the traceable revenue that foreign vessels bring to the nine countries is less than 4 per cent of this value. Payments for fishing licences boost the income of few but bring little or no benefit to local people. The impact on local fishing communities is unsustainable and a factor driving migration into the EU. Yet this foreign fleet, which takes the best fish, gets through USD280

million (EUR250 million) worth of fuel a year – according to one fisheries expert’s calculations, which is likely to mean it is heavily subsidised.

The refuelling of Chinese trawlers is done by offshore vessels which also keeps that money out of local economies. Tragedy looms for fish stocks and fishing communities unless African politicians learn to say no to foreign trawlers. A hundred million people depend on the protein from small pelagic fish such as sardinella, fished by 330,000 local fishermen.

But the amount of small pelagics in the catches of the foreign trawlers has risen to 75 per cent because they have caught nearly all the bottom fish.

It will, ultimately, be a tragedy for the Chinese too, who already complain they are not making money because there are too few fish. A lose-lose situation.

Free trade agreement with Vietnam agreed upon The free trade agreement between the European Union and Vietnam, known as EVFTA, will come into effect on August 1, the Vietnamese government has stated. The deal will allow for more Vietnamese seafood products to enter the EU. Vietnam’s National Assembly approved the deal at the beginning of June following the agreement by its counterparts

A free trade deal will make importing Vietnamese seafood products cheaper and easier.

in the European Parliament in February.

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[ INTERNATIONAL NEWS ] Covid-19 affects ďŹ sh consumption in Lithuania Lithuania has seen a significant decrease in the consumption of fish according to the Ministry of Agriculture, as a result of limited supply caused by the coronavirus. Processing facilities have been seriously affected which has meant that retailers, such as supermarkets, have had difficulties sourcing their usual stock of seafood products. At the same time fishermen and wholesalers, at the other end of the value chain, are also affected since they do not have buyers. This has not only had a negative impact on sales, but has also resulted in additional costs for storing the excess fish.

To alleviate the financial burden on the fishermen, Lithuania’s state

tax authority has delayed tax collection without charging interest.

In addition, the Fisheries Department has allied itself with the Investment and Business Guarantees (INVEGA) to offer loans and guarantees. The Fisheries Department has also adjusted the 2020 schedule for the 2014-2020 Operational Programme so that when submitting a grant application, the approval of the financial institutions for granting the loan is not required, which in turn reduces payments to 15 working days if successful. Payments in advance have been shortened to 8 days and beneficiaries are obliged to pay their suppliers within 3 working days. If necessary, beneficiaries may also extend the support period for up to 12 months. The

The rights to UK ďŹ sheries belong to the public The UK Government has made a significant declaration in the UK Fisheries Bill proceedings on the ownership of the UK fisheries, stating that the public and not businesses or industry, owns the right to fish in UK waters. An amendment was added to the bill stating that the right to fish would be acknowledged to be public ownership. Crown ownership of the UK fishery for the benefit of the public is a significant step forward. With this amendment accepted by the government, it is difficult to justify giving quota free to a group of interests who do not necessarily fish in the most environmentally acceptable way, said a lawyer at the University of the West of England. Greenpeace has reported that just five families control 29 of the UK’s fishing quota. Similarly, the BBC calculated that more than half of the value of English quota, around

GBP160 million (~EUR178m) were harvested by vessels from companies based in Iceland, Spain and the Netherlands. The Coastal Producers Organisation which represents 78 of the UK fleet with vessels up to 10 meters in length, have access to less than 2 of the national quota.

The new UK Fisheries Bill will revolutionise the quota system which currently favours large-scale fishermen.

The collapse of the supply chain has affected fishermen; the Ministry of Agriculture is doing what it can to help them back on track.

ministry has sped up the implementation of available measures along with payments while still facilitating the submission of

applications. Additional measures are under development to compensate fishermen for losses due to fishing restrictions.

EUMOFA releases report on EU market trends for seabass European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is one of the most valuable fish species caught in Europe and represents more than 10 of the landing value for small vessels with the Netherlands (50) and France (40) topping the list. A new report released by the European Commission and the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EUMOFA) highlights the main market trends for wild seabass in Europe, including the fleets’ economic dependency on seabass, the impact of recreational fisheries, as well as the significant market segmentation depending on production methods (wildcaught or farmed), size of the catch and type of gear used. Commercial catches are dominated by France and the UK. The two main stocks of seabass are the northern and the southern stocks with a third smaller stock located in the West of Scotland and the West of Ireland,

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Hook-and-line-caught seabass can retail for up to EUR35/kg on the French market.

and a fourth around the Iberian Peninsula. Recreational fisheries for seabass are also significant taking a quarter of the total landings (commercial and recreational) of the southern stock and about 14 of the northern. The report is freely available at www.eumofa.eu

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09/07/20 2:17 PM

[ EVENTS ] Seafood Expo Asia, 18-20 November, Singapore

Seafood Expo Asia jilts Hong Kong for Singapore Seafood Expo Asia, the seafood industry’s marketplace for Asia, organised by DiversiďŹ ed Communications, connects more than 7,500 global suppliers and buyers each year, providing industry professionals the opportunity to source all types of seafood products and services, as well as to explore the latest trends in seafood.

A

sia is the largest seafood producing region and one of the largest seafood consuming regions in the world.

Production relies heavily on a robust fish farming sector, which on average delivers over 85 of the world’s total volumes of aquaculture production, and a complex network of small-scale and artisanal harvesters and farmers, as well as ocean-going fleets. The region has attractive business prospects because it is large and growing. The size is evidenced by its global two-way trade - Asia is the world’s largest seafood importer and exporter. Its trade in seafood, processing equipment and related goods and services is highly diversified and every seafood company with an interest in expanding internationally is interested in the Asia region.

Suppliers and buyers to benefit from re-location‌ Traditionally held in Hong Kong, this year Seafood Expo Asia will move to Singapore—an important business hub for global trade.

The country’s geographic location enables easy access to over 400 cities worldwide, connecting major trade flows between Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Singapore also has a strong reputation as a

preferred destination for business events and can provide the seafood community space and platforms for growing the business.

Driven by the feedback from the customers on the potential of the Asian seafood market, as well as by third-party research which reaffirmed the growing need for buyers in these markets to meet international seafood suppliers, Diversified Communications chose Singapore to host Seafood Expo Asia. The move will reinforce Seafood Expo Asia’s position in connecting international seafood suppliers and Asian buyers in the epicentre of the robust seafood markets and provide the exhibitors and buyers the opportunity to connect and further explore business potential throughout Asia.

Hosting the event later in the year, and as the Asian economy reopens, presents the opportunity for seafood suppliers and buyers to capture year-end business and prepare for the year ahead.

‌as well as from co-location The 2020 edition of Seafood Expo Asia will be co-located with Asia Fruit Logistica, the leading continental trade show for Asia’s fresh produce business. Asia Fruit Logistica 2019 brought more than 12,000 trade professionals from all over

Seafood Expo Asia will be hosted by Singapore later in 2020 to capitalise on Asian economies opening up again after the pandemic.

the world to meet and do business in fresh fruits and vegetables with over 800 exhibitors from 40 countries. The co-location will facilitate the sourcing requirement of perishable food procurement professionals. Both trade shows share the same ambition of providing business stability to the retail and foodservice sectors in the Asian market. Together the events will offer a convenient one-stop sourcing location for international buyers in Asia who are looking for global suppliers of all types of seafood, as

05_NEWS EV.indd 13

well as fresh fruits and vegetables, and at the same time will deliver a safe and healthy forum for the perishable food sector.

Seafood Expo Asia will feature an exhibit floor with international suppliers of fresh, chilled, frozen, canned, and value-added seafood products as well as services, and a conference program covering the most relevant industry topics in Asia. For more information and event updates please visit www. seafoodexpo.com/asia.

10/07/20 11:54 AM

[ EVENTS ] Regional workshop in Turkey on climate change impacts on Central Asian ďŹ sheries and aquaculture

Economic, social, and environmental structures under threat FISHCaP, a regional capacity development project to improve sustainable ďŹ sheries and aquaculture management in Central Asia, is funded by the Government of Turkey and implemented by the FAO under the FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture. The project targets Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan and aims to increase regional capacities to address the sustainable exploitation, management, protection, and development of freshwater resources for sustainable ďŹ sh production. ŠFAO 2020

C

hanging climate will have serious implications for the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and thereby for global food security and for the livelihoods of millions of people. The first regional workshop of the FISHCap project has been dedicated to this topic. More than sixty experts from the project’s target countries as well as from FAO participated in the two-day webinar organized on 23 and 24 June 2020 to address these challenges and share national experiences. The event was organized in cooperation with the Bogazici University Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies, a research centre in Istanbul, Turkey, conducting interdisciplinary research on the impacts of climate change on regions such as the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Mr Altug Atalay opened the webinar focused on climate change adaptation in front of over sixty experts.

Accurate predictions on climate change in the region are difficult to make

in fisheries and aquaculture management, academics and researchers involved in climate change issues, as well as fish farmers and representatives of fishers and fish farmers’ organisations.

Speakers at the webinar provided an overview of the status and impacts of climate change on aquaculture and fisheries in Central Asia and the Caucasus and discussed potential adaptation and mitigation activities. Participants included government staff, decision-makers

The main topics discussed were the impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems, on fisheries and aquaculture, and on water resources in Central Asia, the international response to climate change; economic instruments for combating climate

change; Turkish aquaculture stakeholders’ perceptions of climate change; and climate-smart fisheries and aquaculture. The workshop noted that climate change poses considerable risks to aquatic ecosystems, and to social and economic systems in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Turkey. Examples of future projections of temperature, precipitation, drought, and aridity over these areas were presented

by Professor Kurnaz, head of the management board at Bogazici

University, who stressed that the lack of long-term historical data in these areas in most cases makes it difficult to make climate change predictions. Haydar Fersoy, Senior fisheries and aquaculture officer at the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, concluded that despite serious challenges, there exist certain opportunities and encouraging signs of increased political commitments and general public awareness regarding climate change in the region.

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10/07/20 11:54 AM

[ AQUACULTURE ] Biotechnology can accelerate developments in aquaculture

Consumers need more information about the beneďŹ ts offered by today’s technologies Advances in biotechnology are opening up new opportunities that can beneďŹ t aquaculture, too, making it more efďŹ cient, more environmentally friendly, and more sustainable. The potential is enormous, but not all biotechnological methods and tools ďŹ nd acceptance in the public domain. Some consumers even reject genetic engineering outright. However, genetic engineering is only one of many opportunities that biotechnology offers us.

F

ish and seafood are important protein sources for human nutrition. However, fishing yields cannot be increased at will and one third of commercially exploited fish stocks are already overfished.

This development has led to a rapid upturn in global aquaculture which now already accounts for more than half of the aquatic food supply to markets around the world. This is a significant achievement, but it is linked to profound changes in aquaculture practices. Traditional farming methods are increasingly being replaced by highly productive technologies that are geared to the rapid growth of the fish, and this often requires deep interventions in their life cycle.

These developments in aquaculture can be compared to those in agriculture in the 1950s. Like the “green revolution� in agriculture, the “blue revolution� in aquaculture is having significant environmental and social impacts.

Both agriculture and aquaculture use intensive monoculture systems in which individual species are produced in limited habitats with high densities, often leading to problems with diseases and

parasites, pesticide and chemical use, and locally posing a threat to ecological balance and the genetic diversity of individual wild populations.

markets and meeting the protein needs of the growing world population. Faster growth and higher resistance to disease,

In the controversial public debates about the benefits and risks, advantages and disadvantages of biotechnology, the focus is usually on genetic engineering.

Since November 2015 at the latest – that was when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to the genetically modified Aqua Advantage Salmon from Aqua Bounty which grows to market size in one and a half instead of three years – many people have seen their fears confirmed that the last inhibition thresholds have now fallen and genetically modified organisms (GMO) will soon dominate the markets. Critics of aquaculture paint a distorted picture of this industry, accusing it of purely profit-oriented decision-making and too willing acceptance of possible risks to the environment and consumer health. Apart from the fact that this assumption isn’t true they deliberately ignore the advantages that transgenic fish would have for supplying

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more usable muscle meat and greater temperature tolerance are just a few of the most significant advantages.

10/07/20 3:02 PM

[ AQUACULTURE ] Biotechnological processes help increase fish production while at the same time reducing the environmental and economic costs of aquaculture. What until recently was a topic for research is now often already being used in practice. The applications enabled by biotechnology range from effective breeding methods that enable rapid genetic advances, through the development of alternative feeds, to highly successful diagnostic and therapeutic methods that open up fascinating possibilities for preventing and combating diseases. And we are still only at the beginning of these developments which will probably revolutionise aquaculture in the foreseeable future.

The changes not only affect individual areas but also, and more generally, the way in which fish and seafood will be produced in the future.

Gene editing simplifies genetic interventions New findings have in recent times considerably expanded the spectrum of biotechnological methods.

For example, alternatives have been found for certain methods that are rejected by parts of the public, and they will now likely have a greater chance of acceptance. Instead of the often contested gene transfer (in which genetic material is transferred from one organism to another in order to overcome species barriers that nature created over very large time scales in the course of evolution) it would in many cases be possible to use gene editing technology. This genetic engineering strategy also intervenes in the genetic material by modifying the “genome� of the organism but in contrast to gene transfer it usually only manipulates the species-specific

Cell and tissue cultures from aquatic plants or marine algae produce a variety of substances, some of which may be of use in pharmaceutical products.

genome. Special techniques are used to delete or replace sections of a gene. Among the currently particularly promising gene editing technologies for aquaculture one procedure, abbreviated to CRISPR / Cas9, stands out. The CRISPR /

Cas9 procedure represents a kind of “gene scissors� with which the hereditary molecule DNA in the fertilized fish egg can be cut in a specific place (usually within the desired target gene). The cell recognizes the inflicted injury and repairs

06_AQUACULTURE (AQ).indd 16

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[ AQUACULTURE ] identify which phenotypic characteristics are influenced and controlled by them. The more precise our knowledge of the relationships and dependencies between genotype and phenotype is, the greater the chances of success in breeding performance-enhanced strains and breeding lines. On the other hand, gene editing can also be used for precision breeding, for example to specifically implement the necessary genetic sequences in fish populations that lack certain desirable traits. This is done without “genetic dilution� of other important phenotypic traits, as is hardly avoidable with conventional breeding methods.

Some methods are already proving themselves in practice Basically, aquaculture animals are particularly well suited to

biotechnological processes because they are usually very fertile, i.e. they produce large quantities of gametes (eggs and sperm), fertilisation usually takes place outside the body, and the offspring can be reared under “artificial� conditions (“in vitro�).

This opens up some worthwhile approaches for numerous biotechnological strategies such as the use of sex-reversal hormones to control reproduction or to make animals sterile, improve their growth, increase environmental tolerance, or suppress certain behavioural expressions such as aggressiveness.

Biotechnological developments already used in aquaculture include synthetic hormones that are used, among other things, for the induction of sexual maturity, for the production of “mono sex stocks�, and for polyploidy breeding.

In many companies biotechnological methods are already used routinely for analyses and controls in the production process.

the damage independently. Since after the repair the DNA sequence often differs from the original version this method can be used to disrupt or prevent the expression of functional proteins. In contrast to gene transfer, gene editing does not involve the transfer of foreign DNA from other organisms and its integration into the target genome, i.e. it does not produce a transgenic organism. This method could therefore stand a better chance of being accepted by consumers.

