EUROFISH Magazine 5 2009

Eurofish Magazine

October 5 / 2009

ISSN 1868-5943 October 5 / 2009 C 44346

Vichiunai Group A global brand in the food industry

n n n The Fish Publishing House

USA: Alaska prioritises sustainability and stock protection SustainAqua: Project concludes with important results Lithuania: Impressive growth in processing sector FISH INFO network

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Frozen seafood specialties

Success stories Hamburger Feinfrost GmbH - Frozen Quality Products

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

“It is with the commitment and attention we receive from Eurofish Magazine in advertising opportunities, product publications and reviews that we see our sales increase and even more important that we are seen as a company contributing to the development of the industry.”

Packaging

Insulated Containers

Leon Hoogervorst, Inter Fresh Concepts b.v.

Salmon slicers

“Our co-operation with Eurofish Magazine started five years ago, when the North Atlantic Seafood Forum was launched. Since then, each year, our advertisements in the Eurofish Magazine have successfully helped us reach our target group of senior industry professionals.

We look forward to continuing our co-operation with Eurofish in the years to come.”

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Transport

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Sidsel Forsang Stangebye, Forum Manager and Jørgen J. Lund, Director NASF C 44346 October 5 / 2009 3

ISSN 1868-594

ISSN 1868-59

The fastest way to advertise in Eurofish Magazine

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July 4 / 2009 C 44346

ISSN 1868-5943

October 5 / 2009 C 44346

Contact our sales-team to start your success story Aleksandra Petersen Eurofish International Organisation H C Andersens Boulevard 44-46 DK -1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark Tel.: +45 333 777 63, Fax: +45 333 777 56 E-Mail: aleksandra.petersen@eurofish.dk Website: www.eurofish.dk

Eckard Preuß

oup Vichiunai Gr d industry in the foo A global brand

Marderstieg 7 21717 Fredenbeck, Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 4149 8020 Fax: +49 (0) 4749 7292 E-Mail: e.preuss@freenet.de

USA: Alaska priorit

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Reaping the benefits of transferab le quotas

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Lithuania: Impressive growth in processing sector

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A global brand in the food industryspecies Italy: New uses

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Aleksandra Petersen, Eurofish Magazine

Marderstieg 7, D-21717 Fredenbeck, Germany Phone +49 (0) 41 49 / 80 20, Fax +49 (0) 41 49 / 72 92 E-Mail: e.preuss@freenet.de

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

Eurofish prepares for the future

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Moving with the times Eurofish Magazine is going electronic T

he first edition of the Eurofish Magazine was published in 1997 under the name Eastfish Magazine. It was the fruit of a collaboration between FAO Eastfish, a UN project, and a privately owned German media house, Fachpresse Verlag. This cooperation continues today 13 years later, but much has changed since the two partners originally signed the agreement. FAO Eastfish is now Eurofish, an independent intergovernmental organisation with 12 member countries, and the Eastfish Magazine appears today as the Eurofish Magazine, a name that has become a known and established part of the global fisheries media landscape.

Since its inception the Eurofish Magazine has strived to portray developments in the fisheries and seafood sector, not least in Central and Eastern Europe, analysing the impact of political, economic, and technological change. These same changes have also played and continue to play an important part in the evolution of the magazine.

The increasing use of information technology in the industry has gone hand in hand with the deployment of new tools for the production and distribution of the magazine itself. However, the widespread adoption of technology is a double-edged blade, bringing with it not only new opportunities, but also new challenges. For the industry it represents ever greater levels of investment and the need for increasingly skilled workers.

For publishers it means adapting traditional business models or developing new ones.

The internet is a good example of a disruptive technology as it enables information to be tailored more accurately and distributed more widely at much lower costs than can be achieved by conventional methods. This calls for the development of new strategies

EUROFISH MAGAZINE The changes to the distribution model will be reflected in the new logo on the front cover.

The first edition of the Eurofish Magazine was published in 1997 under the name Eastfish Magazine.

that can optimally exploit the opportunities the internet offers.

The publishers of the Eurofish Magazine welcome the changes induced by the development and spread of technology and the opportunities they offer. The December edition will see the launch of a new e-magazine that will increase the range and depth of penetration to upto 15,000 readers per issue and cre

ate an online archive of material to benefit advertisers, subscribers and partners, as well as casual readers. These changes will be reflected in the new logo on the front cover. The advantages are formidable: for subscribers information (not just in the current issue, but from past issues too) will always be accessible from an internet enabled device – a computer, mobile phone, or personal digital assistant, to which the whole magazine or parts of it can be downloaded and accessed at will.

In addition, distribution will be more accurately targeted and delivery will be almost immediately after the magazine is ready.

Advertisers stand to gain from a wider audience as well as the interactivity that can be built into their advertisements, while we, the publishers, will be able to spot trends among our readers quicker and more precisely and adapt strategies for their benefit.

The e-magazine complements the print edition of the Eurofish Magazine, which will continue to go out regularly. But by also going electronic the magazine is exploiting developments in technology to benefit its customers. By firmly placing its readers and advertisers at the centre of this new development the Eurofish Magazine hopes to be around not for another 13 but for the next 130 years !

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Contents

Eurofish around

Norway

50 Safe stocks, sustainable fishing Norway’s fishery policy pays off

USA

54 Alaska’s fisheries policy and management Sustainability and stock protection remain the top priorities

News

6 International News

Events

14 Quingdao show well set to exploit booming Chinese market

14 New fisheries event in Moscow lays emphasis on international collaboration

15 Rimini summons the eating out industry with “Sapore”

Projects

16 SustainAqua concluded in September this year Significant achievements for the SustainAqua project

20 PathogenCombat: “Food safety essential for consumer trust“ Reducing food-borne diseases in Europe

Cover Story

Aquaculture

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

22 Vichiunai Group outlines its vision A global brand in the food industry

58 RK Plast manufactures high tech plastic components Newly improved substrate for biofilters

the world

Contents

Lithuania

Species

60 Cod from Norwegian aquaculture – Part 2 History of cod farming

28 The Lithuanian fisheries sector Fish processing shows strong growth

35 Baltlanta catches and freezes fish for Africa and Europe Fishing for pelagics off West Africa

38 Spika fishes in the open Baltic Sea Struggling with inadequate cod quotas

40 Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company has vessels off Chile and Iceland Supplying Pacific mackerel and horse mackerel to Africa

42 Raseiniu Zuvininkyste is Lithuania’s largest carp farm Formerly government-owned farm thrives after independence

44 Norvelita shows impressive growth Salmon processing moves to a new factory

47 Lignesa processes marine and freshwater fish Winning the battle against the recession

49 Klaipeda Fish Auction Changing the structure of the fish market takes time

Fish Infonetwork News series

70 Projects

72 Publications

72 Events

Trade + Markets

64 Norwegian cod farming facing uncertainties Economic crisis overshadows cod market

66 Prices fall as catfish production increases Pangasius back to full swing

Sustainability

Service

73 Diary Dates

74 Imprint

74 List of Advertisers

67 MSC or Friend of the Sea ?

Eco-certifiers in harsh competition

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

[ international news ] Denmark: All fisheries to be MSC certified by 2012 The Danish Fishermens Association has announced that all Danish fisheries that can be certified will be certified before 2012. The first three fisheries to enter the certification process are North Sea plaice, saithe and Eastern Baltic cod.

The world’s fifth largest exporter by value of fish and seafood the Danish industry is characterised by very fresh high quality prod-

ucts sold to demanding customers in European markets. Going in for a sustainability certification was the natural way to protect and enhance this reputation among these customers. The first three fisheries should be certified twelve months from now and will mean certification of the first cod stock in the EU. The accredited certifier carrying out the audits is Food Certification International based in Scotland.

USA: Comments sought by 31 October on new BAP feed mill standards Drafts of the new Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards for feed mills, developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance, are

now posted for public comment at www.gaalliance.org/comment5.html. Comments can be posted until 31 October. In addi-

tion to social and environmental responsibility, the new feed mill standards encompass food safety and traceability. Audit questions address potential chemical and other safety hazards, and require certified feed plants to comply with regulations regarding feed ingredients. The feed mills must also obtain marine meals and oils from sustainable sources

and provide information on the levels of these products used in feeds. The Best Aquaculture Practices program is a rigorous certification program for aquaculture — including farms, hatcheries and processing plants.

BAP standards cover the environment, social responsibility, animal welfare, food safety and traceability.

Germany: SlowFisch promotes health benefits of seafood Visitors to the second SlowFisch at the Bremen Exhibition Centre can gain useful knowledge about fish and seafood. The event takes place from Friday 6 November to Sunday 8 November 2009 and will offer a range

be addressed in the lectures, as well as down-to-earth information about buying, storing and preparing fish. The health benefits of fish will be the topic of other lectures while information about new species and their

A Danish proposal is using a system of carrots and sticks to bring down the level of discards by fishermen. The stick is, that not just landings, but any discards too, will count against quotas, while the carrot is an increase in quota allocations. To join the scheme fishers have to agree to provide complete and reliable documentation of all catches including discards. To meet this requirement a pilot electronic system based on closed circuit television cameras, a GPS receiver, a hydraulic pressure sensor, and a gear rotation sensor was installed on seven vessels by the National Institute for Aquatic Resources at the Technical University of Denmark. An analysis of ten months of video and sensor data revealed that the position and the time that the vessel was fishing could be identified with a high degreee of accuracy. In addition video footage of the catch generated a reliable estimate of its volume and composition particularly if the discarded fish was cod. Large volumes of discard were not as accurately recorded unless they were handled in a special way, but in general the quality of the images was good enough to give an accurate picture of the volume and composition of catch and discards. With only an hour spent on analysing the data for one fishing event, the system is significantly cheaper than having an observer on board. The trials also revealed that fishers would try and avoid discards, by changing fishing ground or altering the gear, showing that the scheme was achieving its objective. The electronic monitoring system was also popular with the fishers themselves and can be successfully used on all types of fishing vessels, providing a new tool for the sustainable exploitation of resources.

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Picture: Messe Bremen, Jan Rathke

Denmark: Successful trials of onboard electronic monitoring scheme

The SlowFisch event in Bremen builds on the slow food concept that lays emphasis on natural taste, sustainability and variety in foods. At Slowfisch visitors can expect both to learn about and enjoy the taste of fish and seafood.

of activities including lectures, a market place and food tasting sessions. Under the guidance of experts visitors can learn to experience and perceive more intimately the different foods and their unique qualities. Both quality and sustainability will

markets will also be presented.

In addition to fish and seafood SlowFisch will also feature sidedishes, spices, mustards and sauces, confectionery, as well as wine, beer and coffee. For more information please visit www. slowfisch-bremen.de.

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[ international news ] Multivac: Intelligent controls increase productivity

Smoked salmon: Morpol opens in France and USA

Following on the heels of the T 700, which was launched at the beginning of the year, is the T 800, the second machine in the new generation of traysealers developed by Multivac.

These machines are characterised by a design that conforms to strict DIN, ISO, and US hygiene standards allowing the machine to be cleaned down to the microbiological level, remove as far as possible the dead spaces that accumulate dirt or liquids, and allow easy access for inspection, maintenance and cleaning.

Morpol, a big Polish producer of smoked salmon, wants to set up a production plant in France and a distribution centre in the USA, writes the Norwegian news portal IntraFish. Morpol opened a distribution centre in Burgundy, France in July. A production plant is to follow shortly. “We have so many customers in France whom we cannot serve appropriately without distribution and production facilities close to the market”, is the reason Morpol Director Jerzy Malek gives for the founding of Morpol France which will be managed by Jean-Yves

In addition they feature intelligent controls which automatically adjust the machine to different packaging tasks and packaging speeds. This means that a single entry is all that is required to set the operating parameters, the rest follow automatically, thereby augmenting productivity. The switch

Bernard. Morpol already exports to the USA where a subsidiary is currently undergoing registration. In Germany, Morpol/ Laschinger recently added a second distribution point to its logistics centre in Platting in the south of Germany. The new centre is in Harsum (between Hanover and Kassel) to enable better coverage of the north German market. The salmon specialist produces more than 70,000 t salmon per year at two Polish plants in Ustka (Morpol) and Lebork (Laurin). Annual sales amount to over 300 m EUR.

China produces 22 million tonnes of fish China is without doubt the world’s biggest fish producer. But the figures published in the Chinese newspaper ‘The Peoples Daily Online’ in mid-August do not seem very plausible. According to their figures there were 9,971 fish processing companies working in China last year with a joint production capacity of 21.97 m t. At the same time, per capita consumption of fish in China in 2008 is stated at 36 kg catch weight or 1.6 times The T 800 from Multivac offers higher throughput than its sibling, the T 700, which was launched at the beginning of the year.

from one production lot to another is correspondingly quick and easy. Flexible controls allow for rapid adjustments to the movement of the machine to take into account trays containing very light or liquid products that need to be handled with care.

The design also incorporates energy saving measures such as highly efficient electrical motors, reduced compressed air consumption and optimal use of the traysealing film.

The user interphase is convenient and user friendly with instructions and feedback in the form of easily understood pictogrammes. Programmes for a particular type of product can be stored and retrieved when the same product is being processed again at a later stage. With the ability to handle 90 packs per minute The T 800 offers an even faster throughput than the T 700.

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

more than the global average. Based on a Chinese population of 1.33 billion people, that would be a total consumption of 47.9 m t fish and seafood. The gap between domestic production and consumption would thus be 26 m t. In fact, however, according to information from the Ministry of Agriculture China only imported 2.97 m t of fish and seafood in 2008. Altogether the industry is said to employ 14.5 million people.

Canada: Fisheries can be rebuilt with sound management In a paper published in the journal Science an international team of scientists, led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University and Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington, has shown that the fishing rate in many parts of the world has been reduced allowing some stocks to recover. In 2006 Worm had predicted that the world would run out of seafood in 2048 if rates of exploitation current at the time persisted. The new study had two objectives to examine current trends in fish abundance and exploitation rates (the proportion of fish taken out of the sea) and to identify which tools managers have applied in their efforts to rebuild depleted fish stocks.

The study showed a trend of increasing

stock collapse across all regions, but the silver lining was that in half the ten ecosystems studied in detail the exploitation rate (the rate at which fish is taken out of the sea) was decreasing, and was stabilised in others indicating that management practices were enabling an ecological and economic recovery. Most of the fisheries showing improvement were managed by wealthy nations, with some exceptions such as in Kenya. The study found that different management measures used in combination such as quotas, selective fishing gear, closed zones, economic incentives, and community management were promising ways to restore fisheries and rebuild ecosystems.

Salmco Technik GmbH ¡ Hamburg ¡ Germany Tel.: +49 40 713 14 72 ¡ E-Mail: info@salmco.com ¡ Internet: www.salmco.com

[ international news ] Norway supports training schools with salmon Due to its great success in recent years in Germany ‘Seafood aus Norwegen’ will carry out its professional training school campaign “1,000 Fische” this autumn for the fourth time. From 15 to 29 September all professional training schools that train cooks can apply to www.norwewgenfisch.de for a share of salmon from Norwegian aquaculture. While stocks last the fish is distributed free of charge to schools that submit two good salmon recipes.

A jury judges the creativity and feasibility of the recipes. In addition to the fish every participant receives a certificate and a badge for their cook’s jacket from the Norwegian Fish Academy. The initiators of the campaign want to awaken a passion for high-quality seafood among young German cooks, give them an understanding of working with fresh fish, and inform them about the advantages of fish and seafood from controlled farming. As in the previous year and due to the huge demand ‘Seafood aus Norwegen’ will provide 2,000 salmon which will be delivered to the schools by ‘Deutsche See’ by the end of the year.

10 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Iceland: Briton buys majority of Iceland Seafood International Mark Holyoake, CEO of the British Seafood Group, has taken over 70 per cent of the big Icelandic fish producer Iceland Seafood International (ISI) writes the Norwegian portal IntraFish. The remaining 30 per cent were held

by ISI President and General Director Benedikt Sveinsson and Managing Director Bjarni Benediktsson, said Sveinsson.

The majority shareholder so far was the Icelandic investment group Kjalar. The purchase did not signify any operational co-operation

of the British Seafood Group and the Icelandic producer, however, emphasized Benedikt Sveinsson: “We will continue working as if nothing had happened.” ISI, formerly a division of the leading Icelandic SIF Group, owns commercial establishments in Europe, the USA and Asia. The food industrialist Mark Holyoake (36) and his family, with ranking 1,077 on the English Sunday Times ‘Rich List’ which named the richest British people in 2009, have private assets estimated at about 58 m EUR.

Fisch Stuch announces new brand: “SDBF” The Bonn-based fishmonger Stuch has announced that it will be launching fresh fish in a special quality under the protected trade mark SDBF (“Sustainable Day Boat Fishing”). “With these fresh fish products from the new brand we want to add a further aspect to the current range of fresh fish from sustainable fishing on the German market”, explained Stefan Stuch.

to freshness, processing, cut and packaging; the result will be products that differ clearly from standard qualities, a difference which the consumer will be able to recognize and taste”, promises Wever. The fish comes from small boats from Norway that fish with hand or long lines during fishing trips that only last a few hours.

The fishmonger is supported by Alexander Wever (formerly of Globus and Metro), who is one of the concept’s developers and will be helping with sales and marketing. “SDBF extends the concept of sustainability by the aspect of maximal attainable quality in relation

The fishes are gutted and iced on board, and then further processed by hand in Bremerhaven. They are to be sold to fishmongers and the gastronomy and grocery sectors. The SDBF brand will be officially presented in Bad Godesberg on 9th September.

Denmark: Adding value to fish guts on board fishing vessels A project led by the Hirtshals division of the Danish Technological Institute based at the North Sea Science Centre has been investigating the possibility of using the guts from fish gutted on board to increase the value of the catch and the profitability for fishermen. Instead of being discarded the guts are placed in a piece of equipment that coverts the waste into

Poul Ole Nielsen who is in charge of the project.

More bones removed

The guts are a source of oil and protein. The fishing industry is interested in the oil while the protein can be used for mink fodder. Danish fishers discard some 14,000 tonnes of fish guts at sea, which Poul Ole Nielsen reckons could be worth up to EUR3m. Even

Less time taken The new CT 2616 Vacuum Pinboner can remove more bones from trimmed salmon fillets than any other machine on the market.

Poul Ole Nielsen, a consultant at the Danish Technological Institute, is leading a project that converts fish guts, which would otherwise be discarded, into valuable products.

high quality silage. The size of the equipment varies with the capacity of the vessel, but installation is simple and, importantly, there is virtually no additional handling of the fish. “The project has documented that correct handling and ensiling of fish guts at sea constitutes a reliable source of extra income, up to almost â‚Ź25,000 annually for large trawlersâ€?, says Danish Technological Institute consultant

before its conclusion the project has generated significant interest.