CRISPR / Cas9 technology has already been applied successfully to some fish species in aquaculture, e.g. Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, catfish, tilapia and carp. However, a prerequisite for improvements in production characteristics is that they are significantly regulated by a single gene.

For example, the elimination of

the dead-end gene (dnd) makes the fish sterile and by modifying the myostatin gene (mstn), muscle growth can be increased. The content of the omega 3 fatty acid EPA in the fillet can be increased via the fatty acid elongase gene (elovl2). However, some of these mechanisms are not yet completely understood and the need for research remains high. In fish whose mstn gene has been switched off the entire immune system is often impaired, which makes them more susceptible to disease. Disorders of the elvol2 gene alter fat metabolism.

Despite these problems, however, gene editing has such convincing advantages that its broad practical application – particularly in breeding – is definitely worthwhile.

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On the one hand, by switching off specific genes it is easier to

06_AQUACULTURE (AQ).indd 17

10/07/20 3:02 PM

[ AQUACULTURE ] Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) in particular has proven to be a universal biotechnological tool in fish farming. GnRH is a key hormone that initiates the cascadelike release of further hormones (e.g. LH and FSH) from the pituitary gland in fish and other vertebrates. Of the more than a dozen structurally clarified GnRH variants, about two thirds have been isolated from fish species. The best known of these is the salmon GnRH analogue which is used worldwide in commercial fish farming under the name “Ovaprim�. Without this hormone many fish species in aquaculture could not be made ready for spawning and reproduced. Biotechnological methods are also used for some “genome manipulations� (“chromosome engineering�) such as the production of tri- and tetraploid animals and gyno- and androgenesis. The classical methods for manipulating chromosome sets (polyploidization) use thermal processes (cold or heat shocks), hydrostatic pressure or chemical treatments (e.g. colchicine, cytochalasin B) to produce tri- or tetraploid animals.

Triploids can also be produced by crossing tetraploids with normal diploid organisms. Triploid fish are sterile and put the feed energy into growth rather than gonad maturation and reproduction. This works not only with fish but also with invertebrates such as oysters.

Triploid Pacific oysters are sterile and grow 15 to 150 better than comparable diploid oysters. During gynogenesis, the male genome of the sperm is inactivated so that the development of the animals is controlled exclusively by the maternal heritage.

In aquaculture, it can also be useful to influence the sex of the animals held if only one of the sexes, i.e. either male or female, possesses the economically desirable characteristics. Monosex populations can

The practical application of biotechnology requires special equipment, devices and apparatus as well as highly qualified personnel.

be created by hormonal sex reversal with sexual steroids in the early stages before sex differentiation begins or by genetic methods.

Monosex is common practice for tilapia, for example, because male animals grow faster and to larger sizes than females. Apart from that, tilapia held in mixed populations mature very early, hardly grow at all and reproduce uncontrollably.

In the case of salmon and sturgeon, females are preferred because they grow better and provide the coveted caviar.

Precision breeding moves into the realm of the feasible Classical selection programmes will continue to be the decisive driving force for breeding improvements worldwide but biotechnological methods are becoming more and more important for both short- and long-term strategies. Compared to farm animals, domestication in fish is not yet very far advanced, and there is considerable potential for genetic improvement in commercially

important species. Breeding programmes exist at different levels, for example, for Atlantic salmon, carp, gilthead seabream, hybrid striped bass, tilapia, sea bass and rohu carp. The focus is usually on growth rate which can be improved by up to 20 per generation in particularly good breeding lines.

Disease and stress resistance, late onset of maturity, and meat quality are also important selection targets. In the case of short-term strategies for genetic improvements biotechnological processes enable rapid progress. Genome mapping, which shows the relative positions of genes in the chromosome, and DNA markers facilitate the selection of those animals that possess the desired traits and are therefore particularly suitable for breeding.

Marker-assisted selection (MAS), for example, is already used for rainbow trout. Genetic markers can also be used to identify individuals and family groups and keep them in common groups which greatly simplifies breeding programmes.

For certain purposes, especially long-term breeding programmes,

the long-term preservation of biological material can be important.

This is usually done in liquid nitrogen at -196°C (“cryopreservation�).

Cryopreserved spermatozoa may not yet be as important in the fish sector as in agriculture, but there is certainly potential for the use of this biotechnology which could facilitate selective breeding. Especially since this would also solve the problem that males almost always mature before females.

Cryopreservation also enables the preservation of valuable genomes, which will in the future make it possible to set up gene banks for aquaculture.

Molecular genetic diagnoses, genetic markers and DNA fingerprints also benefit consumers because they are highly sensitive and very precise which improves the accuracy of product traceability.

Incorrect labelling, species substitution, undesirable admixtures and other cases of food fraud are identified quickly and without doubt. And not only for whole fish, but also for fillets, frozen products, eggs and larvae or canned products.

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[ AQUACULTURE ]

Sophisticated equipment and very high levels of hygiene are among the investments that biotechnological processes call for.

Optimized feed and effective health protection Important applications of biotechnology in aquaculture include fish nutrition and feed. The importance of biotechnological processes is growing in line with the replacement of fish meal and fish oil in aquatic feeds by alternative raw materials, which often require complex preparation and “pre-processing� before they can be used for fish nutrition purposes. This applies in particular to plant material that is broken down using biotechnological methods in order to reduce the content of harmful or nutritionally inhibiting substances. A worthwhile but complex method is to breed plants that have fewer nutritional inhibiting factors and an amino acid profile that is more suited to fish. Genetically modified yeasts are also produced for fish nutrition. These yeasts contain, for example, significantly more carotenoid pigments, which are indispensable in the breeding of some species. The addition of exogenous digestive enzymes to fish feed has not yet produced the hoped-for benefits. The use of so-called probiotics seems much more promising. They are increasingly replacing antibiotics and they improve the

external microbial environment in ponds and other aquaculture systems. An example of the successful use of probiotics in feed is shrimp cultures where they effectively prevent or inhibit some viral diseases of shrimps.

and microbial methods in aquaculture are far from exhausted.

Microbial communities can, for example, optimise biofiltration and detritus recycling, the nutrient and energy cycles in waters

In the case of viral diseases prevention of the pathogen is crucial. Biotechnological tools such as gene probes and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enable rapid and reliable detection of such pathogens. The enormous increase in aquaculture production of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is largely due to the use of specifically pathogen-free (SPF) and specifically pathogen-resistant (SPR) shrimp on farms. In addition to molecular diagnostic detection methods and immunostimulants, vaccines that protect fish and shellfish from dangerous diseases are increasingly used in the field of fish health. Researchers around the world are working on a new generation of highly effective vaccines that no longer consist of “inactivated pathogens� but of genetically modified microorganisms, protein subunits and DNA fragments.

But even with that the possible applications of biotechnological

06_AQUACULTURE (AQ).indd 19

and thus sustainably support and increase productivity in aquaculture. Biotechnology also has much to offer in the field of “natural product research�, which promises commercially valuable pharmaceutical products such as pigments, oils, sterols, alginates and agarose from micro- and macroalgae. Many of these developments are still in their infancy but the wealth of species (which is many times greater in the oceans than on land) already raises enormous hopes. Only recently, researchers isolated compounds from the blood plasma and tissue extracts of horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) that have been shown in laboratory tests to have the potential to inhibit and destroy human colon cancer cells and malignant melanoma cells. mk

10/07/20 3:03 PM

DENMARK

Being a coastal ďŹ sher in Denmark has become more attractive

Regulatory conditions have improved the last years The regulatory framework under which the small-scale ďŹ shery in Denmark operates has gone through several changes over the last years. The revisions seek to secure its future, make it even more sustainable, and give young people an incentive to join.

Coastal fishermen in Denmark can look forward to a new label currently being discussed in parliament that will certify their catch as environmentally friendly.

I

t is just after 05.30 as the vessel leaves the harbour on a clear calm morning at the end of May. The sea is utterly still and Morten Krogh, a young coastal fisher, busies himself in the cabin pulling on oilskins and filling out his logbook as the boat pulls out.

The vessel is sailing from VedbĂŚk,

north of Copenhagen, along the Sound (Ă˜resund), the narrow channel of water between the west coast of southern Sweden and northern part of Zealand, the largest Danish island.

VedbĂŚk is one of some 50 Danish harbours that are part of

havfriskfisk (literally, sea-fresh fish). Started in 2012, it is a

website (havfriskfisk.dk) that enables consumers interested in

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DENMARK

The net hauler pulls the net on board, a task performed by the fisher himself in bygone days.

fish straight from the sea to sign up to receive a text message. The sms announces the arrival time of the vessel and the species for sale. The species vary slightly from season to season but cod and plaice are staples with turbot, brill, mackerel, and the odd sea trout available in spring and early summer, as well as cod and lumpfish roe in the first quarter of the year. Fishers like Morten Krogh use the facility to sell their catch to consumers without involving middlemen—a win-win situation for fisher and consumer alike.

Gillnetting, a low-impact fishing method Mr Krogh is a member of the association for low-impact coastal fishing (Foreningen for Skånsomt Kystfiskeri) a group of coastal fishers that uses gear, mostly gillnets,

which has little or no impact on the environment. The association has been at the forefront of efforts to get a better deal for coastal fishers, in particular those using lowimpact gear. A gillnet is essentially a wall of netting in the water at the desired depth. The wall is stretched by a buoy and an anchor at either end and is kept vertical thanks to floats on the top edge (the floatline) and weights at the bottom (the groundline). According to the FAO, gillnets are generally selective in terms of the species they catch depending on the mesh size, though there are concerns that they entangle seabirds in some area.

Also, if gillnets go adrift, they continue ghost fishing as the filament that they are made of takes a long time to degrade, and when it does, it adds to plastic pollution in the water. On the other hand, gillnet fishing has little physical impact on

the sea floor and it is fuel efficient as measured by fuel consumption per kilo of fish. The gear itself is relatively inexpensive making it a favoured choice among artisanal and small-scale fishermen. Mr Krogh attended a fishing school in Thyboron on the Danish mainland’s west coast where students get to try different kinds of fisheries to see which suits them best.

On graduating he spent a year on a trawler fishing with bottom trawls for Nephrops. It is a good way of fishing, he says, but it does plough up the seabed. It is also tough on the family; he was at sea for 12 days at a time, 36 hours from land. In the end he elected to move to Zealand and fish with gill nets from Vedbæk, which he has been doing for the last 12 years. Now, he grins, I go out four or five times a week depending on the weather and am back at 13.00in time to pick up the kids.

07_DENMARK (DK).indd 21

Nets are typically emptied every 24 hours giving a very fresh high-quality product As the vessel sails north along the coast the first of his buoys heave into view. The nets they signpost are about 4.5 high with a 75 mm mesh. They are usually set in the evening, before sundown, to target the cod that head towards the coast as daylight fades to feed on crabs and then swim back out to sea in the morning. Ideally the nets should be emptied every 24 hours to get the best quality fish. If they stay longer than that, the fish can perish in the nets and are no longer quite as fresh when landed. However, a bit further north, he uses trammel nets which form a two-layered wall of netting. The mesh size at 80 mm is bigger than that of the gill nets

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DENMARK

As the fish come on board they are disentangled from the net and placed in a basket all in a matter of seconds.

and so are the fish that are caught.

Even so they sometimes slip back into the sea when being landed on board, which is why he likes keeping these nets out longer than the gill nets. The fish are then more firmly entangled in the net, reducing the chances of losing them. The sea has a lot of muck in it at the moment, he says, and if the nets are in the water for too long, they trap some of this detritus, mainly seaweed but also jellyfish, and have to be cleaned. With the trammel nets he has to weigh the different factors to decide how long he should keep the nets in the water. Marked buoys and flags signal the position of the nets and while all fishers use similar equipment, Mr Krogh is confident that he would recognise his gear under any circumstances.

However, as a backup, the position of all his nets is also recorded on the echo sounder.

As the vessel approaches the first net he prepares the deck; stacked fish boxes are shifted, a metal surface that functions as a table is placed under the net hauler, and the area where the empty net will be stored gets a brief inspection.

Everything has to be shipshape so that as far as possible nothing interrupts the burst of high voltage activity that the arrival of the net on board will engender.

The net is threaded through the net hauler, an electrically operated pully that pulls the net on board and feeds it to the fisherman. As the net arrives on the table the still-wriggling fish are disentangled one at a time, a pro-

cess that can take a few minutes, sorted by species, graded roughly by weight, and tossed into waiting baskets. Flounder is returned to the sea; it does not fetch anything on the market and it usually survives its period of confinement in the net. One hapless specimen, however, gets nabbed by a gull before it hits the water and is swallowed whole! Cod, brill, turbot, mackerel, the occasional sea trout, and plaice are all welcomed aboard. The fish must conform to minimum size requirements for which Morten Krogh has a scale on board. But he has the numbers in his head and can assess the size of a fish just by looking at it, so it rarely leaves its place. As the net surrenders its contents, it is roughly untangled and stowed away. The process is continuous,

suspended only briefly at intervals, when the fish come in faster than the fisher can remove them.

Once all 25 m of the net has been processed it is run through a second machine which further untangles it and also removes any debris from the sea that may still adhere to the mesh.

Coastal fishers’ primary species, cod, is in poor shape in the Baltic Nets are set depending on the currents, and the areas he places his nets vary from season to season. The trick is to find a place that is shielded from the currents, he says. There is no limit to the number of nets a commercial fisher can deploy, but the amount of fish that is caught is regulated

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DENMARK

A ruler with the minimum lengths of several species of fish. Experienced fishers can assess the length just by looking at the fish and have memorised the different minimum lengths.

by his quotas. Like many coastal fishers, Mr Krogh’s livelihood depends on catching cod, quotas for which have been falling steadily and often abruptly. In 2020 for instance the TAC (Total Allowable Catch) for cod in the Western Baltic plunged 60 to 3,806 tonnes. This sudden fall in the TAC is something of a mystery for him as his catches of cod have been stable and the size of the individual fish is generally good.

Skinny cod seen in other parts of the Baltic is not something he has experienced. But a recent report* from the Department of Food Resource Economics describing the status of Danish fisheries points to cod in the Baltic Sea as one of the stocks that is in very poor health despite a reduction

in fishing pressure since 2000.

In the western Baltic, three indicators morality, spawning stock biomass, and the marine environment are all described as “not good,” while in the eastern Baltic parasite infestations, predation by seals, hypoxia, and a lack of feed have contributed to skinny fish, a spawning stock biomass at historically low levels, and the almost complete absence of large individuals. ICES subdivision 23, the Sound, where Mr Krogh lays his nets, together with subdivisions 22 and 24, are home to the Western Baltic cod stock, which in SD24 coexists with the Eastern Baltic stock. Cod catches in SD23 at 1,167 tonnes in 2019 were 15 of total cod catches in subdivisions 22-24. In the Sound fishing with

trawls is banned and commercial catches are mainly with gill nets set by Danish and Swedish fishers. The trawling ban, which has been in place since 1932, may be partly responsible for the normal-sized and not skinny fish landed by fishers in the Sound.