One Danish fishing vessel has already been fitted with the necessary equipment and on the Faroe Islands a further fifteen trawlers have shown an interest. However certain fishing regulations are constraining the implementation of the project and these should be adjusted as soon as possible, says Poul Ole Nielsen.

The powerful vacuum heads quickly and easily remove the bones – even hard to get at neck bones – and remove surplus water and waste from the fillets to leave them clean and dry.

The benefits are obvious – lower labour costs with higher product quality.

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[ international news ] Turkey: New Skretting feed plant opens

rapid addition of additional lines when production needs to be expanded. The raw materials for the feeds both marine and vegetable will be procured locally as well as

from abroad through Skretting’s international network. Micro ingredients will be sourced from a sister company Trouw Nutrition Turkey.

Latvia: Conference for the processing sector in the Eastern Baltic

Skretting is betting on increased aquaculture production and higher levels of fish consumption in and around Turkey.

A new fish feed plant was opened

by Skretting in Güllük in the Bodrum area in western Turkey. The plant will manufacture feeds for the freshwater trout industry as well as for marine species such

as seabass and sea bream. Most of the production is intended for the domestic market though some will be exported. The plant starts with one extruder line, but its modular design enables the

The conference “European Fisheries Fund and opportunities for fishery and aquaculture product processing” will be held in Riga, Latvia 1 – 2 October 2009. The Conference is organised by EUROFISH on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia and with the support of the European Fisheries Fund.

economic activity that employs a significant number of people throughout the Union especially in regions heavily dependent on fisheries. The value of fishery products produced every year by the processing industry in the European Union amounts to about € 18 billion, almost twice the value of landings and aquaculture production combined.

The fish processing sector in the European Union is an important

The Conference “European Fisheries Fund and opportuni-

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Mr. Arnis Petranis · E-mail: peruza@peruza.lv Phone: +371 2640 4797 · Internet: www.peruza.lv 12 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Innovative design and production

[ international news ] ties for fishery and aquaculture product processing” is aimed at representatives from the fish processing industry from the Eastern Baltic Region and will serve as an instrument for the

effective achievement of the targets set up by the Operational Program for the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund support in Latvia for 20072013 in the area of processing.

Nile perch: drop in catches and prices Producers of Lake Victoria Nile perch are currently facing pressure in two respects: for one thing catch volume has fallen significantly, and for another, in spite of reduced supply quantities, prices are falling, too. In her current market report Helga Josupeit from FAO sees the drop in market prices as a result of competition from the less expensive pangasius fillets. The three countries that border Lake Victoria – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – had exported only 8,800 t of Nile perch fillet to the EU during the first three months of the year – a decrease of 2,900 t or 25 per cent compared to the first quarter in 2008.

Iglo: Salmon fillet fingers to mark 50th birthday Since August Iglo has been offering its classic fish fingers in a variety with wild salmon fillet. The salmon fillet fingers consisting of 58 per cent fillet and 42 per cent bread crumb coating do not contain any flavour enhancers or artificial colorants.

This innovation comes as an addition to fish fingers from Alaska pollack fillet, Omega 3 fish fingers with marine Omega 3 fatty acids,

and two product varieties with lemon or chilli flavouring. As part of a special campaign that will run until the end of the year, the classic variant, the 15-finger pack, will contain one additional free fish finger (recommended retail price 2.79 EUR), the alternative Omega 3 (RRP 2.99 EUR), and chilli and lemon (RRP 2.79 EUR each) will have two extra fingers or 20 per cent more in every pack in the long term.

Total exports in 2008 were already nearly 20 per cent lower than in the previous year (42,300 t of fillet in 2008 compared to 52,800 t in 2007). The price for the popular100 to 400 g fillets was about 6.20 EUR/ kg during the first three months, which was a good 0.80 EUR below the average price of 7.00 EUR/ kg during the same period the previous year. The price for larger fillets weighing 400 to 700 g/ piece is currently much lower at about 4.00 EUR/ kg. In the face of this situation exporters are hoping that product certifications like that awarded by Naturland will have a positive effect on prices.

Seafood & Processing

February 2010

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Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

13

[ events ] Quingdao show well set to exploit booming Chinese market In 1996 when the first China Fisheries and Seafood Expo was held Chinese exports of fish and seafood were worth USD3 billion. In 2008 that figure has climbed to USD10.6 billion, a three and a half times increase. However, over the same period imports into China went from USD1.2 billion to USD5.4 billion, an increase of four and a half times.

And these figures do not take into account illicit imports of highly

some consumers are increasingly reluctant to purchase local fishery products. While this is a challenge for seafood consumption in general, it also presents an opportunity for many U.S. seafood products.”

The presence of large supermarket chains with their efficient logistics and distribution structures have also contributed to the increased demand for fish,

event organiser. He expects seafood imports to continue to grow to meet demand.

The China Fisheries and Seafood Expo has been associated with the growth of the Chinese seafood industry since its inception. In 1996 the expo comprised 200 booths says Peter Redmayne, president of Seattlebased Sea Fare Expositions, and today it has more than 1,500.

For Quingdao, the centre of the Chinese seafood reprocessing industry, the growth in the fair reflects the development in the industry. It will be the seventh time the industry and local city government will back the event, which will have more than 700 companies from over 40 countries filling three halls at the Quingdao Convention Centre.

About 65% of the exhibitors are

Chinese companies, but several other countries including Canada, Chile, Denmark, Iceland, India, Malaysia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam will be well represented with national pavilions.

On 2 November, the day before the expo opens, the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China and Sea Fare Expositions have organised a Sustainable Seafood Forum. The forum will feature buyers, producers, NGO, and regulators who will present different sides of the sustainability debate to a select audience.

China Fisheries and Seafood Expo, 3-5 November, Quingdao Convention Centre, Quingdao, China, www.chinaseafoodexpo.com

New fisheries event in Moscow lays emphasis on international collaboration China’s international trade in seafood has increased from USD4.2 billion to USD16 billion between 1996 and 2008.

taxed products like live lobster and shellfish. The huge reprocessing industry is a major importer of raw material, but the domestic consumer market has also developed a taste for foreign seafood, as there is a feeling that imported fish and seafood though more expensive is safer and healthier. According to a recent report by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, “While price is still one of the most significant factors influencing food purchasing decisions, it is no longer the primary criteria for China’s increasingly health-conscious consumers and fine dining operators. With more food safety violations in China and increased industrial pollution,

by making it more affordable and increasing availability. But probably the main reason for the growth in imported fish consumption is the Chinese economy which is expected to expand by 7.8% in a year when the global economy is set to shrink by 2.5%, according to a United Nations report. The increase in consumer incomes over the past years has made imported fish more affordable for many. The restaurants in China are still full and seafood is always the first choice for most Chinese,” says Yang Hong, general manager of Sea Fare (China) Ltd., the Beijing-based subsidiary of Sea Fare Expositions, the

14 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Interfish, the new international fisheries event in Moscow on 19-22 October is being organised by the Russian Federal Agency for Fishing, which is part of the federal government, and a private partner Staraya Krepost. The exhibition is expected to fill the need for an event that brings together all the aspects of the fishing and processing industry including wholesalers, retail chains and fish stores, specialized restaurant chains, international fish traders, distributors, fishing and fish processing companies with the intention of fostering greater collaboration between the different sectors as well as encouraging the development of interregional and international cooperation.

The head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, Andrey Krayniy, is taking an active interest in the event. He has constituted a working group consisting of the CEOs of companies, representatives of associations, senior scientists and other experts, that will be responsible for the preparation and organisation of the exhibition. An ambitious business programme has been developed that will feature an international economic forum focusing on investments in the Russian fisheries sector, that is expected to attract fisheries ministers, representatives from the EU, the FAO, banks and major fish buyers. The programme also includes an international conference with the theme of the fisheries sector in today’s economic environment. The conference will

[ events ] present the current state of the sector with a view to inspiring the joint international research into marine and freshwater aquaculture, fish breeding, and stock protection. Several panel discussions are also scheduled, among them, one that will discuss the perspectives for fleet building and another that will look at the legislative framework of the fisheries industry in Russia. The exhibition will also feature a competition that will identify the best product in several categories including the most modern fish product, the best packaging, the most original,

and the most environmentally friendly.

The exhibition will be held at the modern international exhibition centre Crocus Expo in the Moscow region and is divided into themes: fishing, processing, aquaculture, transport and logistics, refrigeration and storage, and research.

The organisers have already decided that this event will be held annually.

Interfish, 19-22 October, Crocus Expo, Moscow, Russia, www.interfish-expo.ru.

Rimini summons the eating out industry with “Sapore�

The Mediterranean Seafood Exposition, or MSE, will again form part of a vast event devoted to food and drink in February 2010 in Rimini. As in the past several exhibitions are coming together generating synergies for the sector as well as for visitors, who, with one trip, can cover all the major trends in the food and beverage industries. Combining

several events under one roof has given rise to a new name, “Sapore,� the word for flavour in Italian, because, as the organisers point out, that is the comon thread that runs through all the events.

The MSE alone will feature fresh and frozen produce, preserves, as well as oven-ready meals in

The MSE in Rimini will be one of six events dedicated to tastes and trends in the food and drinks business.

addition to processing equipment and systems. This year will again focus on eating out providing valuable contacts and opportunities for the hotel, restaurant, catering, and food service sectors, as well as large distributors. Running parallel to the exhibition will be a series of events, seminars, presentations, discussions and round tables addressing some of the themes that affect the fish and seafood sector today. In 2009 the MSE alone had 170 exhibitors

of which almost half were from outside Italy.

Taken together the six events that constitute Sapore attracted almost 83,000 visitors in 2009.

There were 1,500 exhibitors spread over 100,000 sq. m of space. For those with a professional interest in eating out this show is a must attend event.

Sapore, 21-24 February, Rimini Fiera, Rimini, Italy, http:// en.saporerimini.it

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Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

15

In Poland researchers studied the polyculture of carp with paddlefish. Here, freshly harvested carps at the Polska Akademia Nauk, Zaklad Ichtiobiologii I Gospodarki Rybackiej.

mise production processes, and to diversify the range of products.

E-learning courses

projects SustainAqua concludet in September this year

Significant achievements for the SustainAqua project

In June and July two e-learning course were conducted for aquaculture practitioners interested in sustainable fish farming. Each course was spread over four days with ninety minutes of instruction that focused on a different topic each day. The principles of sustainable aquaculture, and the case studies took up the first three days while the last day was dedicated to legal issues and a review. These courses too were highly successful, reaching up to 50 students and aquaculture professionals, who assessed the programme very positively.

The SustainAqua consortium met for its final project meeting in Trondheim, Norway. The SustainAqua meeting was held back to back with Aquaculture Europe, where one session on technologies handbook popular among farmers for sustainable aquaculture production was co-chaired by Alexandra Oberdieck of ttz, the SustainAqua project coordinator. Several of the presentations in that session were from Another substantial output from members of the SustainAqua consortium. the project has been a handbook Training courses attract 600 participants As the SustainAqua project approaches the end of its three year term the final touches are being applied to the work that has been carried out in the project. Already now it is apparent that the project has significant achievements to its credit in terms of research, training, and dissemination. Over three months this summer a total of twenty-one training courses were held for aquaculture farmers and technicians in eight countries.

The courses were held over either 16 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

one or two days and attracted altogether almost 600 participants.

An analysis of the questionnaires filled out by the participants revealed a high degree of satisfaction with the course programme and content and interest in implementing the SustainAqua modules, which are methods developed in the project to make fish farming more sustainable, to increase product quality, to optiThe Swiss case study combined fruit and vegetable crops with tilapia production in a tropical greenhouse.

for aquaculture farmers, a practical guide to sustainable freshwater fish farming. Over 110 pages long the handbook details the core of the project, the five case studies that were carried out on different species in five countries. The handbook is intended as a manual for the fish farmer and each of the chapters on the case studies ends in a section that describes how the methods developed in the case study to achieve specific results can be scaled up to actual farm proportions. The handbook also includes an overview on production methods and technologies used in the main freshwater

[ projects ]

Sustainable aquaculture wiki now open to the public The purpose of the SustainAqua wiki (wiki.sustainaqua.org) is to assist an aquaculture farmer to decide whether and how his farm can operate more sustainably or become more competitive. The information in the wiki is based on the work carried out in the case studies and the results generated by this research. The wiki is constructed so that the information is classified in a clear and transparent manner allowing the user to easily navigate to the pages he or

mit entries or amend existing information. Only registered users will be entitled to make changes to the wiki.

Outcomes from case studies evaluated for transferability

Picture: DTU-Aqua

farming systems in Europe and a review of European legislation in the field. Information based on the case studies on techniques to improve product quality, to diversify production into potentially valuable wetland crops, as well as to grow fruit and vegetable in combination with fish, is also provided in the handbook. The book was distributed at the training courses in the local languages and will be made available for download from the project website www.sustainaqua.org. Judging from the feedback the practical nature of the handbook was widely appreciated by participants at the training courses as well as the trainers.

A Model Trout Farm (Ejstrupholm Dambrug) in Denmark: In the background to the left are the plant lagoons consisting of former earthen ponds, inlet and outlet channels.

she finds most relevant. In each of the case studies, for example, the purpose of the research is described and how it was carried out as well as the benefits and constraints of implementation. In some of the case studies additional suggestions on ways to improve water quality or reduce emissions have also been provided. Users can also find information related to particular topics. For example, if a farmer is interested in reducing energy consumption he can go directly to the section on the Manure Denitrifying Reactor (MDR) under the Dutch case study or to the page on constructed wetlands

that describes how biofuel crops were raised in the Hungarian case study. Other concepts that were researched within the project such as polyculture, constructed wetlands, and advanced recirculation can also be conveniently accessed from the menu system.

The idea behind developing a wiki was to create a core of information to which members of the public could add their knowledge. The wiki has now been opened to the public who currently have readonly access to all the information in the wiki. In the future members of the public will also be able sub-

The five case studies provided valuable qualitative and quantitative data on how to increase the sustainability of freshwater aquaculture in Europe. The innovations researched in the different case studies varied from technology-based with the use of Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (case study “Denmark”), using a denitrification reactor (case study “The Netherlands”) to more ecological approaches using integrated aquaculture systems (case study “The Netherlands”, “Poland”, “Hungary” and “Switzerland”).

Integrating fish and crops production in a tropical greenhouse In the Swiss case study researchers examined the feasibility of integrating the farming of tilapia with the production of fruits and vegetables in a tropical greenhouse that uses waste heat from a gas densification plant. The waste water from the tilapia production was used to irrigate the fruit

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

17

and vegetables which benefited from the fish waste released into the water. In this context, an aquaponic filter was developed and optimised during the SustainAqua project, resulting in a highly effective technology, which can also be applied to types of aquaculture other than those practised in the tropical greenhouse. The researchers together with another of the consortium partners now plan to jointly market this filter. The researchers also experimented with growing noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) in conjunction with the tilapia to diversify production – one of the main objectives of SustainAqua. Another experiment looked at growing Asellus aquaticus, a freshwater crustacean, as fodder for the tilapia. The key conclusion of the Swiss case study is that one promising path to sustainability in aquaculture is the integration of fish production into agricultural production. The researchers also concluded that their work makes a strong case for the use of waste as a resource and system diversity which are basic principles in the development of sustainable systems. The tropical greenhouse concept is supported by a major Swiss retailer proving the existence of a market for sustainable production. The findings from the case study are currently being implemented in two production-scale greenhouses that open this year and in 2010 respectively.

The Swiss researchers also investigated the potential use of sustainably produced fruit and vegetables in the cosmetics industry.

Several of the products from the greenhouse were analysed for their content of substances valued by this sector. The analysis revealed that these ingredients were not present in significantly higher amounts than in plants that were farmed conventionally, but their

Picture: AKVAPARK

[ projects ]

The Hungarian case study experimented with willows grown in a wetland as a biofuel.

sustainable provenance could be marketed.

pond cascades. More research is needed however to confirm these results.

Growing paddlefish with carp could increase The Polish case study also reprofitability searched the impact of culture The Polish case study focused on the introduction of American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) in polyculture with carp. This fish grows rapidly and has a high market value and would add to the profitability of the farming operation, but the research also showed certain constraints such as sensitivity of the fish to stocking density, possible problems with EU legislation on the introduction of exogenous species, as well as the fact that paddlefish is currently virtually unknown on the market.

Another aspect of the Polish case study was the cascade module that sought to use waste organic matter (manure) from other agriculture operations such as dairy or pig farms to reduce feeding costs and treat wastewater biologically by integrating nutrients and minerals in the food chain as fish feed. The study found that the cascade system reduced the cost of waste water utilisation by retaining it in a controlled ecosystem of

18 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

systems (polyculture or monoculture) and feeds (natural or cereal) on the taste and quality of common carp. The results of the tests showed that carp fed on a natural diet was less fatty yet had a higher proportion of poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as well as a better taste than the fish fed on the cereal diet. Whether it was raised in polyculture or monoculture did not seem to affect the taste.

Combining intensive with extensive farming can benefit the environment In Hungary the results from the case study showed that a combination of intensive and extensive fish farming systems is an efficient tool to reduce the environmental pollution from intensive fish farming and increases the production of extensively produced fish as a by-product. The efficiency of the extensive unit can be improved by periphyton developing on arti-

ficial substrates. These substrateattached communities increase the water quality and at the same time provide a new feed source and a part of that is recovered as fish biomass. The objective of the research module was to develop a new method for predator fish production in pond systems and increase the nutrient utilisation of the fish production. The experimental work showed higher nutrient utilisation efficiency and reduced environmental emissions from the fish production with increased production capacity.

Another experiment that combined fish production, in this case African catfish, with a constructed wetland system to minimise nutrient and pollutant discharge showed that the wetland system provided an adequate treatment system that compared well with artifical purification systems in tems of construction and operating costs and also met the necessary environmental standards.

The wetland crops were selected for their potential to be used as biofuels. In the Hungarian study the two plants common reed (Phragmites australis), and cattail (Typhalatifolia/ angustifolia) that were grown in the constructed wetlands were analysed and found to be suitable as biofuel crops. However, there are certain limiting factors, such as the primary function of the crops as wastewater treatment plants for aquaculture production, which would need to be resolved for the efficient production of biofuel crops.

Reducing energy and water consumption in recirculation systems The Dutch case study focused on trying to reduce energy and water consumption in a recirculation aquaculture system. Us-

[ projects ] ing a manure dentrifying reactor the researchers found that the consumption of energy could be reduced compared to a conventional recirculation system as less water has to be exchanged and heated and a significant amount of heat is produced by the bacterial biomass reusing and oxidizing otherwise wasted nutrients. The waste discharge is also reduced and concentrated by treatment in the manure denitrifier. Based on pilot scale tests carried out with a commercial producer production costs per kg of harvested fish in a system using the reactor were estimated at 10% lower than a recirculation system without the reactor.