After a long struggle, the coastal fishery may have turned the corner The coastal fishery in Denmark has been the subject of much debate in recent years. It has been hailed for its social and economic contribution to small coastal communities and for its generally environmentally benign way of fishing. Yet the introduction of individual trans

07_DENMARK (DK).indd 23

ferable quotas in the mid-2000s led to quotas being bought up by larger vessel owners and landings being concentrated in the largest harbours. A report from the National Audit Office (Rigsrevisionen) in 2017 found that the quota share of the 16 largest owners of pelagic fish quotas increased from 53 in 2012 to 66 in 2017, while in the demersal fishery, the quota share of the 10 largest quota owners increased from 40 in 2011 to 47 in 2017. According to Statistics Denmark, in 2018, 77 of the fleet’s gross output per vessel came from vessels larger than 18 m up from 74 in 2011 and there was a corresponding decline in gross output per vessel among the sub-18 m vessels

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The fish are sorted by species and graded by size. Here, good portion-sized brill.

from 22 to 18 in the same period. Similarly, 246 small harbours attracted a landed value of DKK190 m, while the 5 largest had DKK2.3bn in landings.

The big owners gain advantages purely through their size.

According to Hanne Winter, a biologist and political advisor to the association for lowimpact coastal fishing, for a big fishing company it is easier to get low-cost loans from banks, than it is for a small-scale fisherman. Complying with all the rules governing the fisheries is also more difficult when it is a single fisher in a small vessel at sea for some 115 days in the year than it is for a large quota owner.

These factors could lead to the big players cementing their hold

on the industry and the smaller ones getting increasingly marginalised. In fact, a report in 2016 commissioned by the association for low-impact coastal fishing highlighted that between 2013 and 2015 almost 16 of the smaller vessels fishing with gillnets left the fishery, despite the fact that their quotas were getting larger.

The view from the other side is naturally a bit different. Esben Sverdrup-Jensen is director of the Danish Pelagic Producers’ Organisation which represents 11 vessels, landing approximately 450,000 tonnes of pelagic fish or about half the total Danish fish landings. The fish is used both for industrial purposes

and for human consumption.

According to him, consolidation in the sector following the introduction of transferable quotas in 2002 allowed owners to convert an ageing fleet into one of the world’s most advanced and fuel efficient. Product quality also soared as a result of the modernisation, and today herring, for example, is exported to highly quality-conscious markets in Germany and the Netherlands.

Vessel size and length of trips distinguish coastal fishers from others But what actually defines a coastal fishery? It is in fact not the distance from the coast

that decides whether fishing is coastal, or at least not directly.

Martin Andersen from the Department in the Ministry of Environment and Food works mainly with national regulations and in particular the coastal fisheries scheme. He explains that 80 of the trips must be 48 hours or less, if a fisher wishes to receive the quota premium which is the incentive to join the coastal fishing scheme. In addition, his vessel must be under 17 m. Not all vessels in this length segment use low-impact fishing gear, of the total some three fifths use gill nets and Danish seines and about 30 fish with trawls (2018). The association for lowimpact coastal fishing says that between 2013 and 2015 some 16

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Coastal fishing schemes reverse decline in this fleet segment

A large cod draws a satisfied smile from the busy fisher. On the table is a trammel net, a double layered wall of netting.

of the smaller gillnetting vessels vanished. The association’s concern, voiced in a report from 2016, was that the disappearance of low-impact fishing would have negative consequences for economic activity on land and remove a sustainable fishery with low discard rates and minimal environmental impact as well as eliminate a source of fresh and valuable raw material. The association also argued that gill nets, hooks, and purse seines had the lowest emissions per unit of fish caught. In addition, low impact vessels typically landed their catches in small harbours around the country contributing to the economy in areas where it was needed most.

The association therefore proposed a new model that would give extra quotas to the lowimpact fishing sector.

The concerns of the association resonated at the political level and some three years ago, concerned by the consolidation of

fishing activities in the largest Danish harbours and the concentration of fishing quotas in the hands of a few big players, four parliamentary parties proposed a growth and development package for the fisheries sector that aimed to strengthen the coastal fishing segment and bolster sustainability, among other goals. The proposal enjoined the government to create a closed scheme for coastal fishers that limited the trade of vessel quotas, power, and tonnage to owners within the scheme. Assets could not be transferred or rented to owners outside the scheme. The idea was to secure the future of the coastal fishery by ensuring that these assets stayed within the coastal fishing scheme in perpetuity. While a vessel’s quota, engine capacity, and tonnage once inside the closed scheme could not be traded out, it was possible to acquire these assets from vessels outside the scheme and bring them in.

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The closed scheme supplemented an existing “open” scheme—a temporary three-year arrangement after which the vessel could leave the scheme. The proposal also sought to attract new fishermen to the fisheries sector by offering assistance to establish themselves, additional quotas, and by activating unused capacity. The proposal was also intended to increase the sustainability of coastal fisheries, an ambition accomplished in two ways: by restricting the size of the vessels that could be classified as coastal fishing vessels to 17 m in the open scheme and 15 m in the closed scheme; and by offering additional quotas of cod, sole,

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Anders Hviid

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Political parties have been working together to strengthen the coastal fisheries sector in acknowledgement of its economic, social, and environmental role as well as its cultural and historical importance. Pictured, Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament.

and plaice according to a formula that gave proportionately more weight to vessels fishing with low impact gear. By some measures, the proposal has benefited the coastal fishing sector. The total number of active coastal fishing vessels with an annual turnover above EUR36,000 (DKK270,000) has increased since 2016 by 14 to 184 in 2018 which should be viewed in the context of a 7 fall in vessel numbers in the total Danish fleet. However, the number of low-impact vessels in the

open scheme declined by more than half to 49 vessels over the same period, while the number in the closed scheme, which was introduced in 2017, stayed stable at 35 vessels.

At the end of last year the parties in Parliament agreed to further strengthen the coastal fisheries sector in an acknowledgement of the economic, social, and environmental role it plays as well its cultural and historical importance in many parts of the

country. Although a report from Copenhagen University showed that the coastal fishery had become more robust since 2016 it was also clear that developing the coastal fishery called for a long-term strategy that would secure the future of small harbours, ensure a supply of young people interested in joining the fishery, make the fishery more sustainable, and promote the use of low-impact gear. The agreement retained the two coastal fishing schemes, the temporary

and the permanent, introduced in 2017, although there are many more vessels in the temporary scheme. The agreement uses additional quotas of fish as an incentive to nudge fishers into using low-impact gear and into joining the permanent coastal fishing scheme. It also simplifies the rules governing eligibility for and allocation of these additional quotas.

Other elements in the agreement specify that fishers who fully fish their quotas are

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Trammel nets are a low-impact and selective fishing gear and together will gillnets are used by many coastal fishers.

entitled to a premium, relax certain rules for new fishermen regarding the permanent scheme, and tighten those governing the temporary scheme.

The parties also agreed to a more comprehensive evaluation of the coastal fisheries regulation early in 2022.

Association seeks further measures to strengthen coastal fisheries The association for low-impact coastal fishing, while acknowledging the agreement, made several suggestions at the end

of last year to further strengthen the coastal fishery. Instead of having two coastal fishing schemes, it supports just having the permanent one on the grounds that only this scheme strengthens the coastal fishery by keeping all fishing capacity and quotas within it. The association would also like other vessel categories, such as the less active vessels, to be permitted to join the coastal fishery scheme. It proposes that further incentives should be given to coastal fishermen in the form of unused fishing capacity, priority for support from the EMFF, and targeted assistance to encourage

them to switch to low-impact gear. Justifying the need for these incentives the association points to the number of jobs it creates at sea and on land, and the environmentally-friendly nature of the activity, which makes it a contributor to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Fishing is physically highly demanding—according to the FAO among the most demanding occupations in the world. Mr Krogh concurs; my body is smashed with all the lifting of heavy things and standing in strange positions. On top of that, a net will occasionally get caught

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in the propeller forcing him to hop into the water to disentangle it, a tolerable task in summer, but unpleasant, if not dangerous, most of the rest of the year.

But for him the great attraction is the freedom it affords him to take his own decisions—without that I would not be a fisher, he says.

For the moment however, he is committed. A couple of years ago he invested in a bigger fishing vessel, 3.5 m wide and 9.2 m long, with the possibility to expand the storage space on board with the help of planks placed in a metal frame. The bigger vessel means more space on board making fishing operations easier.

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Efficiency is of the essence The experience he has gained over the years has given him a good sense of his fishing area and the fishery, something that only develops over time and is not something to be given up lightly. It has also made him highly efficient on board. Not a second is wasted as the work demands something from him at all times—bringing the fish on board, cleaning the nets, stacking them, setting them again, sorting the fish, filling out logs, announcing his arrival and the species caught on havfriskfisk. dk and by text message, and, on the way back to the harbour, gutting and icing the fish. The speed of the latter is impressive with just a second or two spent on each fish. One has to be quick, he says, because sometimes there are 700-800 kg of fish on board that have to be cleaned in the half hour or so that it takes to arrive in the harbour. The roe season brings additional chores as it is removed from the cod and lumpfish, weighed, and placed separately in plastic bags, as the two products command a high price. Cod liver, although valuable, is generally too small in quantity to make removing it worthwhile, so it goes out along with the rest of the guts to feed the seagulls.

Lockdown cripples food service sector Coastal fisheries as with other segments in the sector has suffered from the corona pandemic.

The lockdown in Denmark hit the food service sector particularly hard as restaurants, cafes, bars, and hotels were forced to close. The lack of commercial buyers was partly mitigated by consumers who could buy

directly from the fishermen. The first to buy the fish are private consumers. Most are individuals, but there are also buyers for restaurants. Whatever fish is left is sold at an auction. For most customers, the freshness of the fish, support for a local fisherman, and the price, outweigh having to deal with whole round (mackerel) or only gutted (most other species) fish. Mr Krogh gets a slightly higher unit price than he does from the auction, but for a consumer, it is still significantly cheaper than what she would pay a fishmonger or even a supermarket, where the fish can be caught up to two weeks before it is sold. For the rest of the fish, whatever the quantity, he has an arrangement under which a truck picks up the fish and takes it to the auction in Hundested, some 60 km away.

Back in VedbĂŚk harbour the line of people waiting for the vessel to arrive seems longer than usual even considering the need for socially distanced queues. Of course, working from home as a result of the lockdown may have increased the number of consumers who can nip out during the day to buy some freshly caught fish. The pandemic is forecast to reduce the frequency of commuting to work as office-goers discover working from home can be as productive. If this change in lifestyle leads to more private customers for coastal fishermen, it may over time even make up for the loss of commercial buyers during the lockdown. *(Nielsen, M., Dalskov, J., Andersen, J. L., Nielsen, R., Koed, A., Pedersen, J. K., ... Olesen, E. A., (2020). Situationsbeskrivelse af den danske fiskeri-, akvakultur og fiskeindustrisektor: Den EuropĂŚiske Hav- og Fiskerifond 2021-2027, 100 s., IFRO Udredning, Nr. 2019/26)

Danish parliament mulls legislation for certifying products from low-impact fisheries

A state-backed label would be the ďŹ rst of its kind Among the ways envisaged of promoting the use of low-impact gear is by developing a label for consumers. This has been on the association of lowimpact coastal ďŹ shers’ agenda more or less since it was founded in 2014, declares Hanne Winter. The association applied for EU funding to develop the concept—identifying the criteria, deďŹ ning the technical parameters, etc.—and then after working on it for three years handed the whole project over to the ďŹ sheries administration, which had also shown an interest in a label. The proposal for a label, potentially called NaturSkĂĽnsom (roughly, nature-friendly), that is currently wending its way through the legislative process in Parliament is based on four requirements: the use of low-impact gear; vessels below 17 m; 80% of ďŹ shing trips less than 48 hours; and formal training for the ďŹ sher in how to handle ďŹ sh.

However, the issues surrounding such a label are complex—should the criteria be deďŹ ned narrowly so that any catch using low-impact gear qualiďŹ es even if the stock from which the ďŹ sh (or seafood) comes is in poor shape?

Several environmental NGOs have expressed concern that the proposal could promote ďŹ sh and seafood from overďŹ shed stocks with a low-impact label.

Ignoring overďŹ shing, when deďŹ ning criteria that determine whether a product qualiďŹ es for the label, would counter the purpose of the label (to boost coastal ďŹ shers’ revenue) since it would threaten the very stocks on which they depend for their livelihoods. The NGOs have therefore suggested that the legislation should specify that ďŹ sh and seafood classiďŹ ed as threatened or worse by the IUCN will not qualify; and that only products from stocks ďŹ shed at Fmsy as identiďŹ ed by ICES can lawfully use the label. A state-backed label that reects these concerns on the state of the stock and the physical impact of the ďŹ shing gear would be pathbreaking and could become a model for other countries, says Henrike Semmler Le from the WWF. Mogens Jensen, the Minister for Food, Fisheries, and Equal Opportunities, is listening to these concerns but is waiting for more data before evaluating the consequences of extending the remit of the label in the direction urged by the NGOs.

An increasing number of restaurants are interested in locally-caught fish. And if it is a from a low-impact fishery, so much the better.

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Scientists in Denmark come closer to breeding European eel in captivity

Steady progress towards understanding the eel An ongoing project to further knowledge about the European eel and to close the breeding cycle brings together researchers from DTU Aqua and companies interested in farming eels. The work in the project builds on the results from two others also coordinated

by DTU Aqua. SigniďŹ cant progress has been made, but commercial production is probably still a decade away.

T

he European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is in such dire straits that it is included in CITES’ Appendix II, a list of species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompat-

ible with their survival. Under EU legislation it is an Appendix B species, trade in which is permitted but under even stricter conditions than those in Appendix II. Following scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea

(ICES) that warned that the stock of the European eel was outside safe biological limits and that urgently recommended the development of a recovery plan for the entire European eel stock, the EU enacted legislation in 2007 that required Member

States to develop and implement eel management plans.

Research into eel has a long history DTU Aqua, the National Institute of Aquatic Resources, is an

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Sune Riis Sørensen, DTU Aqua

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ITS-EEL researchers at the presentation of results at Aquaculture Europe 2019 in Berlin. Dr Jonna Tomkiewicz, scientific coordinator of ITS-EEL is fourth from right.

institute at the Technical University of Denmark that educates and researches at university level and offers advice on the sustainable exploitation of aquatic resources.

A team comprising researchers from the institute in partnership with several representatives from the private sector is currently working on a project to breed the European eel in captivity. The project, ITS-EEL, builds on the work done in two previous projects, the first of which, PRO-EEL, started a decade ago. But the history of research into eel goes back at least to 2004 when, what was at the time the Danish Eel Producers’ Organisation approached the Danish Fisheries Research Institute, the precursor to DTU Aqua, to initiate

research into a closed production cycle to breed eel. The work today is carried out in Hirtshals on the Danish west coast, where DTU Aqua manages a 650 sq. m facility.

Denmark has a long history of eel farming and in those days production was significantly higher than it is currently. But already then eel farmers had foreseen they would face problems sourcing glass eels in the desired quantities and at affordable prices. They were not wrong—farmed production of eel in Denmark has been declining since 2009 when it was 1,700 tonnes to 450 tonnes in 2018, according to Statistics Denmark.

The farmers were also highly interested in closing the breed-

ing cycle as it removes dependence on wild catches of glass eels enabling a far more predictable production. The experience of farmers cultivating other species, whether trout, salmon, or seabass and seabream also suggested that independence from wild catches made eminent commercial sense.

The challenge was reproducing the eel’s highly complex life cycle in captivity, when there were vast gaps in the knowledge about the species. Breeding eel was therefore unlike farming any of the other species widely cultivated in Europe. To address these issues an international consortium formulated the project PRO-EEL that aimed to breed eel in captivity with a view to contributing to the

development of a self-sustaining farmed production. Among the challenges the project wanted to address was the improvement of methods to induce and finalise gamete development and to understand the nutritional requirements of the female broodstock necessary for the production of healthy eggs and larvae. Among the outcomes of the project was the stable production of viable larvae.