Another part of the Dutch case study looked at the benefits of a

periphyton module for pond systems. A periphyton turf scrubber is microorganisms including bacteria and microalgae that colonise a submerged surface in the presence of light. It is a good feed source for fish in natural water and also contributes to improving the water quality. The researchers combined an intensive carp pond with a periphyton pond containing tilapia and noted several advantages. The retention of N and P was very high in the fish. In addition the system generated a sludge rich in N and P which could be used as fertiliser. Production is 5 to 10 times higher than conventional extensive pond farming and the impact on the environment is very low. On the other hand the

production area has to be relatively large and constant aeration is needed which is expensive.

Danish Model Trout Farms far more efficient than conventional farms In Denmark researchers compared the discharge from a Model Trout Farm with that of a conventional farm to show that the efficiency of the removal of nutrients from the production water on a Model Trout Farm was significantly higher than the average discharge from Danish trout farms.

The ammonia, phosphorus, and organic matter was removed in the sludge traps and the bio filters, while the organic matter and phosphorus was removed by the

plant lagoons. The plant lagoons may be used for the production of crops that the farmer can sell to generate some additional income, but the plants require a significant initial investment in labour for planting, weeding, and harvesting.

The results delivered by the SustainAqua project add substantially to the existing knowledge about freshwater farming and will show to farmers in detail some of the ways that will make their operations more sustainable and more competitive. For more information on SustainAqua visit www.sustainaqua.org or contact Project Coordinator Alexandra Oberdieck, aoberdieck@ttzbremerhaven.de.

[ projects ] PathogenCombat: “Food safety essential for consumer trust“

Reducing food-borne diseases in Europe

After five years’ work an integrated research project funded under the EU 6th Framework Programme will come to an end in April 2010. Its aim is to make our foods safer, strengthen consumer trust in food, and improve the competitiveness of the food industry. The name of the project – PathogenCombat – is a particularly apt description of the project’s objective: to monitor and prevent emerging and future pathogens throughout the food chain.

E

verywhere in the world today, people are worrying about swine flu. This shows what risks pathogens still hold today – in spite of all the progress made in our efforts to fight them.

It is often forgotten, however, that every one of us can face similar

risks every day. Even the healthiest of foods can cause health damages if preventive measures are not taken in the entire food chain from the supplier of raw material to the consumer. Although in Europe food production is generally very high-tech and has never

been more stringently controlled, consumers still suffer from foodborne diseases. The significant investments in food safety by governments and the food industry do not seem to improve the situation.

It is estimated that in the UK alone about 3.5 million people are af-

fected by such diseases every year and the number of cases Europewide will be much higher. Illness resulting from food-borne disease has become one of the most widespread public health problems in today’s world.

There are numerous reasons for this: an apparent gap between technology and hygiene, lack of precise and rapid methods for monitoring and understanding the behaviour of pathogens in the food chain, a need for novel methods for breaking the transmission of pathogens along the food chain and a lack of efficient food safety management systems which also address the role of human behaviour in the food chain. Pathogens can get into a food at all levels of the food chain and can multiply hugely under suitable conditions. So

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CONTI-MAR GmbH | Tibarg 35 | D-22459 Hamburg/Germany Исполнительный директор: Ralf Sachau Tel.: +49 40 58 40 70 | Fax: 49 40 58 53 81 | e-mail: info@conti-mar.com | internet: www.info@conti-mar.com Для переговоров на русском языке обращайтесь к г-же C. Мильш, Tel.:+49 40 53 78 98 92 | Fax: +49 40 53 16 803 | e-mail: cm@jafinda.de

20 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

PathogenCombat Coordinator Mogens Jakobsen has researchers from 16 European countries and Australia on his team.

where are the greatest risks? Which pathogens pose the biggest threat?

How can they best be combated?

What can industry do to prevent such risks and keep pathogens out of food? What do consumers know about the possible risks, where do they get their information, and how should this information be presented so that they can understand it?

Finding the answers to these and numerous other questions was the object of PathogenCombat, an integrated research project in which the expertise and skills of researchers and industry members from 16 European states and Australia were united. Scientists from 24 reputed universities, institutes and other research facilities, 3 industrial partners and 17 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worked across national borders in multidisciplinary co-operation and partnership. The uniting factor for all participants in the integrated PathogenCombat Project was their shared goal to make new findings, gain fundamental new insights, and develop methods for the food industry and decision-making bodies that would make it possible to effectively combat the prevalence of new and re-emerging food-borne pathogens. In order to achieve this ambitious goal the researchers and their partners from industry had to solve a considerable number of tasks. Anyone who wants

to combat food-borne pathogens effectively has to know more about them and be aware of which factors in the food chain control their viability, persistence and virulence.

They have to develop or improve fast and highly specific tests for detecting pathogens and assessing not only the number of pathogens, but also their virulence in good time. One important task was to develop functional cell models which would enable the replacement of some of today’s controversial animal experiments to understand how pathogens interact with humans and farm animals. Of particular interest to industry is the development of hygienic design and new processing technologies to prevent settling and spreading within the food chain.

The project’s strong practical relevance and orientation is undoubtedly one of its outstanding merits.

For example, the researchers have not only gained new insight into food-borne pathogens and their prevention, detection and specific combat but have also put great effort into enabling this newly acquired knowledge to be implemented quickly within the food industry.

Now, after nearly five years of hard work, shortly before the end of the project the multitude of results is gradually being put together like a mosaic to form a complete picture, a harmonious whole. It is becoming increasingly clear that PathogenCombat contributes substantially towards improving effectiveness and uniformity in reducing the prevalence of food-borne pathogens in European food and creates an important foundation for scientifically based food safety management in Europe. For interaction with PathogenCombat and more information please contact the Coordinator Mogens Jakobsen, moj@life.ku.dk or Project Manager Vicki Lei, vil@ life.ku.dk. You can also visit www. pathogencombat.com

cover story Surimi products such as these crabsticks amount to 70% of the production of 45,000 tonnes from the site in Plunge, Lithuania.

director of Plunges Kooperatine Prekyba, the company responsible for the surimi production, lead the production at this five hectare site.

Less fish needed per kilo of surimi as technology improves

Vichiunai Group outlines its vision

A global brand in the food industry

Among the top two or three surimi producers in the world and certainly the best known in Europe, the name Vichiunai has come to synonymise surimi products. Today however, processed items based on fish and seafood as well as other products are a growing and increasingly significant part of a business that had an annual turnover last year of almost EUR260m.

F

rom simple beginnings back in 1991 Vichiunai has evolved into a group of companies with a diversified business and product portfolio, almost three thousand five hundred employees, and five production sites in three countries, Lithunania, Estonia and Russia. At the production site in Plunge, Lithuania the company has two ultramodern facilities, one of them newly rebuilt after being gutted by a fire a couple of years ago. One plant is dedicated to the manufacture of crabsticks and other surimi-based products, while fish and seafood is processed into a wide range of items at the other. The two facilities have a combined capacity of 45,000 tonnes of which 70% is

surimi products, says Mindaugas Pocius, the director of Viciunai ir Partneriai, the company respon-

sible for the fish and seafood production. Mr Pocius together with his colleague Algirdas Razma, the

Algirdas Razma (left), director of Plunges Kooperatine Prekyba UAB (surimi and analogue seafood products), and Mindaugas Pocius, director in Viciunai ir Partneriai UAB (fish and seafood).

22 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

According to FAO GLOBEFISH in its report World Surimi Market the product surimi originates in Japan and can be dated back to the sixteenth centuary. In fact, even the word is Japanese, meaning minced, processed (fish) meat.

Surimi is thus a paste of minced fishmeat used for the production of analogue seafood products. Japan is still a significant producer of surimi, but production has spread to several regions particularly in South and Southeast Asia, but also in the Americas and Europe. Surimi was originally produced from Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), but the decline in production of this species as well as the development of technology that enabled other fish sorts, including fatty pelagic fish to be used for surimi production, has meant that surimi today is produced from a variety of species including threadfin bream, hoki, Pacific whiting, jack mackerel, atka mackerel, sardine, blue whiting, and Peruvian anchovy.

Even non fish species such as the giant squid (Dosidicus gigas) are used to produce surimi. The surimi yield from different species varies depending on the quality of the surimi to be achieved and the characteristics of the fish. Generally for a high grade surimi from Alaska pollock the yield is 22-24 percent, meaning 4 kg of fish is

cover story

needed to produce 1 kg of surimi.

However, yields have been improving over the years as technology improves and now they are up to 30%. Although the data is not comprehensive the number of countries producing more than 3,000 tonnes of surimi a year is estimated at about fifteen.

Crabsticks and analogue seafood Vichiunai imports frozen surimi from different producer in different parts of the world. The surimi is not one uniform grade, but is of different qualities which are then mixed together to create a uniform product. The quality of the surimi depends on several factors, its ability to gel; the colour, whiter surimi is graded higher; its purity, meaning the extent

In the ultra-modern vast mixing machines blend surimi with water, starch, egg white, and other ingredients to create a smooth paste, the raw material for crabsticks.

ACQUACOLTURA MED 2009 Mediterranean Expo-Conference on Sustainable Aquaculture & Seafood

Verona (Italy), 22 - 23 October 2009

GROWING THE FISH VALUE CHAIN FROM INNOVATION TO MARKET

MAIN TOPICS • OPENING SESSION: a. sustainability and environment b. feed, nutrition and well-being;

TRADE&MARKET: processing;

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: innovative technologies in fish farming;

organized by:

TRADE&MARKET: distribution and consumption. in cooperation with:

For more information and the conference programme: www.acquacoltura.info

09-08-039 ACQUA eurofish.indd 1

02/09/09 14:59 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009 23

cover story

The surimi paste is deposited on to a roller, cooked, rolled, wrapped in cellophane and chopped into segments in one continuous flow.

to which blood, skin and dark meat are present; its regularity; and the bacterial content. Surimi is the raw material that is used for the production of crabsticks,

crabclaws, and other analogue seafood products that Vichiunai specialises in. In the highly automated factory the crabstick manufacturing process starts

24 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

by blending surimi in vast mixing machines with water, starch, egg white, and other ingredients.

These programmeable machines are made of high grade stainless

steel and are equipped with sharp cutting blades that spin at high speeds to create a smooth paste.

This mixture is pumped through a system of pipes on to a hot roller

where it is deposited in a thin layer. As it is spread on the roller the ingredient, that gives crabsticks their characteristic orange or red colouration, is added. The actual shade and its intensity varies depending on the buyer‘s specifications. The heat from the roller cooks the layer and conveys it like an endless, wide but thin band or tape through a system of rollers until it is finally rolled into a cylindrical shape, sealed in cellophane and chopped into segments in one continuous process. This method is called „rolled forming“ and is used for the manufacture of crabsticks. For analogue seafood such as crabclaws, shrimp tails or other shapes the batter is pressed into forms, in a process called moulded forming, which are then heated to cook the mixture and make it set in the desired shape.

Highly mechanised production The high degree of automation within this area of the plant is apparent from the number of employees present. At each of the four crabstick production lines

just one or two workers monitor the process making minor adjustments where necessary. The crabsticks are placed in primary packaging of a pre-determined weight. Based on the weight the machine calculates the number of crabsticks that should go into the package, which is then vacuum sealed and labelled with the date, lot number, product line, and article number of the product so that any package can be easily traced. Before continuing to the pasteurisation chamber the packages pass through a metal detector to ascertain that no foreign bodies have entered the product.

Within the pasteurising machines the temperature inside the crabstick is brought to between 82 and 95 degrees. The packages are then either placed into secondary packaging and sent into storage for distribution as fresh, chilled crabsticks or they are frozen.

Ready meals, pizzas, pancakes added to the product line Before Vichiunai launched its line of crabsticks and other ana-

Viciunai Company Fact File Viciunai ir Partneriai UAB, part of the Viciunai Group Birutes str. 50 LT 90112 Plunge Lithuania Tel.: +370 448 73248 Fax: +370 448 71672 mindaugas.p@viciunai-pkp.lt www.vici.lt Director: Mindaugas Pocius Products: Smoked fish, fish salads, herring in oil, herring products, surimi salads, seafood in brine Markets: Baltic countries, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe

Plunges Kooperatine Prekyba UAB, part of the Viciunai Group Birutes str. 50 LT 90112 Plunge Lithuania Tel.: +370 448 73171 Fax: +370 448 71674 Director: Algirdas Razma Production: Surimi-based products, and analogue seafood items Markets: Baltic countries, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe

cover story

also come in a wide range including claws, shrimps, and lobster tails, in oil, or plain. Surimi-derived items still dominate the company’s wide range of products accounting for 70% of the production. The remaining 30% comprises mainly breaded products, fish and seafood, ready meals, pizza and pancakes. We have a vision, says Mr Razma, which is to become a world wide brand in the food industry. By moving into ready meals and other non-seafood products the company has already started converting this vision into reality.

Private label products for major supermarkets The Baltic production facilities have all the necessary certifications, such as BRC and IFS to serve the Baltic States, Central Europe and Western Europe, while the Kaliningrad plant conforms to all Russian requirements.

logue seafood products it was a salmon processor and manufacturer of products in brine, such as pink shrimp (Pandalus borealis), mussels, and crayfish tails.

However, the rapid growth in the production of surimi-based items eclipsed everything else and the

name Vichiunai came to be identified with crabsticks and other surimi products. The term crabsticks however does not do justice to the wide range of products that are made by the company today.

These include noodles, chunks, crabsticks with different tastes in-

26 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

cluding fruit flavoured, in seafood cocktails, with cheese, with different fillings, combined in salads, and as sausages. And not all the crabsticks are savoury, there is even a sweet variety – a chocolate surimi bite with a coconut filling!

The moulded seafood products

The fish and seafood products factory in Plunge is a separate building next to the one where surimi is processed. Here, at one of the production lines, workers in protective clothing feed herring fillets into trays on a conveyor. The trays are dosed with a marinade and then sealed, labelled, and packaged in cartons. At another line a machine injects a fish salad into small plastic cartons filling four at

cover story

a time before moving to the next row. Salads with fish, surimi, vegetables and fruit, as well as herring fillets in oils, are among some of the products that are produced here. Others include seafood in brine and smoked fish – mackerel, salmon and squid. Tastes are not uniform across Europe and so we adapt our recipes, says Mr Pocius.

These minisalads are sold in the Baltic States, in Central and Eastern Europe, but not in the west, where we find tastes are a little more conservative. Of course, when making private label products then the recipes come from the client.

Customers include some of the biggest names in European retailing including, Tesco, Auchan, Aldi, Metro, and Carrefour.

Plants certified to the highest standards Production in the Vichiunai Group is streamlined so that the production sites serve distinct markets. Thus, Vichiunai Kaliningrad produces surimi, fish and seafood, and breaded products for markets in Russia, and other CIS states. The factory here is in fact the company’s biggest with a capacity of 4,500 tonnes (3,600 tonnes of surimi products, 900 tonnes of fish products per month). In Estonia the production unit does breaded products, pizzas and pancakes, while in Lithuania production is split between two locations, one for surimi and seafood products and another for breaded items. The Baltic production facilities have all the necessary certifications, such as BRC and IFS to serve the Baltic States, Central Europe and Western Europe, while the Kaliningrad plant conforms to all Russian requirements. In addition, should a company want Marine Stewardship Council branded products, then that too is possible as the factory fulfils the chain of

are constantly being designed at our development division, we are flexible and innovative and are willing to make that extra effort for our partners. He also highlights the importance of technology to the company, pointing out that last year the company invested EUR9m in new equipment.

The addition of fish and seafood products to the product range is a step towards realising Vichiunai’s goal of becoming a worldwide brand in the food industry.

custody requirements demanded by the MSC certification. We try and do the best we can, empha-

sises Mr Pocius, we are selective about our suppliers and the raw materials we use, new products

The company did not escape the economic crisis unscathed, but also seeks to capitalise on the opportunities it presents. Mr Pocius does not elaborate on what the company’s next move will be, saying that it was looking at new and different products both fish and non-fish. There are some good ideas that we hope to realise in the near future.

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Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

27

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Lithuania The Lithuanian fisheries sector

Fish processing shows strong growth

The fisheries sector in Lithuania includes the marine fishery, the inland fishery, aquaculture, and the fish and seafood processing industry. The total value of the sector is less than 1 % of GDP (2005), but it has a disproportionate economic and social role to play in small communities around the country.

T

he marine fishery in Lithuania is further classified into the distant water fishery, the Baltic Sea fishery, and the coastal fishery in the Baltic Sea.

Distant water fleet catches increase According to the European Commission’s fleet register the Lithuanian fleet has 221 vessels.

28 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

There are fourteen vessels above 40 m in length with an average age of thirty years. Of these thirteen vessels are currently fishing in the high seas, says Aidas Adomaitis, Director General of the Fisheries Department in the Ministry of Agriculture. The areas covered include the Atlantic off the coast of West Africa, in the South Pacific off Chile and Peru, and in the NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fishery Organisation)

Aidas Adomaitis, Director General of the Fisheries Department in the Ministry of Agriculture.

and NEAFC (North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission) areas. In addition there are two shrimp trawlers in the Svalbard area in the Arctic. The vessels in the South Pacific and off West Africa are primarily pelagic trawlers targeting mackerel, horse mackerel, sardinella, and sardines.

The distant water fleet will probably be reduced by one or perhaps even two vessels in the near future, says Mr Adomaitis;

lithuania

◀ The Baltic Sea fleet is characterised by ageing vessels that are under-powered and in need of modernisation.

one owner is using EU support to scrap his vessel as he wants to leave the fishery, while in the case of the other vessel the final outcome has not yet been decided. The companies that own the vessels in the distant water fleet are well capitalised whether the capital is from Lithuanian or foreign investors and the vessels are modernised. These vessels are typically over 40 m and up to 136 m in length. Total catches by the distant water fleet have increased from 146,000 tonnes in 2004 to 160,000 tonnes in 2008. Over this period the main increase has come from catches in the Moroccan exclusive economic zone which went up from 8,700 tonnes to 48,000 tonnes, as well as from the beginning of fishery activities in South Pacific. Catches from the NEAFC area also increased by 71 % from 7,400 tonnes to 12,700 tonnes, however the other areas all showed a decrease in catches (see table on next page).