Commercially viable production of eel is the goal PRO-EEL was followed by another project, EEL-HATCH, that also included partners from the private

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Sune Riis Sørensen, DTU Aqua

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Life cycle of European eel including life history stages related to the oceanic and continental phases. The solid line of the inner circle represents the known part in nature, while the dotted line shows the still unknown part. The outer ring illustrates phases of hatchery research and technology development: I Broodstock establishment: dietary requirements and conditioning; II Induction of gametogenesis and broodstock culture technology; III Follicular maturation, ovulation and sperm production; IV Fertilization techniques, egg incubation and embryonic development; V Bio-physical requirements and culture technology; VI Larval ontogeny and dietary requirements; and VII Metamorphosis and glass eel production. Modified from Tomkiewicz et al. 2019.

sector and that focused on developing the larvae to the stage where they begin to feed prior to their transformation into glass eels. The ambition was to develop larval feeding protocols and hatchery technology and to test them at a commercial scale. Dr Jonna Tomkiewicz, Senior Scientist at DTU Aqua, who coordinated both projects, points out that the industry does not benefit from the production of glass eels that are too

expensive to be commercially viable. It is critical therefore to carry out large-scale trials during the project itself rather than subsequently. EEL-HATCH concluded in December 2017 and the results are being followed up on in ITS-EEL, where the goal is to establish larval culture technology for a hatchery production of glass eels for closedcycle European eel aquaculture.

The efforts that are going into studying the eel are intended both to

throw light on a fish, parts of whose lifecycle remain an enigma, as well as to enable a captive breeding programme for aquaculture and possibly for restocking purposes.

Restocking presently assists the wild catch sector whose capture of eel decreased significantly from 423 tonnes in 2010 to 182 tonnes in 2019, reports the Danish Fisheries Agency. For eel is a valuable species—medium-sized eel, smoked, wholesales for EUR47/

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kg in France, according to FAO Globefish’s European Price Report.

Denmark’s exports of eel (in different product forms) has also shrunk with the decline in farmed and capture production. Closing the cycle and breeding the fish in containment thus has potential economic, social, and environmental benefits.

This however is more easily said than done. The European eel is

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Wild-caught broodstock is used to benchmark results obtained from farm-raised eels.

catadromous (migrates from freshwater to the sea to spawn) and semelparous (spawns only once in its lifetime). It has a complex life history, parts of which are still shrouded in mystery, but it is fairly well established that eels spawn in the southwestern part of the Sargasso Sea. This is body of water within the Atlantic Ocean and the only sea in the world without a land boundary. Instead, its borders are defined by currents, the Gulf Stream to the west, the North Atlantic Current to the north, the Canary Current to the east, and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current to the south. When the fertilised eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the yolk sac initially and then graduate to feeding, though precisely what they feed on is yet to be established. Theories abound, says Dr Tomkiewicz, gelatinous plankton and marine snow (organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the ocean to the bottom) are possible candidates, but neither what they eat nor where in the water column they feed is known for certain. The lack of this

kind of knowledge means that the researchers in the ITS-EEL project are often operating in the dark, all the information has to be created by the researchers themselves based on their observations and trials—of feeds, rearing conditions, and microbiology of the water.

Parts of the eel’s life cycle is still a mystery In the wild, the European eel larvae are carried by currents from the Sargasso Sea to the shores of western Europe. It is a long and hazardous journey. As larvae they are feed for predators, such as cod, herring and mackerel, and when they develop into glass eels, the next stage of their lifecycle, they are hunted by fishers in particular from Portugal, Spain, the UK, and France as the fish leave the sea and head upstream. They now enter the growth phase of their lives, when they are called yellow eels, which can last from two to 25 years and culminates when they transform into silver eels. At this stage they begin their long migration back

to the Sargasso Sea, whence they came as larvae, to spawn and then die, an act that has so far not been witnessed. Researchers have established that the development of the ovaries and the testes is controlled by a complex hormonal mechanism. At the start of the migration to the Sargasso Sea, an inhibitory mechanism kicks in to prevent the development of these organs. As the fish approach their destination this mechanism is deactivated allowing the development of these organs to continue and the gametes (eggs and sperm) to form. In captivity (or in European waters), eels do not breed naturally because of this inhibition of the development of their reproductive organs.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies used to breed eels Dr Tomkiewicz explains how she and her colleagues overcome this hurdle. For about two years, until they reach an appropriate size for broodstock, female fish are fed a specially formulated diet which

combines essential fats, proteins, and vitamins in the proportions necessary for the eggs to have the correct ratio of these nutrients. The fish are then transferred to a system where they are subjected to assisted reproduction procedures.

This involves treating them with hormones to induce them to produce gametes and then further with a steroid to provoke maturation and ovulation of the eggs. The eggs are then stripped and mixed with sperm removed from male fish.

These male fish are usually from a local farmer. In a paper* in which she and her colleagues explore four issues: broodstock establishment and dietary requirements; assisted reproduction procedures; fertilisation techniques and incubation technology; larvae culture techniques and dietary requirements, Dr Tomkiewicz notes that comparisons between wild and farmed broodstock reproductive success, such as fertilisation and hatching success and larval deformities, show that while the provenance of females matters, the male fish’s origin does not have a significant influence on these factors. Therefore, studies focus on female diets and assisted reproduction protocols in order to enhance egg quality and the production of healthy offspring, thereby reducing proportions of offspring with deformities—an issue to be considered when breeding eels.

The fertilised eggs are incubated and hatch after two days. The larvae feed on the yolk sac for the first 10 to 14 days (within the limits, the lower the water temperature the longer the yolk sac lasts). During this phase, the researchers studied the influence of temperature, light, salinity, and microbial activity with a view to improving rearing conditions and thereby survival rates.

They established that temperature influenced several traits including time to hatch, hatching success,

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EEL-HATCH facility managed by DTU Aqua in collaboration with industrial partners

and incidence of deformities, and that 18-20 degrees C was the optimal level for higher growth, fewer deformities, and lower stress.

Mapping the factors that affect successful embryo/larva production Light affected both embryos and yolksac larvae, and after studying the reactions the researchers concluded that both did best under a 12 hour:12 hour light/dark photoperiod and low-intensity light regime, and, in addition, larval survival was better under red light than under green or white light. Although eels can tolerate a wide range of salinities (euryhaline) and, being catadromous, their eggs and larvae develop in salt water, the researchers found that gradually reducing salinity improved growth and led to a four-fold increase in survival. This they attributed to the creation of an energy surplus due to the reduction in metabolic demands from osmoregulation. This excess energy may be used for somatic development resulting in improved survival and growth efficiency. Lowering salinity also reduced deformities such as spinal curvature and emaciation. These results enabled the researchers to improve incubation and larval culture technologies and

produce large numbers of healthy larvae. In spring 2019 over a period of five months they produced 5.5m larvae, while this year they have more than 200,000 going into feeding experiments.

Identifying the first feeding diet starts with studying mouth parts Scientists have analysed the stomach contents of eel larvae living in their natural environment, but so far have been unable to fully identify what they feed on. In ITS-EEL, efforts are aimed at improving larval culture technologies with a focus on rearing conditions and on feeds suitable for on-growing into the leptocephalus larval stage—the migratory stage that transforms into glass eels on arrival at continental waters. Dr Tomkiewicz and her colleagues are therefore studying the morphology of the larval feeding apparatus for clues as to what European eel larvae might eat. By estimating the biting force and the size of the particles they can ingest, they concluded that larvae have a preference for very soft and/or small food organisms and/or particles. They also tested potential diets, studied swimming behaviour, looked at the effect of light on feeding, and investigated

physiological mechanisms at the molecular level. For instance, a diet of enriched rotifers, concentrated and ground into a paste was consumed by up to 50 of the larvae in the experiment, throwing light on larval feeding biology. In addition, the researchers noted that larvae were able to execute complex swimming behaviours to capture their food. At higher light intensities ingestion improved, suggesting that larvae use light to detect their food. Other tests showed that they also used other stimuli (taste and smell) to capture prey. At the molecular level, larvae on the enriched rotifer diet, showed higher levels of protein digesting enzymes compared with enzymes to digest carbohydrates or fats indicating a nutritional predisposition for proteins. The results explain some of the physiological changes the larvae undergo as they develop from newly hatched animals feeding on

Research into eel has made significant progress over the last decade or so. But more needs to be done before the goal of a completely closed culture of eel at a commercial scale is achieved. Dr Tomkiewicz is confident though, that within 10 years eel farmers will be able to base their production on glass eels produced from broodstock in a hatchery. *Tomkiewicz, J., Politis, S. N., Sørensen, S. R., Butts, I. A. E., & Kottmann, J. S. (2019). European eel - an integrated approach to establish eel hatchery technology in Denmark. In A. Don, & P. Coulson (Eds.), Eels - Biology, Monitoring, Management, Culture and Exploitation: Proceedings of the First International Eel Science Symposium (pp. 340-374). 5M Publishing.

ITS-EEL A research and innovation project between the Technical University of Denmark (DTU Aqua) and aquaculture industry partners Scientific coordinator: Dr Jonna Tomkiewicz Duration: 2018-2021

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the yolk sac to creatures that must actively catch their own food.

Support: Innovation Fund Denmark (DKK15 million); ENV Fonden (DKK2 million) Partners: Billund Aquaculture, Bioneer, Danish Aquaculture Organisation, DTU Aqua, Royal Danish Fish, Sparos, STMI Aqua Systems &VSPl TI .BHB[JOF

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[ SPECIES ] Growing demand and attractive prices are accelerating overuse

Many sea cucumber stocks are heavily overexploited Sea cucumbers, also called holothurians, are the most species-rich group of echinoderms (which also include sea urchins and starďŹ sh). On the seabed these worm-like creatures are of similar ecological importance as earthworms in the garden. Sea cucumbers take up sediments, digest the organic matter they contain and excrete the sand in a puriďŹ ed state‌ so act like “marine vacuum cleanersâ€?.

M

ost of the time sea cucumbers seem to lie motionless on the seabed and with their worm-like, cylinder-shaped bodies some of them actually resemble the vegetable whose name they bear. Other forms are often compared to fat caterpillars, thick prickly sausages, or even the little heaps that dogs leave behind on pavements.

Indeed these strange animals exist in a huge variety of shapes.

They live in the benthic habitats of all seas from shallow tidal zones to the dark bottom of the deep sea. Among the more than 1,700 known species there are tiny representatives such as the Rhabdomolgus species, which measure only a few millimetres, but also giants such as Synapta maculata, which can grow up to two and a half metres in size. However, the majority of species measure only 10 to 30 centimetres in length and live for about 5 to 10 years. Sea cucumbers play an important role at the bottom of the oceans. They feed on the seabed, digesting sedimented plankton (detritus) as well as organisms that live in the seabed, or the remains of dead organisms that have sunk to the bottom of the sea, and then excrete the sand again – now freed from organic pollution. This “sanitary service� that the sea cucumbers

Sea cucumbers have a soft but muscular worm-shaped body with a thick leathery skin and can be of very different colours.

perform is of great importance for the health of the seabed: the cylindrical animals clean the ocean floor, removing dead organic matter, thereby preventing excessive oxygen depletion in the depths. At the same time, on the light-flooded surface they release nutrients that enable renewed the growth of microalgae with which the marine food chains begin.

Sea cucumbers have a special function in tropical coral reefs: they “recycle� calcium which

many marine animals need to build their shells or skeletons. A high calcium carbonate content also increases the alkalinity of the water and acts as a buffer against local acidification. In some areas of marine life, especially in the deep sea, sea cucumbers are the dominant life form. In fact they sometimes account for almost 90 per cent of the biomass present there.

Common to all sea cucumbers is the soft but muscular tubular

body with its thick leather-like skin. The mouth opening at the front end of the trunk, which is often surrounded by tentacles, bears a ring of calcareous plates that surrounds the oesophagus and serves as an attachment for the often very complex tentacles and longitudinal muscles that extend backwards in the body.

In contrast to starfish and other echinoderms, sea cucumbers do not have an exoskeleton but have spine-like hard formations, so-called sclerites, on their skin.

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[ SPECIES ] These are attached flexibly to the body, can be moved with special muscles and are used for digging in the sediment and for protection against predators.

The five-beam radial symmetry characteristic of all echinoderms (many starfish have five arms, the chewing apparatus of sea urchins has five teeth) can only be recognized externally in sea cucumbers by the five rows of ambulacral feet. These are small movable feet with tiny suckers, hundreds of which are arranged on the body in long rows. With their help sea cucumbers can move forward, but only very slowly. In adaptation to life on the ground, some holothurians have developed flattened bodies where a sole (for crawling) and a back can be seen. However, this bilateral symmetry is a secondary development and does not replace the five-beam radial symmetry. Some sea cucumbers can also swim and in doing so detach themselves briefly from the seabed.

Sea cucumbers reproduce in different ways In terms of colour, sea cucumbers are extremely variable, with black, red, yellow and even multicoloured species. Their blood vessel system is relatively highly developed and consists of a ring vessel running around the mouth opening, from which five blind ending vessels branch off and run towards the back of the body. Two vessels which run above and below the intestine are linked together by pulsating “hearts”. For respiratory organs sea cucumbers have water lungs.

These are tree-like formations that are formed by protrusions of the rectum. Sea cucumbers “breathe” by drawing water in through the anus and then

Different types of sea cucumbers are available on Asian markets. Prickly ones are often particularly popular and achieve the highest prices.

expelling it. The water lungs of some species of sea cucumber often contain small parasitic fish that feed on the intestines of their host animals. The pearl fish species Carapus acus and Encheliophis boraborensis, for example, pursue this rather peculiar way of life.

While most animals would probably not survive the consumption of their entrails this presents no great problem to sea cucumbers because they have an extremely high regenerative capacity and have even developed a very special protection and defence technique from it. When they are attacked, holothurians expel part of their intestines by sudden contraction of their skin muscle tube and spray it in the form of sticky and often even poisonous threads of mucous (“Cuvier’s tubes”) at their predator. This completely unexpected behaviour of the supposedly

defenceless prey not only aggravates the attacker but can incapacitate or even kill it, because the viscous and sticky secretion of the mucous threads contains poisons (holothurin, holotoxin) which attack the sensitive epithelia of a fish’s gills, block the fish’s oxygen uptake and lead to suffocation.

Although this defensive tactic of sea cucumbers is highly unusual it is not kamikaze behaviour since the intestines grow again in a surprisingly short time. The mucus that some sea cucumbers secrete for defence purposes is so sticky that researchers are now looking for medical applications, for example for the efficient and longterm attachment of electrodes to patients.

Sea cucumbers have separate sexes and spawn simultaneously within limited areas without direct physical contact. It is still completely unknown how holo

08_SPECIES (SP).indd 35

thurians synchronise the release of their gametes. The starting signal for reproduction is always given by the males. To do this, they straighten their front end vertically and eject a whitish sperm cloud from their mouth opening. This bizarre optical image has given them the trivial name ‘cazzo di mare’, (‘marine penis’). When the males have ejected their sperm the females release their yellowish eggs which are then fertilized by the sperm in free water. The bilaterally symmetrical larvae hatch after two days and initially live as plankton before settling permanently on the bottom after about three weeks (pentacula stage). Sea cucumbers can also reproduce asexually by transversal division. Both the front and the back of the halved organism completely regenerate the missing half within three to seven months. This possibility is also

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[ SPECIES ]

Sea cucumbers are prepared in many different ways and eaten fresh raw, deep- fried, steamed, roasted or smoked. Dried products often serve as a basis for soups.

used in the aquaculture of some species by simply placing a rubber band in the middle of the body which triggers the division within about two weeks.