Baltic fleet suffering from lack of investment The situation in the Baltic Sea fleet is different from that of the distant water fleet. There are about 169 vessels fishing in the coastal zone defined as up to the 20 m isobath (a contour line connecting all the points on the seabed that are 20 m below the surface) and a further thirty vessels fishing in the open Baltic Sea. This fleet has seen a reduction in capacity of about 50 % during the period 2004 to 2006 with support from European funds and the national budget.

In the period 2007-2013 the

Aquaculture is based mainly on pond farms growing common carp. Many farms also attract anglers by offering accommodation, restaurants, and the opportunity to fish.

coastal fleet is expected to be reduced. These vessels are usually less than 12 m in length. Those in the 6-10 m range are often with flat bottoms due to the sandy beaches along the Lithuanian coast. The average age of the fleet is 35 to 40 years, but the owners are reluctant to refurbish them even with European support because they feel the vessels are so old that it is not worth investing in them as it will not address certain fundamental problems with the vessels. Gintaras Gylys, the managing director of fishing company Spika Ltd, and a board member of the biggest fishermen’s association – Lithuanian Fisheries Products Producer’s Association – says the problem is that the vessels come from Soviet times and the engines are just not powerful enough. Refurbishing the vessel involves improving the hygiene and sanitation on board for the fish and increasing the safety and comfort for the crew.

But this does not address the real issue, says Mr Gylys, which

is that these vessels are underpowered and need new engines.

What he would like to see is a relaxation of the rules regarding the purchase of newer vessels.

This view is shared in the Ministry of Agriculture where the new minister Mr. Kazys Starkevicius has sent a note to the Commission to find out whether the rules can be loosened to allow Lithuanian fishermen buy boats that are not as old as the ones they are currently using. The reluctance to modernise the vessels

can also be attributed to the cost involved. Baltic fishing companies are usually smaller companies with one or two vessels that mainly fish for cod in the Baltic Sea. However cod quotas are not high and the fishers probably do not earn enough to modernise their vessels.

Capacity of Baltic fleet exceeds cod resources The Baltic Sea fishery comprises primarily five species of which

lithuania

Production of Lithuanian fishing and aquaculture companies live weight, in tonnes

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

160.665

141.789

156.780

190.890

187.061

North-West Atlantic (NAFO)

8.644

5.321

2.522

3.492

1.517

North-East Atlantic (NEAFC)

7.410

4.327

18.773

19.712

12.662

Norway EEZ (Svalbard zone)

2.111

1.920

1.549

1.219

567

46

163

311

-

-

8.651

38.509

25.086

36.071

47.671

118.997

76.367

90.603

63.731

73.059

Total:

Greenland EEZ Morocco EEZ Mauritania EEZ South-Pacific (SPRFMO)

-

-

-

35.888

24.056

12.625

13.542

15.825

26.744

23.486

cod

3.382

2.987

3.301

2.935

2.614

Baltic herring

1.845

748

1.172

3.592

1.793

sprat

6.185

8.635

10.814

19.745

18.295

flounder

901

949

376

361

665

others

314

222

163

111

119

1.237

1.168

1.107

1.363

1.240

358

379

328

510

361

2.014

2.225

3.378

3.008

Baltic Sea

Curonian Lagoon Other inland waters Aquaculture

2.697

Source: Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania

cod is the most important in terms of value. The decline in cod stocks in the Baltic Sea led to the establishment of a multi-annual management plan in September 2007. To achieve the targets laid down in the plan the total allowable catch (TAC) is set to match the fishing effort which will be gradually reduced to the target level. The management plan also calls for a strengthening of fisheries control. Cod catches have declined by 23 % between 2004 and 2008 causing much hardship to the fleet. The other species that are caught in the Baltic Sea are sprats, which in terms of tonnage are the most significant species and the only one to have registered regular increases in catches between 2004 and 2008. Other species caught in the Baltic include Baltic herring, flatfish, and some salmon. Catches of Baltic herring have fluctuated over the five years from 2004 and in 2008 amounted to 1,800 tonnes, while flatfish catches over the same period show a declining trend.

30 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

While the cod quota is fully caught this has not been the case with the Baltic herring and sprat quota over the last few years. At the Fisheries Department the feeling is that this will change this year and fishing companies will catch the full quota of both sprats and Baltic herring.

The Lithuanian authorities are trying to restock the Baltic Sea

with salmon and have breeding facilities for this purpose. There is however a problem with the Lithuanian brood stock which is difficult to catch from the wild.

Freshwater catches broadly stable The inland waters in Lithuania amount to some 2,600 square km in area including

The processing industry can boast state-of-the-art plants producing a range of sophisticated products for international markets. Here, the Vichiunai factory in Plunge.

lakes, ponds, and rivers. The freshwater fishery in Lithuania consists mainly of catches from the Curonian Lagoon, a large water body separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit.

The lagoon has an area of over 1,600 square km and is divided into a northern part belonging to Lithuania and a southern part owned by Russia. In 2008 volumes of fish caught in the Lithuanian part of the lagoon amounted to 1,240 tonnes while catches from other inland waters were 361,5 tonnes.

These volumes have remained broadly stable over the five years to 2008. The freshwater species include perch, roach, pike-perch, bream, vimba, smelt, pike, silver bream, crucian carp, burbot, twaite shad, sabrefish, stickleback, European eel, ruffe, asps, common whitefish and others. The Operational Programme of the Lithuanian Fisheries Sector states that 22 fish landing sites have been established in the lagoon, but they are badly maintained with poor or no facilities for storage, freezing, sorting or repairing fishing vessels. Maintenance is complicated by the fact that the Curonian Spit is a UNESCO world heritage site which hampers the building and renovation of facilities.

Altogether there are some 240 vessels fishing in inland waters. They are small and for the majority of the owners the income generated amounts to about EUR8,700 per year.

The Lithuanian Baltic Sea fishery as well as the inland fishery is very fragmented with many micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that are unable or unwilling to modernise their vessels, due to their low profitability and the expense modernisation would entail. Remov-

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ing older vessels from the fleet and encouraging consolidation may help to make the fleet more profitable.

Aquaculture dominated by carp production The aquaculture sector in Lithuania is based primarily on common carp (Cyprinus carpio carpio) grown in ponds. Today carp is produced on 18 farms which between them have approximately 9,000 ha of ponds.

The total pond area has declined slightly since 2001 when the area under ponds was 10500 ha. Although total capacity of the ponds is some 5,000 tonnes, less than 70 % of the area is used and total fish production in 2008 was about 3,008 tonnes. The farms vary in size from 250 ha to 1,700 ha with production on the largest farm, Raseiniu Zuvinkyste, standing at 1,200 tonnes. The carp are typically grown for three years when they have a weight of 1 kg to 1,500 g. Common carp dominates farmed fish production amounting to about 90 % of the total while the remaining 10 % comprises an assortment of species; rainbow trout, pike, other carp species (crucian, grass, silver carps), sturgeon, tench, peled whitefish, pike-perch, eel and other fish.

The Zeimena hatchery is the newest and the biggest of the five hatcheries run by the State Pisciculture and Fisheries Research Centre.

The government has an extensive carp selection breeding and restocking programme run by the State Pisciculture and Fisheries Research Centre which manages one selective carp breeding farm, five hatcheries and two laboratories spread across the country.

The carp selective breeding programme has existed since 1972 and over the years has produced different crossbreeds including the Ĺ ilavotas breed.The objective

of this programme is to develop strains that are well adapted to the Lithuanian environment, that grow fast, have excellent meat quality, that are robust and able to recover rapidly after transport.

mercial fish stocks in inland waters as well as salmon and sea trout stocks in the Baltic Sea for commercial fishers and anglers.

The hatcheries also supply fish farmers with fish for ongrowing.

At the hatcheries brood stock is caught from the wild and brought up. The eggs from brood stock are hatched and grown to fry which are then released into rivers and lakes to rebuild com-

New electronic system to track fish released from hatcheries At the Zeimena salmon hatchery, the newest and the biggest

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31

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of the five hatcheries run by the State Pisciculture and Fisheries Research Centre, everything is brand new. Last unit built in 2007 the produces mainly sea trout and river trout. The production of sea trout amounts to about 250,000 pieces a year in total including both fry and smolts while river trout production stands at 15,000 pieces a year. The fish are produced in recirculation systems where about 10 % of the water is changed every day. The water comes from an underground source and is treated with ultra-violet light to minimise the risk of disease. A strict bio-security regime strictly limits visitors from approaching the tanks to prevent the transmission of infections they may be carrying from other hatcheries or grow-out facilities.

The breeding programme focuses on the production of genetically pure breeds so brood stock are carefully analysed by researchers to ensure they are of pure stock before the eggs are used in the programme. In the past the fish from the hatcheries were marked with a tag in the fin. This allowed fishermen to distinguish between the bred fish and the natural variety. Now a new system of electronic tag-

ging has been introduced where a microchip with the information on the fish is embedded in the skin. When the fish is caught the fisher is expected to send the chip back to the Research Centre where it is passed under

Of the five hatcheries three use recirculation systems, the one at Zeimena is used for sea trout while the other is used for the production of salmon. The other hatcheries are used for the production of the other species.

license fee of about EUR3 (LTL11) which enables them to fish in all the state-owned water bodies.

Some interest in recirculation systems

Producers using recirculation systems to farm fish are very few. One of them is the company Auksinis ungurys (Golden Eel) which produces up to 20 tonnes of eel annually. A new production plant has just been built with the help of funds from the European Union, and this has increased capacity to 60 tonnes.