Insufficient management of the sea cucumber fishery With the exception of a few waters in temperate areas of the northern hemisphere sea cucumber stocks and populations are under considerable pressure in large parts of the oceans, even in well-known World Heritage nature reserves such as the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park or the Galapagos Islands National Park.

Echinoderms have disappeared from many areas, especially from coastal ecosystems. Seven of the 70 or so commercially used

species are already threatened with extinction and are therefore on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List, nine others are classified as endangered. Worldwide, 38 of the sea cucumber fisheries are considered overfished (average catch size has decreased by one third). In addition, there is illegal fishing (IUU), the extent of which is difficult to estimate. Worldwide, more than two dozen sea cucumber fisheries have already been closed due to overfishing.

The driving force behind the global run on sea cucumbers is the growing demand in Asia, especially in the Chinese market, where exorbitant prices are paid for the sea cucumber product trepang, also known as bĂŞche-demer. The combination of strong

demand and the relatively easy methods of catching sea cucumbers has caused stocks to shrink considerably, especially since in many places the removal of sea cucumbers is barely regulated and rarely controlled (“open access�). When stocks off their own coasts are depleted, fishermen simply move a little further afield and plunder another area.

The idea that sea cucumber fishing must be regulated and monitored in the same way as traditional fisheries is maturing far too slowly. Common management tools such as closed seasons, minimum sizes or catch quotas would be helpful, but are difficult to enforce in many of the main fishing areas. Sea cucumbers have been fished for centuries but at the turn of the millennium the quantities harvested were five to

six times higher than in the 1950s and 60s. In the meantime, catch figures amount to almost 500,000 tonnes per year.

Fishing is carried out using both artisanal and industrial methods and the method used varies according to the region and the species of sea cucumber. In many coastal communities it makes an important contribution to the regional economy – driven by attractive export prices – and offers worthwhile incomegenerating opportunities for the poorer population. The technical effort is manageable because sea cucumbers are often simply collected by hand in coral reefs and shallow lagoons or brought up from greater depths by divers. It is estimated that around 3 million fishermen worldwide earn their

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[ SPECIES ] living mainly by collecting sea cucumbers. In Pacific island states sea cucumbers are often even the main source of income for some coastal villages. As a rule, it is not only the fishermen who benefit but also those members of the village community who process the catch to trepang or bêche-de-mer.

Trepang is the most important and most lucrative sea cucumber product Trepang (derived from the Malay word ‘teripang’ for sea cucumber) or Bêche-de-mer (from the Portuguese ‘bicho do mar’, literally ‘sea worm’) is a preparation form for sea cucumbers that is very popular in many Asian countries, especially in China, Japan and the Philippines. For this purpose, the animals are freed from their entrails, cleaned and the remaining skin muscle tube is salted, dried in the sun, steamed two or three times in between and additionally often smoked, so that a durable and protein-rich product (41-63 protein depending on the type of sea cucumber) is obtained. Before preparation and consumption the outer layer of skin is removed by rubbing with pieces of coral to get rid of the annoying sclerites (the small calcareous bodies). Already since the 18th century, trading trepang has been of great economic importance for the remote islands in the Pacific and Indies.

Trepang is nutritious, rich in vitamins (A, B1, B2, B3), and contains a lot of calcium, magnesium, iodine, iron, zinc and antioxidants which have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Chinese health therapists say that sea cucumber preparations have numerous effects. Sea cucumber is said to delay the emptying of the stomach and stabilize the blood sugar level, to help fight cancer diseases, to

heal wounds, retard coagulation of the blood and lower blood pressure, and to improve bone density.

Of course trepang is also said to have potency-enhancing effects, as is hardly to be expected otherwise given the phallic shape of the echinoderms. The product range includes creams, tinctures, oils and cosmetics enriched with sea cucumber extracts.

In addition, Chinese cuisine has countless dishes based on the preparation of trepang. Mostly soups with vegetables and noodles or the famous “Buddha’s temptation” (“Buddha jumps over the wall”), which is traditionally made from shark fins, but is now just as popular prepared with trepang.

While uninformed Europeans often attribute to trepang the culinary sophistication of a boiled bath sponge, many Asians consider it a delicacy on an equal footing with truffles and caviar, which the Japanese venerate in poetry and which the Chinese call “marine ginseng”. In Japan, konowata, a dish prepared from pickled offal of a sea cucumber species, is even considered a real delicacy. For a lot of Chinese people a decent New Year’s celebration without sea cucumbers would probably be unthinkable. The prices paid for good trepang are accordingly outrageous. Depending on the type and quality of the sea cucumber, high-quality goods cost between 120 and 1,700 dollars per kilogram dry weight. For coveted products such as the Japanese prickly sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus the price can sometimes be as high as 3,000 USD. Prior to preparation, trepang is marinated for two to three days to make it nice and soft. When cooked, its consistency is said to resemble tender crab meat, its taste is described as mild with a slight iodine note. For a pleasant

aroma strongly spiced meat, seafood or vegetable sauces are usually poured over trepang pieces to add flavour and then served with Chinese cabbage, winter melon and shiitake mushrooms.

Sea cucumbers are not only eaten as a dry product but also fresh and raw, deep-fried, steamed, roasted or smoked. Although the per capita consumption of sea cucumbers in China is lower than in some other countries (e.g. Japan) the large population results in a huge market with corresponding demand. Between 1996 and 2011 the number of countries supplying holothurian products to China’s seafood market rose from 35 to 83. Only a small proportion of imports currently originates from verifiably sustainable sources since it is difficult to guarantee the necessary traceability in the complex supply chains.

Sea cucumber aquaculture contributes to market supply Due to the ongoing strong demand and attractive prices, sea cucumber aquaculture has advanced considerably since the 1980s. The Chinese and Japanese were among the first to develop successful hatching technologies and rearing protocols for echinoderms. At the moment, farming is mainly focused on the two species Apostichopus japonicus and Holothuria scabra for which market demand is high. Sea cucumbers are now produced in several countries, including Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, the Maldives, the Solomon Islands and Vietnam. China mainly breeds the much sought-after Japanese prickly sea cucumber and already covers around a third of its needs from aquaculture. The sea cucumbers are bred in pond and net cultures, but above all through

08_SPECIES (SP).indd 37

“sea ranching”, also known as “free soil culture”, which currently accounts for about three quarters of total production. Sea ranching is the preferred method because only a few conditions are required for successful farming. Suitable locations must have the right sediment qualities with high organic contents for adequate nutrition of the sea cucumbers and the right salinity, temperature and current. Since holothurians are loyal to their habitat, rarely leaving the area once they have been deposited there, barriers such as nets or fences are not necessary.

However, large stones and other coarse structures are an advantage, as they offer the sea cucumber population some protection against typhoons, strong waves and predators.

Another breeding method that is becoming increasingly popular is the polyculture of sea cucumbers with shrimps in culture ponds.

The holothurians feed in the ponds on waste from the crustaceans, keep the bottom clean and thereby improve the sediment quality. Polyculture in ponds stabilizes the oxygen regime and this also has a beneficial effect on shrimp growth. The possibility of artificial breeding has greatly contributed to the development of aquaculture of sea cucumbers. Initially, the stock was taken from natural waters, but today commercial hatcheries have specialised in this task. Usually the spawning process is triggered by a short temperature shock (reduction of water temperature by 3 to 5 degrees for about 5 minutes). Alternatively, the spawners can be taken out of the water for half an hour for stimulation, but this method leads to higher losses. In good hatcheries, 15 to 20 of the larvae survive until the sea cucumbers are ready for stocking. mk

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ARMENIA

Fish breeding in Armenia

Successful transition from carps to high-value species Armenia has favorable climatic conditions for the commercial breeding and growing of species of trout (Salmonidae) and sturgeon (Acipenseridae). The country’s rich resources of subterranean water and its suitable climate enable the commercial production of these ďŹ sh all the year round.

The mix of species produced by the fish farming industry has changed from one where carps are in the majority to one dominated by high value trout and sturgeon species.

T

he potential of the fishing sector has been recognized by private companies who have contributed to developing the industry. Their efforts have meant that Armenia today has a large number of companies with

extensive experience in the production of fish and efficient management skills.

Fish farming contributes to the wellbeing of remote communities

Today, 17-18,000 tonnes of commercial fish are produced, the bulk of which is golden trout (Oncorhynchus agaubonita). The fish is in high demand in the Russian Federation and other countries due to its high quality

and about 20 of the production is exported. Fish farming contributes to the efficient use of water resources, increases the production of farmed fish, and provides hundreds of families in remote mountain communities with a

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ARMENIA

livelihood. It is therefore important that the regulatory framework supports the development of the sector. Fish farming in the Republic of Armenia has been pursued for decades. In the 1920s the first fish breeding farms were set up in Karchaghbyur and Gavar to produce Sevan trout for consumption and restocking. Later, fish farms were established in Sevan and Lichq village of Sevan region.

Each year these farms released 7m trout, more than 100m khramulya (Varicorhinus capoeta sevangi), and more than 20m whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) larvae and fingerlings into Lake Sevan.

The next stage of development in the fish industry started in the 70s when commercial fish farming expanded. Several big fish farms were established that used the water resources and wetlands of the Ararat valley. Apart from herbivorous fishes, golden trout and red-finned-fish (karmrakhayt) were also bred for commercial purposes. In the 1980s the water surface of fish farms in Armash and Sis communities of Ararat province and Yeghegnut community of Armavir province constituted around 6,000 ha and the

Production of salmonids and sturgeons overtakes that of carps

main fish species commercially produced in Armenia are, Sevan summer trout (Salmo ischchan aestivalis), Gegarkuni (Salmo ischchan gegarkuni), golden trout, red-finned-fish (karmrakhayt), sturgeons and common carp, silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), and white (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and black (Mylopharyngodon piceus) amur.

The third stage of fish industry development in Armenia started at the end of the 20th century.

Investments by companies led to the creation of a number of big and efficient fish farms. Apart from grow out ponds, some of these companies established hatcheries, fish processing facilities, and sales and distribution networks within the country and abroad.

Currently, frozen and processed fish and caviar are exported to the United States, Georgia, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and several countries in the Middle East, among others. The last years have seen rapid growth in the production of high-value fish, trout and sturgeon species. Of the roughly 17 thousand tonnes of fish produced in Armenia, 65-70 are species of trout and sturgeon. The

Today, within the industry, there is a higher degree of cooperation than in the past. For example, smaller fish farms work together or have contracts with large companies that supply fry and feed and buy the market-sized fish. Over the last decade the range of species cultivated has become wider, and the structure of production in the country has changed dramatically. In the past, 90 of the farmed fish comprised common carp and other carp species, while golden trout was produced in small quantities. Today, this ratio has changed in favour of valuable salmonid and sturgeon species. Altogether some 40 species and sub-species of fish can be found in natural and artificial water resources, of which 15 are used for commercial purposes.

annual production of commercial fish (common carp, Cyprinus carpio, and other carps) amounted to 5,000 tons. At the same time, fish farms in Taronik village of Ararat valley cultivated almost 100 tonnes of golden trout.

Four fifths of fish farms are in just two provinces Fish species that are not endemic to Armenia such as white and black amur, silver carp, Japanese carp (koi), African catfish, Siberian and Russian sturgeon are successfully bred for commercial purposes. These together with the salmonids (golden trout, Gegarkuni, golden trout, red-finned-fish (karmrakhayt)) constitute almost 70 of the production of commercial fish in Armenia. At present there are 180 fish farms in the country of which 83 are in the Armavir and Ararat provinces.

A programme to restore trout reserves in Lake Sevan to enable the sustainable exploitation of the fish was established in 2014. A company associated with the programme, Sevan Trout, processes the fish into a wide range of products including freshly frozen fish, fillets, and cans, which are sold under the brands Nairyan and Sevan Ishkhan.

Levon Ter-Isahakyan, Tigran Aleksanyan, Ministry of Economy, Armenia

Looking to Germany for slicing equipment

A machine to process fish and meat An Armenian canned fish producer is pondering an investment in a slicer that can handle both fish and meat as it wins a contract to supply the military.

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he Ararat valley in Armenia is home to the country’s fish farming industry thanks to the abundance of high-quality groundwater.

From aquifers 100-200 m deep underground the water arrives at the surface at a temperature of 13-15 degrees C,

perfect for farming trout and sturgeon.

The great depth and the presence of almost impermeable layers of clay between the aquifer and the surface ensure that the water is pollution free.

In fact, the water is potable without the need for further treatment or filtration.

International market is more important than the domestic Eco Food Armenia is a processing company based in the Ararat Valley that specialises in canned

09_ARMENIA (AM).indd 39

fish products. Established in 2012 the company has over the years built up a business where over three fourths of the production is exported to markets in the US and Russia. The products are based primarily on trout and sturgeon

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ARMENIA

which the company sources from neighbouring producers of these two species. The completely fresh raw material, the purity of the water the fish are farmed in, the use of herbs, spices, vegetables, and oils, and the innovative recipes developed in the company laboratory, all combine to give a series of products with a distinct flavour and consistency. No artificial ingredients are used in the production, so the final results are completely natural in taste.

Currently, 12 products are made with sturgeon including naturally prepared, smoked in oil, in tomato sauce, with buckwheat or rice, and as soup. Sturgeon liver is also available. Trout products include naturally prepared, in tomato sauce, and as a soup. All sturgeon and trout products are canned and have a 24-month shelf life. Crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) from the Sevan Lake, when available, is sold in jars. Earlier this year the company started the search for a slicing machine, and after consulting with experts, hit on the SM 5290 slicer from Salmco, a 36-year old, familyowned manufacturer based in Hamburg, Germany.

A high degree of flexibility required for the job A typical representative of the renowned German Mittelstand (small and medium enterprises), Salmco makes high quality food processing equipment, which it sells to companies around the world. The machine in question is highly versatile and can be used for regular, portion, and sushi slicing at an angle that can vary from 15 to 90 degrees. The thickness of the slices extends from 2 mm to 60 mm and the machine has an output of up to 100 slices per minute. At Eco

Built of food-grade stainless steel the SM 5290 slicing machine from Salmco offers flexibility, a small footprint and a wide range of slicing options.

Food Armenia the need is for a machine that can slice the light and dark meat from fresh fish. In addition, the company has won a contract from the Armenian army to supply it with processed meat, so the machine will also be required to cut beef, chicken, and pork.

for ease of operation it comes with 9 slicing programmes preinstalled. Ms Satenik Sargsyan, the Eco Food Armenia manager, says that the company will run two eight-hour shifts, during the day to fulfil its regular orders for canned fish products, and at

The Salmco machine has advantages in addition to its flexibility.

Built of food grade stainless steel, it is highly robust and with an operating temperature range of -4 to +6 degrees C it is designed to operate in the cold and wet conditions of a processing facility. Its footprint is relatively small at 130 cm by 60 cm, so it is suitable for small facilities, and it is supplied with a raw material input conveyor and an output conveyor for the slices. Finally,

Eco Food Armenia Azatutyan 4/1 v. Noramarg Ararat region Armenia Tel.: +374 96 660063, +374 96 551050 info@ecofoodarmenia.com ecofoodarmenia.am Director: Arsen Movsisyan Manager: Satenik Sargsyan

night to meet the requirements of the army.

With those operating conditions the demand placed on the machine will indeed be intense, but Salmco is confident their slicer will live up to expectations.

Activity: Production of canned ďŹ sh; processing of meat Species: Sturgeon, rainbow trout, crayďŹ sh; beef, pork, chicken Product form: Smoked in oil, in tomato sauce, naturally prepared; portioned fresh meat Markets: Russia, USA, domestic market

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[ TECHNOLOGY ] Blockchain’s potential for transforming the ďŹ sh industry

A new basis for international business “Blockchainâ€? is for many people still little more than a buzzword they may have heard about in connection with the digital currency bitcoins. But in fact blockchain and artiďŹ cial intelligence are developing into leading technologies that are “revolutionizingâ€? many areas of the economy. Blockchains provide transparency, enable more control, and simplify traceability in business relationships.

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ookkeeping was for many centuries the daily work of traders, merchants and suppliers who entered their incoming and outgoing goods in thick account books. They recorded meticulously who delivered what and when, where the deliveries went, what had already been paid for, or whether a customer was perhaps already in arrears. The account book was, so to speak, the heart and soul of many businesses and its correct management was decisive for economic success. When a few decades ago computers replaced the long tried and tested books and index cards and rationalised administrative procedures it became clear what advantages

digitalisation offered in the area of data acquisition, processing and storage. However, this did not fundamentally change the principle: what used to be written in the account book was now in the computer. Access to the data became easier, faster and more convenient, but computers are still really nothing more than centralised data storage devices.

With “blockchain� a completely new digital system is now available in which all transaction data are recorded as usual but stored in several places at the same time.

Instead of centralised data storage the blockchain functions as a decentralised network in which all

Wherever companies work together temporarily or permanently the strengths of blockchain technology quickly become apparent.

participating companies record and store data on an absolutely equal footing. The transaction data is grouped in blocks and simply attached to the already existing and verified blocks, thereby creating a chain. This is the simple principle behind the name “blockchain�. Blockchains are chains of transaction blocks, such as those created between suppliers and buyers within supply chains. A digital register, so to speak, that stores the data of all transactions that take place in chronological order and keeps them accessible at all times. Thanks to decentralised distribution the data is completely transparent and practically unalterable.

It is a well-known fact that only very few sectors of the economy are as internationally oriented and globally active as the seafood industry.

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Blockchains are also sometimes referred to as “distributed ledger technology�. With this technology, which has really only become feasible through the global networking of computers, all participants share and manage the stored information. There is no longer any individual information sovereignty and no possibility of manipulation as is possible with contracts agreed in writing.

The network alone validates the data records and ensures that the transactions are carried out according to the agreed conditions. As soon as the code meets the blockchain standards the next step in the agreed procedure is automatically processed.

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[ TECHNOLOGY ] form to ensure security. And this common coding within the blockchain enables unprecedented transparency and control because subsequent alterations, manipulations or even fraud in the system are practically impossible. This strengthens trust between the partners and also helps to eliminate a weak point in the food industry’s supply chains which is often criticised.

Despite all controls and operational audits it is now practically impossible to know every single supplier and participant in the supply chains personally.

A distributed ledger is not a centralized database like those mostly still used by companies today but always has a decentralized structure which enables all participants to have individual data records displayed in the distributed general ledger.

It is also possible to check the history of all the information stored there. Distributed ledger technology is suitable both for collecting static data, as is common in registries, and for recording dynamic data that arises in the course of various transactions.

At first glance, ledgers and blockchains might seem to be identical but in fact blockchains are only one type of distributed ledger. Distributed ledgers do not only exist in the form of chains, as can be seen in the digital cryptocurrency system IOTA (Internet Of Things Applications) or the consensus data structure “hash graph�.

The seafood industry benefits from digital technology The advantages of the blockchain are not immediately apparent to everyone: why share your data with others, possibly even in the cloud, where third parties might be able to access it? In the fish business many people still rely on personal contacts that create trust, and the handshake is still valued. But it’s worth taking a closer look at the new digital technology which could revolutionize the fish industry in the foreseeable future. Wherever several companies, stakeholders or other organisational structures are involved in business together, for example within a supply chain, the strengths of blockchain technology will quickly become apparent. And as is well known, there are very few sectors of the economy that are as international – in both positioning and operations – as the seafood industry. So despite all

control efforts and operational audits it is practically impossible today to know every single supplier and participant in the supply chains personally. Where complete transparency is lacking and the network of controls perhaps patchy there will inevitably be residual doubts as to whether a transaction is trustworthy or whether the documents accompanying a delivery really are correct.

This is where the advantages of the blockchain become clear for it functions as a transparent database. Every detail of the processes is recorded in “digital account statements� and can be viewed by the participants in the network. The online network created by the blockchain link is always managed by several computers located in the offices of the participants in the chain of action. For a transaction even to take place it has to be confirmed by each computer. This is, of course, done in encrypted

However, access to verified information, which is managed by several computers simultaneously and is therefore available to every participant in the transaction, is only one of several advantages of the blockchain.

This is because digital technology, with its decentralized, verifiable data storage on many computers, also eliminates the need for a central authority to vouch for the authenticity of the data. This accelerates the speed of transactions, orders can be processed securely, individually, and comparatively inexpensively.

Trust is good, blockchain is better Strictly speaking, the blockchain is therefore much more than a simple data structure since it also makes it possible to set concrete specifications for transactions or even to conclude “smart contracts�, i.e. digital software-based purchase contracts. These smart contracts allegedly have the potential to save billions in the financial services sector alone. In the global fish trade such smart contracts could remove some barriers and simplify trade relations.

Many businesses fail today due to a lack of trust. Who buys fish from an unknown supplier? Especially if they don’t know whether the goods were caught legally or

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[ TECHNOLOGY ] blockchains should not be too small so that the distribution of independent interests is maintained. Otherwise, there is a risk that individual participants might form alliances, make common cause and perhaps manipulate certain data after all.

Blockchain enables trustworthy traceability

Digitisation streamlines administrative procedures and offers decisive advantages in the areas of data acquisition, processing and storage.

perhaps originated from IUU fishing. How can prospective business partners be sure that they will actually receive the promised goods or money? Worries like these still hinder some commercial transactions today but they can be put on a solid foundation by means of smart contracts which are laid down in a blockchain. For example, it could be stipulated in a contract that the agreed countervalue would be transferred to the supplier immediately after delivery of the ordered products.

This would happen automatically, no one would have to trust the other in return. The blockchain code automatically triggers the action as soon as all conditions are met, without any need for a third party to certify or regulate anything between the involved parties whose task is simply to supervise, manage or verify information or values. Transactions become digital “if-then� transactions that function securely and reliably. On this basis it could even become possible to trade

with partners one might have previously thought too risky.

Greater independence from third parties is one of the decisive advantages of the new digital technology. All parties involved trust the data chain because it is completely transparent and stores the data in an unalterable form.

This renders unnecessary the intermediary platforms or higherlevel trading structures that step in when there are problems, the goods do not arrive, or payment is not received. And because the data in the blockchain cannot be altered unilaterally or subsequently by any one of the parties involved, manipulation and fraud are virtually impossible. The automated processes save time and money because there are no costs for notaries, lawyers and bank fees, and trading transactions are possible at any time. Office hours and opening times, which sometimes make it difficult to process transactions quickly, become meaningless.

IT experts are already declaring smart contracts to be important key components of Industry 4.0 because they allow direct electronic communication and value transfer without disruptive intermediaries. This reduces global trade barriers and promotes direct business contacts between partners across national borders who do not need to know each other personally. Blockchains and smart contracts thus open up completely new economic opportunities for many companies.

Anyone who doesn’t yet really trust the new technology can initially use so-called “permissioned blockchains� for smart contracts in B2B situations. This special form of blockchain is not public; the participants know each other and are expressly invited to participate. In addition, the number of participants is limited which speeds up the process considerably (the fewer participants, the faster it works) and the proof of work is less. However, the number of participants in permissioned

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Another important field of application for blockchain is the achievement of complete, transparent tracking of product paths within the supply chain. Traceability systems that document the route from the producer via the traders to the customer are not new but the current systems for data exchange in the supply chain require a great deal of effort but are still often not sufficient to dispel all doubts. If, however, all information is stored decentrally in the blockchain and no subsequent alterations are possible this is considered reliable proof of the authenticity of the origin or quality of a fish delivery. Especially since data access, and thus control, is possible at any time.

This is even more the case now that fishing enterprises, too, have discovered the advantages of the blockchain for themselves and are using it during the management of their fishing fleets. The demands are particularly high in this area because remote fishing grounds, long journeys, changing crews and intensive fishing activities make communication and controls difficult. However, modern business intelligence, blockchain and cloud technologies that connect each vessel to the management teams in real time provide a reliable basis for data input into the traceability chains. Another application example would be the storage of data on luxury goods (such as caviar) in blockchains. If the products are at

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[ TECHNOLOGY ] marketing. For example, by supporting the company’s placement recommendation and aptitude testing process so that customers can be sure that they are only working with high-quality, reputable partners. The health technology company Vytalyx uses blockchain to store patient-related medical information and then make it available to authorized doctors and other medical staff members.

This allows treatment and nutrition plans to be personalized and improves communication between patient and doctor.

The blockchain enables full transparency and control; subsequent changes, manipulations and even fraud within the system are practically impossible.

the same time marked with microchips they can be identified reliably. This would make it more difficult for potential swindlers to carry out shady business deals because forgeries are detected more quickly.

These convincing advantages have already encouraged many retail chains to start converting their traceability systems and B2B contacts to blockchain technologies.

In early May 2019, the Ecuadorian industry association Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) announced at the Seafood Fair in Brussels that it had joined the IBM Food Trust which enables traceability of SSP shrimp from farm to store. According to SSP the Food Trust’s blockchain-based system was “unalterable and incorruptible� and provided a secure platform to guarantee the authenticity of product claims and to offer both retailers and end customers full transparency on the shrimp produced by the association’s members. The production data in the blockchain can be viewed

by retailers around the world and used to inform consumers. SSP has announced that it will also provide consumers with access to certain areas of the blockchain via an app.

Application possibilities are currently under development Blockchain technology which originally only served as a trading platform for cryptocurrencies is now moving more and more into new application areas. Some optimists even hope it might be able to “turn back� the centralization of the trading landscape on internet platforms such as Amazon or Alibaba. If small retailers joined forces, placed their product offers in a transparent blockchain, and processed payments via crypto-currencies like bitcoin they would stand a good chance of winning back market shares. If the processes were to work with real products, however, it would demand a high degree of networking and digitization among

participants in the chain. The new 5G standard and fibre-optic cables for fast data transfer would therefore be very helpful.

Numerous other possible blockchain applications are being developed worldwide. For example, for logistics tracking, in the detection of real-time errors, or in the area of data and device authentication. The company Figure uses the blockchain to streamline construction financing processes, including credit lines for home loans and loans for craftsmen. The money is allegedly already available just a few hours after filling out a loan application. Verisart uses artificial intelligence and blockchains to certify and verify artwork in real time. The Verisart blockchain enables artists to provide their works of art with encrypted, tamperproof work certificates including timestamps. This makes it almost impossible to sell fakes as originals.

The blockchain can also serve as a platform for companies that collect capital and conduct automated

In the seafood sector, Fishcoin is currently establishing a blockchain-based peer-to-peer network that aims to make traceability more transparent, trustworthy and secure using a common protocol.

Unlike most blockchain initiatives, Fishcoin itself is not a central company but a kind of “decentralized ecosystem� of companies and third party providers who benefit jointly from the added value of the network. This is a particularly interesting approach to the digital transformation of the seafood industry. In Denmark, the Centre for Logistics and Cooperation (CLS) recently launched the project “Maritime Block Power� with the Danish Industry Fund, which investigates the blockchain potential of small and medium-sized enterprises in the maritime sector. The project aims to show by means of examples how blockchain technology can be used in practice. One of the study’s focuses is on the ports of Hirtshals, Aalborg, Hanstholm and Grenaa, which with companies in the surrounding area are facing changes in the digital landscape. The Danish trade association Danske Havne is convinced that the results of “Maritime Block Power� will open up promising perspectives for small companies, too, since a company’s size is not decisive for the opportunities in the digital world. mk

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[ TECHNOLOGY ] Fish skinning machines from Steen offer versatility and convenience

Delicate products skinned with precision With the ST700TV table skinner and ST700V automatic skinning machine Steen has improved on the original technology to create more possibilities and to stay ahead of existing health and hygiene regulations.

I

n practice, both the ST700TV and ST700V have knives which can be set and locked at different cutting heights so different fish species can be processed on the same machine and to enable deep skinning. The advantage of the technique used is that the knife can also be taken out of the machine for better cleaning or to be replaced by another knife type.

While both machines can be used to skin whole flatfish (certain ones in the case of the ST700V) and eel, the table skinner can also be used for skate wings, cephalopod (octopus, cuttle fish, squid) heads, and dogfish and similar species.

Both machines treat the fish gently without applying pressure and can thus be used for deep skinning and regular skinning of portions, fillets, delicate fish with think skins, and fresh, thawed, or smoked products.

The machines can also work without water on the fillet making them suitable for sushi and sashimi processing. The wide skinning surface (38 cm on the table machine and 42 cm on the ST700V) increases the versatility of the machines adding to convenience and ease of use.

Designed for thorough cleaning with ease In addition, the machines can be dismantled so that hard-to-reach areas are exposed for easier and more thorough cleaning. With the ST700TV, the back plate and knife can be removed, while the

The ST700V automatic skinning machine can be easily dismantled for thorough cleaning. A variety of extra options make it suitable for different work environments.

infeed plate opens up. From the ST700V, the top unit, the knife and the conveyor belts can be removed from the machine and the infeed and outfeed belts can be folded open. The fact that no tools are needed to do any of this is part of the innovative concept of the whole series. Steen has also developed a mobile unit for these machines, on which all the components can be placed to ensure a

Optional accessories to further facilitate work processes

outfeed plate, table, water collector and skin separator, additional blade and more are available. For the ST700V, options include long and short in-and outfeed belt, an infeed table and a speed regulator to optimize production.

On top of these advantages, there are options available to make the use easier and faster. For the ST700TV for instance, an optional

For more information visit the company’s recently relaunched website (steen.be) in six European languages and Chinese.

safe and clean work environment and to give ready access to all the parts.

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[ TECHNOLOGY ] FIAP’s ProďŹ net, the aluminium ďŹ sh landing net for commercial and recreational use

Simple yet sturdy nets for ďŹ sh farmers and anglers Simplicity can be deceptive. Attempts to reproduce ďŹ sh landing nets have failed to match the quality of the original.

The different sizes of Profinets allow them to cater to professional and recreational users.

Robust components make the nets particularly suited to the demanding environment of commercial fish farms.

F

VR IDUPLQJ RSHUDWLRQV DUH EDUHO\ the frame to the handle. The LQWHUUXSWHG handle itself is available in two lengths, 110 cm and 180 cm.

IAP, a German supplier of equipment to the international fish farming industry, has developed a range of landing nets for farmers and recreational fishermen. The nets, called the Profinet series, are simple yet very sturdy and are available in a range of sizes. The depth of the net, mesh dimensions, and length of the handle can be varied so that the product can be adapted to all requirements.

The net comprises a wooden handle and a frame supporting the mesh. The frame is made of

aluminium so that it is light but strong, and is reinforced to make it even sturdier.

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The right net for any task

The depth of the mesh corresponds to the dimensions of the frame, so that a mesh with a depth of 300 mm is attached to a frame of 300 mm. Frame dimensions and mesh depths are from 300 to 600 mm in 100 mm intervals.

Spare parts for the nets are also available. These include meshes of different dimensions, the beads used to attach the mesh to the frame, and the clamps to secure

The system’s simplicity has led to attempts at counterfeiting, but the fake products have been unable to match the quality and durability of the original. The FIAP profinet aluminium fish landing net has been serving the fish farming and angling communities for decades and will not be easily replaced.

For more information, visit fiap. com

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[ TRADE AND MARKETS ] Protective measures for the European eel are beginning to pay off

Eel stocking must be further intensiďŹ ed Four years after the ďŹ rst workshop on the state of the European eel stock some 70 eel conservationists, ďŹ shermen and anglers, eel farmers, representatives of authorities and scientists met for the second time in Potsdam near Berlin in mid-March to discuss progress so far and further measures. Although there are ďŹ rst signs that the eel stock is recovering conservation efforts need to be intensiďŹ ed as there is still a long way to go before the goal is reached.

T

he decline of the eel stock was initially almost completely ignored by the general public. With its snake-like, slimy body, it is a species of fish that arouses little interest – let alone sympathy – apart from among eel fishermen and eel smokers, and so the sad state of its population went largely unnoticed. Andrew Kerr, Chairman of the Sustainable Eel Group, suspects that, when confronted with the species’ impending disappearance, some people perhaps thought “Well, it’s only eel�. Although our ability to support eel stocks is limited because eels cannot yet be hatched artificially, the alarming development requires decisive action.

Whereas almost everyone knows and is concerned about conservation efforts to reintroduce salmon to aquatic environments it is often overlooked that the eel, too, is not only an important part of these communities but also the basis of economically viable fisheries. The healthier the eel stock, the more sustainable its exploitation. It was only after the turn of the millennium that responsible politicians under the pressure of developments realized that countermeasures had to be taken. With the Eel Regulation 1100/2007 the EU Commission finally created a solid basis for the protection and sustainable use of eels.

Development of fisheries catches and aquaculture production of eels since 1950.

In March 2009, the European eel was included in Appendix List II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Annex B of the European Species Protection Regulation 338/97 in order to stop the export of glass eels to Asia. This was well-intentioned but insufficiently controlled since the ban on exports led to an increase in glass eel smuggling and drove

up glass eel prices, thereby compromising the urgently needed stocking measures in Europe. And it also affected the work of eel conservation initiatives and associations which involved many companies, organisations and individuals who were not indifferent to the species’ fate and who supported conservation efforts through regular stocking and other measures. In March 2009 the “Initiative zur FĂśrderung des

11_TRADE AND MARKETS (TM).indd 47

Europäischen Aals e.V.� (IFEA) – the Initiative for the Promotion of European Eel, a German association of eel traders and eel farmers – was established in Germany and in June of the same year two predecessor organisations in the Netherlands merged to form DUPAN, the Dutch foundation for the recovery of the European eel.

In December 2015 the two industry associations founded the Eel Stewardship Association which

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[ TRADE AND MARKETS ]

Grouping and structure of the organisations and associations involved in the protection, conservation and exploitation of European eel. (Based on a system developed by Ronald Menzel)

with its contract- and fee-based ESF trademark contributes to the financial support of eel protection measures.

Eleven years to the day after the founding of the IFEA eel initiative a large number of the players involved in the promotion and exploitation of eel met for the second time in Potsdam for a workshop to discuss the latest scientific findings, take stock and coordinate the next steps. The current situation of the eel stock was naturally of particular interest. Willem Dekker, the well-known eel specialist from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, pointed out how differently the current state of the eel stock was described by different groups.

While one group paints a disaster scenario and conjures up the fish species’ extinction the other group sees no threat at all and even pleads for a fishery without quotas. For Dekker, the truth lies somewhere in between. Although glass eel migration has been declining for decades the species was still far from extinction – despite its classification as „critically endangered“ by the World

Conservation Union IUCN! Only one of the five criteria defined by the IUCN for inclusion in the Red List (stock decline of 80 to 90 per cent over three generations) actually applies to eel. If we succeed in limiting mortality, stabilising the level of protection achieved so far, and increasing the migration of silver eels we stand a realistic chance of preventing the fish’s disappearance. The trend in glass eel migration had been increasing again since 2011. After decades of decline this was a sign that the stock’s recovery had begun. However, it would be wrong to expect miracles since it would take a long time for the eel stock to fully recover. It is possible that our children or grandchildren will be the first to benefit from today’s efforts.

However, current developments show that the EU eel regulation provides a good basis for the eel’s recovery and that its implementation is worthwhile.

where the natural glass eel migration is below the theoretically possible fish intake capacity, make an important contribution to the desired recovery of the eel stock. Eel stocking has a long tradition in Germany and is of great importance for the conservation of the eel stock and for eel fisheries. It is therefore not surprising that in 2005, some time before the adoption of the EU Eel Regulation, the Brandenburg Fisheries Conservation Association „Havel“ (Fischereischutzgenossenschaft – FSG) applied for financial support in Brussels for its pilot project to „increase the spawning stock in the Elbe river basin“. Following the unavoidable bureaucratic procedure, which was described in broad outlines by FSG and IFEA Chairman Ronald Menzel, a funding decision for 695,000 euros was taken the following year and the first stocking measures were carried out in open waters from which silver eels can later migrate to their spawning grounds. In the following years this initiative developed into probably the largest eel stocking project in Northern Europe, involving 169 fishing companies and several thousandanglersaswellasscientific institutions.

Within the framework of this pilot project a total of 66 million young eels (44 million glass eels A0 and 22 million farmed eels Av) were released into Brandenburg waters between 2006 and 2020.

The project participants contributed 2.3 million euros themselves to the total stocking costs which amounted to 11.5 million euros. The remaining 9.2 million euros came from the EU Fisheries Fund EMFF and other sources.

This achievement of the stocking programme is only clouded by the fact that only just under half of the stocking targets of the EU Eel Regulation and the numerous national Eel Management Plans are achieved throughout Europe. That is why stocking remains a central concern of the Eel Initiative and the Eel Stewardship Fund which since its establishment in 2009 has provided a total of 553,000 euros to promote eel stocking in the Lune, Schlei, Elbe, and Weser rivers and other waters. In order to achieve the stocking targets as laid down in the EU Eel Regulation Ronald Menzel submitted several proposals for improvement on behalf of the Eel Initiative. For example, that financial support of 80 and more for eel stocking

Both the eel stock and fishermen benefit from restocking Regular stocking measures, in particular in „classic“ eel waters

Statistical analyses show that the trend in recruitment indices for glass eels has reversed since 2011. The average increase over the last five years was 8.7%.

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[ TRADE AND MARKETS ]

ICES analysed the recruitment data of European eels from 46 stations in Western Europe and presented the trend as an index (GLM, Generalized Linear Model).

should already be laid down in the EU funding directive, that a fund for eel research should be created in addition to the stocking fund for glass eels, and that the declared target of 60 of glass eel catches for stocking purposes should be financed and enforced.

Illegal trade in glass eel must be effectively prevented and the application of the precautionary principle (“no exploitation of eel stocks�) for eel management must be reviewed since it makes stocking for restocking purposes more difficult, if not impossible. By combining the protection and simultaneous use of eel it would be possible to achieve

much more for the recovery and conservation of the European eel stock than by prohibitions that couldn’t be implemented.

Without stocking, the chances of preserving the eel population in the Elbe region would be very slim, explained Erik Fladung (IfB Potsdam Sacrow) because the proportion of eels swimming up the rivers naturally had declined significantly in recent years. This would also endanger the goals of the eel management plan, especially the silver eel migration target of 40 per cent. In order to achieve the highest possible survival rates of the valuable stocking

The rise in glass eel prices makes many restocking measures in Europe more difficult and renders financial support programmes almost indispensable for the conservation of the fish species.

material scientists from his institute have been monitoring stocking measures since 2006, advising on the selection of suitable waters, examining transport conditions and evaluating the quality of both glass and farmed eels. The evaluation of the extensive data of 126 deliveries of eels for stocking purposes showed that transports are mostly carried out professionally and that the quality of the eels can be rated good to very good. Fladung attested that the health status of the young eels was without pathological findings or accumulations of parasites or deformations. It was particularly pleasing that the swim bladder infestation with the parasite Anguillicola crassus in farmed eels Av had decreased from a maximum of 16 to less than 1 since 2011.

Positive news also came from his IfB colleague Janek Simon, who together with Fabien Charrier (FishPass) had conducted an extensive study on the mortality of glass eels from capture on the French coast to release in German waters. This is the first time that reliable data have been available for the entire stocking supply chain, which in terms of complexity, breadth and depth go far beyond the earlier study by Briand et al (2012) which specified an average mortality rate of 42 for the glass eel catch alone.

Although Briand only accompanied one single fisherman on a few fishing trips for his studies,

SEG standard enables transparency and ensures sustainability Efforts to conserve eel are showing the first signs of success was the key message from Andrew Kerr, Chairman of the Sustainable Eel Group (SEG). After years of decline in the eel stock a reversal of the negative trend in glass eel numbers was now becoming apparent. Although there was still a long way to go until a state of abundance was reached everyone could now see that consistent implementation of the EU Eel Regulation was worthwhile. Kerr based his assessment on a statement by Willem Dekker (“The recruitment has stopped decreasing and has been increasing in the period 2011-2019 with a rate statistically significantly different from zero�). The SEG had contributed significantly to this success

The actual stock level is well below the targets set in the management plans as required by EU Eel Regulation 1100/2007.

11_TRADE AND MARKETS (TM).indd 49

so that the conclusions drawn cannot be seen as representative, this extremely high loss rate was often used by critics as an argument against stocking. Simon’s statements, on the other hand, are based on 41 fishing trips in several locations with different fishermen, an average of 11 fishing activities per trip and the use of various fishing gear, net shapes and fishing methods. If all losses on the long journey from catch to release are added together, more than 85 out of 100 glass eels survive.

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[ TRADE AND MARKETS ]

Ronald Menzel (Chairman of the Eel Initiative). From 2006 to 2020 a total of 66 million juvenile eels (22 million farmed eels, 15-20 cm long, and 44 million glass eels) were released in Brandenburg waters.

Dr Willem Dekker (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences).

Despite its declining population the European eel is still far from extinction.

through dialogue with influential policy makers in the UK and Europe and authorities such as Interpol. The growing acceptance of SEG’s standards in the eel trade throughout the entire chain from the catching of glass eels to the sale of ready-to-eat eel products was also very encouraging.

In order to ensure acceptance of the SEG standard SEG is aiming for ISEAL membership (International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance). SEG is at present already an Associate Member of ISEAL and has been evaluated against

farms, eel traders and eel smokehouses certified according to the SEG standard. Andrew Kerr hopes for even broader acceptance, especially since Chain of Custody certification will soon be possible. With the money raised through the ESF, SEG also supports numerous projects for the replenishment of the eel stock.

the basic criteria of the ISEAL Code of Conduct. SEG-certified eel suppliers and businesses offer full transparency and complete traceability for their products.

In France, 130 glass eel fishermen and in the UK 300 part-time fishermen, who together caught 12.7 t of glass eels in 2019, have already been certified according to the SEG standard. In addition, there are eleven eel farms in the Netherlands and Scandinavia and 16 eel smoking plants in the Netherlands. The Eel Initiative reckons that in Germany, too, by Christmas 2020 there will be eel

Eleven years to the day after the founding of the initiative for the support of European eel (IFEA) or Eel Initiative for short, the second eel workshop was held in Potsdam.

The SEG standard was so important precisely because due to its unique life cycle eel could not be certified on the basis of the existing sustainability standards for fish, emphasised Dutch eel farmer Alexander Koelewijn, who is engaged in the conservation of this fish species in DUPAN and ESA. He calls for the value chains to be geared even more specifically to the SEG standard and for pressure to be stepped up on all parties involved from fishermen and farmers to traders to use only certified eel. Eel stewardship, which can be understood as custody of or taking responsibility for eel, is much more than just management. Without stocking and intensive research, as supported by the ESF, it would be much more difficult to help the eel effectively.

Of course, fishermen and eel farmers like himself also had an

economic interest in preserving the resource. But that was not a contradiction in terms of conservation since the glass eels are procured sustainably and strictly within the legal fishing quota. Overall, eel farms in Europe use only 4 per cent of the estimated annual glass eel migration! Although the situation of the eel stock was still difficult, some scientific assumptions and statements on which ICES reports are based had to be looked at again.

Is it justified, for example, to take the high glass eel figures registered between 1960 and 1976 as a reference period for recruitment calculations, especially since, when compared with today’s glass eel recruitment, illegal withdrawals and existing fishing quotas are usually overlooked? Many fishermen only go out when they have concrete orders for glass eel and do not catch more than they can actually sell. If one failed to take these factors into account, too, it inevitably led to an underestimation of the potential yield of glass eels. At the very least, recruitment graphs should include illegal trade, which is estimated at a remarkable 100 t per year (which would correspond to about 330 million eels), even if only in a dotted line.

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[ TRADE AND MARKETS ]

Erik Fladung (IfB Potsdam-Sacrow). In general, it can be attested that the health status of the young eels was without pathological findings or accumulations of parasites or deformations.

Black market trade in glass eels not yet under control The extent of illegal glass eel fishing and trade, despite the export ban, was made clear by Florian Stein in his presentation. At the hub of black market business is China, whose aquaculture – with 100 t of illegally acquired European glass eels (figure estimated

by Europol) – can cover about one third of its needs for an annual eel production of approximately 218,000 t. Europol’s estimate sooner seems to be understated,

since back-calculations of actual production figures still show a gap in the stocking of farms which is otherwise difficult to explain.

Every eel that does not grow in European waters but in Asian eel farms further weakens the stock because these animals have no chance of ever reaching their original spawning grounds again.

Glass eel smuggling is a lucrative business that is particularly profitable for traders. Florian Stein calculated that a kilogram of glass eels, which might be worth about 300 euros paid to the illegal fisherman in Europe could be worth

Andrew Kerr (Chairman of SEG). The SEG standard, which focuses on traceability and transparency, is increasingly accepted by fishermen, eel farmers and processors.

Dr. Janek Simon (IfB Potsdam-Sacrow). Losses of 15% from capture to release are far below the previously claimed mortality of 40% for glass eel capture alone.

around 6,000 euros in Asia. The produced eels, from which an average of 727 kg of kabayaki fillets can be made, then have a market value of almost 26,000 euros.

The biological damage to the eel stock is compounded by economic losses, as some of the eels grown in China are likely to return to Europe later and compete here with legally produced goods from local suppliers. In this case, CITES turns out to be a toothless paper tiger, because many eel products that are traded internationally are completely lacking in the

Alexander Koelewijn (Chairman DUPAN). The Eel Stewardship Fund (ESF) provides financial support for restocking and scientific research on eels.

11_TRADE AND MARKETS (TM).indd 51

necessary permits – not on the black market, but in quite normal shops. A recent study carried out in Hong Kong supermarkets in 2020 found that almost half of the 49 eel products traded there contained European eel. Although authorities, police and customs in Europe are now taking more vigorous action to curb the illegal trade (48 smugglers were arrested in the 2016/17 glass eel fishing season, 98 in 2017/18 and 153 in 2018/19), this is probably only the tip of the iceberg. The actual masterminds behind the machinations are rarely brought to justice and it

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[ TRADE AND MARKETS ]

Florian Stein (SEG). Despite the 2010 trade ban on European eel outside of EU borders about 100 tonnes of glass eels are illegally exported to Asia every year.

is also questionable whether the comparatively mild sentences in court really have a deterrent effect

on criminals. An example of this is the case of “Mr. Khoo�, who in 2020 was sentenced by a British court

for illegal trade with 5.3 million glass eels to a ridiculous two years’ probation and 240 hours of community service. Because the black market can hardly be dried up in this way some eel conservationists in Europe are even seriously considering whether it would not be more sensible to sell some of the glass eels caught here quite legally for high prices to Chinese eel farmers and use the proceeds for stocking programmes in our waters. So far, however, neither SEG nor ESA have officially taken a position on this. Rightly so, because it is more than questionable whether this practice would actually put a stop to the black market.

The current achievements of the conservation efforts show that progress in rebuilding healthy eel populations in their natural range is possible without such questionable sales. Based on Eel Regulation 1100/2007, 19 EU Member States have developed sound eel management plans, defined almost 90 management units and initiated or implemented 1,880 measures.

Public awareness for the conservation of this economically important fish species has been raised. However, the recovery of the eel stock will still take decades.

The most important thing now is to achieve the required stocking and migration targets. mk

Stock in Elbe catchment area to increase by 10m in 2020

Researchers to study larvae caught in the Sargasso Sea

Eel stocking in the Havel and neighbouring waters

Deeper understanding of the larval ecology of the European eel

Workshop participants did not only discuss the conservation of eel theoretically but also undertook practical steps: During a break in the event several thousand farmed eels were released into the Havel river directly in front of the hotel. This was only the symbolic prelude to a much larger stocking campaign which included 300,000 young eels with a total weight of 2,100 kg. Fishermen from Potsdam and Werder loaded the valuable cargo into their boats directly on site in order to take the young eels to the waters of destination for release. In total, the eel stock in the Elbe catchment area is to be increased this year with the addition of 8 million glass eels and 2 million farm eels.

Prof. Reinhold Hanel from the ThĂźnen Institute in Bremerhaven presented some of the objectives of the upcoming research project in the Sargasso Sea. Among other things, the participating researchers want to ďŹ sh for eel larvae with close-meshed nets in water layers between 22 and 24°C. It is known from previous expeditions that the larvae like to stay in these areas. However, the search for eel larvae remains difďŹ cult because the area is very large and the course of the temperature fronts varies from year to year. In order to solve the as yet unsolved problem of larval nutrition the researchers also want to carry out intestinal examinations on eel larvae. This would enable them to make an important contribution to the artiďŹ cial reproduction and rearing of leptocephali.

During the workshop, about 300,000 farm eels weighing about 7 grams from Albefarm were released into the Havel and suitable lakes around Potsdam and Werder.

Prof. Reinhold Hanel (ThĂźnen Institute). Tracking down eel larvae in the Sargasso Sea can be compared to searching for a needle in a haystack.

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[

EUROFISH

Copenhagen

GLOBEFISH Rome

INFOSAMAK

INFOPECHE Abidjan

Montevideo

INFOYU

Beijing

Casablanca

INFOPESCA

INFOSA

Windhoek

INFOFISH Puchong

FISH INFONETWORK NEWS

]

News

IUU ďŹ shing can and must be eradicated

IUU fishing is a broad term that captures a wide variety of activities that occur in all types and dimensions of fisheries, both on the high seas and in areas within national jurisdiction. More than 3 billion people in the world rely on fish for critical animal protein, underscoring the importance of sustainable fisheries in sup-

porting global food security. The number of fish stocks subject to biologically unsustainable extraction has more than tripled in the past four decades, and IUU fishing undermines management efforts to bolster sustainability as well as marine biodiversity, while also posing a serious threat to the small-sized coastal fisheries that directly support livelihoods in many developing countries and small island developing states.

The COVID-19 emergency has presented new challenges for fisheries affecting labour and market access including the ability to monitor and control fishing operations. “Heightened vigilance is required,� said Abdellah Srour, Executive Secretary, FAO General Fisheries Commission for

U.S. Coast Guard

On 5 June FAO commemorated the 3rd International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, a scourge accounting for as much as one-seventh of the fish traded in the world, by holding a webinar featuring presentations from senior fisheries officials from the governments of Chile, Guinea and Sierra Leone, as well as a discussion of innovation opportunities in the fisheries sector led by FAO Fisheries Officer Alicia Mosteiro.

The crew of the US Coast Guard Cutter Midgett boards a fishing vessel to ensure compliance with international fisheries regulations and counter illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing in the Pacific Ocean.

the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, emphasizing the important role consumer can play. “It’s evident that the pandemic restrictions have accelerated the use of

electronic tools for surveillance of illegal fishing, which is promising,� said Audun Lem, Deputy Director of FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department.

Dissemination activities at INFOFISH continue with webinars awareness about the conference in May next year. The speakers were Mr Phil Roberts, Managing Director of Tri Marine International Pte Limited (also the Chairman of the 16th INFOFISH World Tuna Conference and Exhibition, TUNA 2021); Mr Luciano Pirovano, Global Sustainable Development Director for Bolton Food; and Dr Darian McBain, Global Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Thai Union.

Among the lessons from the pandemic to be learned by the tuna industry was the importance of diversified supply chains and of knowing one’s suppliers.

This makes it easier to manage

J. Micaud / FAO

INFOFISH, an intergovernmental organisation providing marketing information and technical advisory services to the fishery industry in the Asia-Pacific region from its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has organised a series of webinars over the last months when countries have been locked down. The latest in the series discussed trends and issues affecting the tuna industry. INFOFISH was forced to postpone its bi-annual tuna conference by a year to 19-21 May 2021 as a result of restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus and this webinar was the first of several that will specifically address the tuna industry to highlight the challenges it faces and to build

Workers unload tuna fish at Perikan Samudera, Jakarta’s fishing port.

Knowing one’s suppliers can help minimise disruptions to the supply chain.

disruptions caused by events like the pandemic and to ensure, for

12_FIN NEWS.indd 53

example, continued supplies of raw material to a processing plant and

13/07/20 2:05 PM

[ of processed products to wholesale and retail partners. The issue of sustainability in relation to other factor like food security and prices in a time of spreading infection and job insecurity was also raised. Here, the consensus among the speakers was that the pandemic had raised awareness about the importance of health. Consumers needed reassurance that the food they ate was safe, healthful, and traceable, but the coronavirus had also highlighted the impact of indiscriminate interactions between people and the environment, which are examples of activities that are not sustainable.

IUU fishing was also discussed in the context of it being more difficult to carry out thanks to the use of technology, the spread of which is affecting not only the tuna fishing fleet, but also processing plants.

On 23 June, INFOFISH organised a virtual training session

on market intelligence and analysis for its member countries. The 34 participants from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Malaysia, and Thailand and the SEAFDEC Secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand learned how to access and analyse trade and market data. Beginning with a presentation on the principles, methods and factors involved in carrying out a market analysis, participants were guided through accessing and analysing information from several online trade databases to prepare a market analysis.

These websites included FAOGlobefish, the International Trade Centre (ITC), US NMFS, and Japan Customs websites, and the FAO FishStatJ software.

In response to requests from the participants, INFOFISH is looking into organising further hands-on or practical sessions on market intelligence, and also an e-commerce training session for small scale fishers.

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FISH INFONETWORK NEWS

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13/07/20 2:05 PM

GUEST PAGES

Stronger inter-regional collaboration could promote sustainable aquaculture around the world

NACCEE encourages young professionalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; participation Dr Laszlo Varadi has been involved in the freshwater aquaculture sector for a lifetime. Retiring as director of HAKI, the Hungarian Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture, though still attached as an International Advisor, he is today the President of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Central-Eastern Europe (NACCEE) and also works at the Department of Public Policy and Management at Corvinus University in Budapest. He shares here some of his opinions about the sector and its future.

HAKI, an institution that you led for many years, plays a key role in the development of Hungarian aquaculture by research into aquaculture, fish biology, and aquatic ecology. Could you envisage HAKI diversifying into other fields of research further down the value chain?

Multidisciplinarity and value chain approach are becoming important guiding principles in the research programs of HAKI. The management of HAKI are doing its best to organize the research program in a way to be able to assist national and international research programs in aquaculture development that contribute to the achievement of objectives of the European Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy. Beside the â&#x20AC;&#x153;classicâ&#x20AC;? research activities, the knowledge and technology transfer, the collaboration with stakeholders for development of aquaculture and sustainable fisheries management in natural waters are also important targets for HAKI. The institute has a young and capable staff and I am incredibly pleased that I can work for HAKI as an International Adviser.

The use of recirculation aquaculture systems in Hungary is increasing though from a very low base. Currently it is mainly

Dr Laszlo Varadi, International Advisor, Hungarian Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture (HAKI)

African catfish that is being produced in these intensive systems. Given the abundance of water in Hungary, will this mode of production ever expand to cover other species and develop into more than just a niche technology?

The production growth of African catfish is a success story in Hungary thanks to the activity of the innovative Szarvasfish Ltd. The system the company uses is not a conventional RAS, but partial water recycling and effluent treatment on wetland are essential components of the system.

Hungary is rich in geothermal waters and the utilization of this

unique resource for aquaculture is far from fully exploited. In my opinion there is a great potential in Hungary to combine indoor and outdoor RAS supplied with geothermal water with pond fish production. Research in this area has been started in Hungary.

Hungary has developed and implemented several technologies that increase the efficiency of freshwater farmed production. Could, for example, countries in Asia usefully deploy these methods there and do you see a role for Hungary as an exporter of these technologies and knowhow?

13_GUEST PAGES (GP).indd 55

In the 1970s FAO assisted the development of the Hungarian aquaculture sector and since that time Hungary has been involved in numerous aquaculture development projects in developing countries especially in Asia, where pond aquaculture is dominant in fish production. Hungary has a definite role in the export of knowledge and technologies to developing countries. In my opinion this is an unexplored opportunity for many European institutions and organisations that have valuable capacity to contribute to the eradication of hunger and poverty in the world.

Hungary and Laos have a project in the field of freshwater

10/07/20 3:04 PM

GUEST PAGES

aquaculture, for which you are an advisor. What is the project about and how did it come about? What benefits do the two countries derive from this collaboration?

Cooperation in aquaculture development with Laos started in the 1980s and was supported by FAO at that time. Later, when Hungary, as member of the EU, became donor country, Laos was one of the first Least Developed Countries that received a so-called â&#x20AC;&#x153;tied aid loanâ&#x20AC;? from the Hungarian government for the development of the livestock and fish production sector. The project is a good example of how expert consultancies and R&D projects lay the foundation of viable economic cooperation. Beneficiaries of the projects are SMEs from both Hungary and Laos. We are proud of the establishment of a Hungarian-Lao joint venture company (ADC), which is producing high quality tilapia fingerling. It is also remarkable that fish culture was the â&#x20AC;&#x153;entry pointâ&#x20AC;? for other projects (e.g. feed manufacturing, livestock production, plant cultivation, irrigation) in the production of healthy and safe food in Laos.

You are a strong proponent of international collaboration in the field of freshwater aquaculture as can be seen in the project with Laos as well as your presidentship of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Central and Eastern Europe (NACCEE).

How can this international approach be deepened so that all participants benefit? How do you anticipate NACEE evolving over the next few years?

The establishment of NACEE in 2004 was an important step towards the reduction of the gap between the Eastern- and Western European regions in aquaculture cooperation after the economic

and political changes in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s.

The development of collaboration, however, cannot be limited to European collaboration and NACEE is ready to be an active participant of inter-regional collaboration. In the spirit of this concept NACEE in Central and Eastern Europe and NACA in Asia signed an agreement, however, in my opinion, wider and stronger interregional collaboration would be a good contribution to the development of sustainable aquaculture worldwide, in particular poor countries. NACEE makes efforts to involve young professionals in its programs. The regular Young Scientists Conference is one of the achievements of NACEE, however further efforts are needed to increase the participation of young professionals from other regions.

In addition, of course, NACEE is constantly looking for new ways of benefiting both its members and the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aquaculture sector.

Both the world and our region have already changed a lot compared to what they looked like at the time of NACEEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s establishment and we must adapt to the new conditions.

You have been involved in the field of freshwater aquaculture for several decades. What, in your opinion, are the most noteworthy developments you have experienced over that period?

Where do you see the sector heading over the next 10 years?

In freshwater aquaculture - not only in Hungary but all over the world - pond fish culture has a dominant role. In my opinion the strengthening of sustainable intensification is an important development trend in freshwater pond fish farming. New systems and technologies (e.g. Combined Intensive Extensive (CIE) and Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture Systems (IMTA) make it possible

to produce more fish in a unit area besides maintaining the capacity of natural-like fishponds to provide ecosystem services. Multifunctionality is also a promising trend for the future, where fish production is combined with ecosystem and touristic services, water and landscape management, cultural and educational programs.

Freshwater aquaculture is a source of healthful protein and also provides significant environmental services (contributing to biodiversity, nutrient retention, water management, and carbon sequestration among others). Yet in Europe annual production has increased by less than 1ď&#x2122;&#x201A; over the last decade. What prevents the sector from growing faster?

There are various reasons, that have been revealed by numerous studies, including the massive import (partly due to the lack of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;level playing fieldâ&#x20AC;?) and the sometimes too strict regulations.

However, in my opinion one reason is the inefficient and slow transfer of knowledge and technology from research to the industry. I hope that organisations like European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (EATiP) will contribute to the exploration and application of available and new research results for the benefit of European aquaculture growth.

The influence of climate change on wild fish distribution and abundance is expected to increase in the future. What are the conceivable impacts on freshwater farmed fish and what consequences is it likely to have for the sector as a whole? Are there ways in which these effects can be mitigated?

The change in wild fish distribution and abundance may not

influence significantly freshwater pond aquaculture in well managed fishponds, however, climate change has obvious effects on pond fish culture, both positive (e.g. increasing biomass production) and negative (e.g. diseases, drought, extreme weather events).

HAKI was a member of the EU Climefish project and responsible for the elaboration of a case study on the effect of climate change on pond fish culture. The Decision Support Framework as a major deliverable of the project will assist farmers to adapt to the changes and mitigate the effect of climate change. Hungarian farmers are open to apply this tool.

As countries gradually lift restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the impacts of the lockdown are becoming more apparent. How has the pandemic affected the production and consumption of freshwater fish in Hungary?

Has the situation resulted in any positive outcomes, for example, increased sales to local consumers?

According to preliminary estimations, the annual loss due to coronavirus pandemic is about 30-40ď&#x2122;&#x201A; in the intensive aquaculture sector and 10-20ď&#x2122;&#x201A; in the fishpond sector. The intensive farms mainly supply their products to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Horecaâ&#x20AC;? sector, which has virtually collapsed, while pond fish farms could release a part of their carp stock into angling waters based on an agreement reached with the national anglersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; association. The situation gives a momentum to the exploration of the potential in the local sales to proximity markets and the use of mobile fish vans. New research and innovation tasks have also been outlined to become more resilient against such crises in the future.

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