The farm now has a total of 18 large tanks (20-25 cubic m) and 11 small ones (2 cubic m). The water comes from an underground source and is free from The company Aksinis ungurys (Golden Eel) produces 20 tonnes of diseases and parasites. About eel annually. A new production plant, built with the help of European 90 % of the water is recirculated Union funds, has increased the capacity to 60 tonnes. after being filtered and sterilised with ultra violet light. Each tank is equipped with systems that a scanner and the information Salmon poses some specific supply oxygen in the event of retrieved. An analysis of the data problems because it is difficult a pump breakdown or a power from the chips together with to get the brood stock from the failure. All the equipment is the catch data will provide use- wild and scientists do not rec- from the Netherlands. Coinciful statistics which can be used ommend importing it from oth- dentally, most of the production to evaluate the efficiency of the er countries because the genetic is also exported to the Netherbreeding programme and sug- makeup is different. lands. The eels can be grown to gest ways to improve it. The new 2 kg, but the Dutch buyer is only system is still being perfected The fish from the hatcheries is par- interested in 250 g eels, so of the and will be fully implemented in ticularly important for the angling current production of 20 tonnes the months to come. community who pay an annual 16 tonnes is comprised of 250 g

Vessel monitoring systems improve existing enforcement techniques All EU vessels above 15 m are subject to monitoring. Key to the vessel monitoring system (VMS) is a blue box on board the boat, which corresponds to the black box on board an aircraft. The blue box transmits via satellite a host of data to the authorities, including the vessel’s position, speed, registration number, name, and course, as well as information about the economic zone and subdivision in which the vessel is located, allowing the enforcement agancy to determine whether the vessel is in a closed area. The system is difficult to cheat, but it cannot substitute on site verification.

32 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

It is a tool, says Erlandas Lendzbergas, the head of the Fisheries Control Division in the Fisheries Department that will improve existing monitoring techniques rather than replace them. The system relies on the authorities cross checking data from the blue box with the information in the landing declaration, the pre-notification, and the vessel’s log book. Any discrepancy can trigger an inspection of the vessel and its catch. In the future, the vessel log book which is currently maintained on paper will also go electronic, which should make monitoring easier.

Erlandas Lendzbergas, the head of the Fisheries Control Division in the Fisheries Department together with his colleague Giedrius Vaitkus. In the background is one of the Control Division’s vessels that is used to police the Baltic Sea.

lithuania

eels for the Dutch market, while the remaining four tonnes are large 2 kg specimens for domestic consumption. It takes about two years for the glass eels to reach 250 g. Some eels are also sold to Belarus where they are used in that country’s restocking programme. Recently the company has also had an enquiry from Japan for 60 tonnes of eel but production has not reached that level yet.

Twice a year in winter and again in spring about 120 kg of glass eels are purchased in the UK and introduced into the system.

The company prefers sourcing the glass eels in the UK because, according to the spokesman, there they are caught in the rivers rather than the sea so the

glass eels are bigger and more robust. About 30 kg of eels are placed in small tanks and started on a diet of cod roe. This diet continues for a period of about two weeks and is then changed to a regular feed from a Danish feed producer. Throughout the on-growing phase the eels are mechanically sorted at regular intervals to keep eels of about the same size together. The tanks are equipped with mechanical feeders that function slightly differently depending on the size of the eels. If the eels are smaller the feeder is of a type that will automatically dispense the feed at regular intervals, while in the case of larger eels a feeding system is used where the fish learn to feed themselves by nudging a lever to release the feed.

The local fish farmers´ association, the National Association for Aquaculture and Producers of Fish Products, is interested in introducing recirculation systems and is looking for know-how and potential investors in the sector, in particular for the production of sturgeon and caviar. The use of water is restricted says Vytautas Andriuskevicius, the manager of the association. The Ministry of the Environment issues a water quota for which the farmer has to pay. Mr Andriuskevicius is not happy with the system as he says the farmers use melt water from the snow that thaws in spring rather than taking it directly from the river. In addition, pond farmers create a favourable environment for the local flora and fauna and one that is also

attractive for tourists interested in agro-tourism. Nor, he claims, does extensive fish farming pollute the environment as much of the feed used is natural.

Spread of organic aquaculture Companies involved in extensive fish farming are paying considerable attention to converting their production to organic standards and since 2004 the number of hectares devoted to organic farming has increased to over 5,000 ha, or more than half the total area of ponds. Altogether there are nine producers that are certified by the local certification body EkoAgros to produce organically farmed carp. To gain the certification fish farms may not be located near crop

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

33

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farms, highways or other sources of pollution. Since the farming is already extensive the other main requirement is related to the feed.

Farmers who are not farming organically use pelleted extruded feeds as they are convenient to transport, store, and dispense to the fish and have a longer shelf life. The feeds are made from a mixture of cereal, legumes, bran, oilseeds, fish meal, meat flour, yeast, mineral and supplements.

Organically farmed fish may not use feed with non-organic or synthetic additives so farmers who convert their production turn to natural fodder from cereals and legumes which can be obtained from organic farms. To encourage the conversion to organic production farmers are entitled to support for the first two years after the switch from conventional farming, but the expansion of organic farming has been complicated by the shortage of organic fodder and its high price. Organic farming is less productive and therefore less profitable than conventional farming and this has to be compensated for in other ways.

Mr Andriuskevicius reckons that once the subsidy ceases organically farmed fish will be about 30 % more expensive than regular fish. The way to sell the product he feels would be to carry out extensive information campaigns educating the consumer about the benefits of organic fish.

Processing industry grows in size and ambitions The number of fish processing companies in Lithuania has grown slightly over the five years to 2008 from 37 companies in 2004 to 43 in 2008. Over the same period the number of companies that are eligible to export to the EU has risen from 25 to 43 illustrating the increasing im34 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

nated products reached almost 15,500 tonnes in 2008 from 11,500 tonnes in 2004. In all the period of 2004-2008 the main production of fish processing industry was surimi fish products, they covered approximately 30 % of the production every year and reached 23,400 tonnes in 2008.

The Lithuanian distant water fleet is active in the NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fishery Organisation) and NEAFC (North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission) areas.

portance of the EU market for Lithuanian processors. Employment in the sector has increased by 36 % from 3,700 workers to over 5,000. The total production of fish and seafood by Lithuanian fish processors has shown a regular increase in volumes and values between 2004 and 2008. While volumes increased by 20 % from 64,200 to 77,100 tonnes the value of the production increased by almost 60 % from EUR 105,4 m. to EUR 167 m.

Production of chilled and frozen fish and seafood has been more or less stable over the period; chilled at about 830 tonnes and frozen at 14,200 tonnes. However, production in most other categories has shown an increase with the most marked rises in the categories canned, smoked and dried fish products. Volumes of canned and dried fish are not large even in 2008, but smoked fish amounted to 8,700 tonnes and production of salted/mari-

Consumption of fish and seafood in Lithuania seems to be gradually increasing. Figures on consumption even from 2004 are only provisional but they show an increase from 14.2 kg per capita that year to 16 kg per capita in 2008. This is however below the EU average of 21.4 (2003). The international trade in fish and seafood forms only about 0,9 – 1,1 % of total Lithuanian imports and 1,2 – 1,6 % of total Lithuanian export, but both exports and imports have been growing rapidly, more than doubling in value over the five years to 2008. The largest quantities to be imported include frozen fillets, while export volumes of surimi products were the highest over the period. The main source countries for imports include Iceland, Norway, Latvia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Other countries exporting products to Lithuania include Argentina, Viet Nam, United States and China. Denmark, Germany, Latvia, France, Estonia, Ukraine and Russia are some of the main export destinations.

The processing industry is characterised by a mix of companies, some with highly modern production facilities that deliver international quality products for demanding export markets, while others are less technically sophisticated. To maintain the growth seen in the industry as a whole companies need to focus, among other things, on product development, quality, and expanding into new markets.

lithuania

Baltlanta today has eight vessels in its high seas fleet, of which six are fishing and two are being modernised.

Baltlanta catches and freezes fish for Africa and Europe

Fishing for pelagics off West Africa

The Lithuanian fishing fleet can be divided into vessels that fish in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea, those that operate in the Baltic Sea beyond the coastal zone, and finally, the fleet that fishes in the high seas. Between 2004 and 2008 the high seas catches have amounted to between 80 % and 90 % of total Lithuanian catches, including those from the Baltic Sea, the Curonian Lagoon, other inland waters and from aquaculture production. Of the Lithuanian companies with a high seas fleet Baltlanta is the largest.

E

stablished in 1996, Baltlanta today has eight vessels in its high seas fleet, of which six are fishing and two are being modernised one on Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands and the other in Klaipeda. In addition, Baltlanta has four refrigerated transport vessels, and one tanker that provides fuel to the fishing boats at sea so that they can fish uninterrupted. The company also has four smaller vessels that fish in the Baltic Sea. The

Captain Bronius Bikulcius, formerly a fisherman and now a director of Baltlanta.

Aleksandr Lobaciov, the director of a sister company, Baltic Atlant Shipping.

Sergei Petrov, the commercial manager of Baltlanta.

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

35

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The fish that is meant for sale in Africa is traded through long-term partners who in turn sell it to African customers.

vessels all fly the Lithuanian flag and are registered in the port of Klaipeda. The company Baltlanta is part of a group of companies that has interests in several aspects of the fishing and shipping business. Within the group other companies process the fish, store it, and are responsible for sales and marketing of the processed product. Other parts of the group operate ship repair yards, and supply ships with provisions, as well as design, manufacture and repair fishing gear. Not all the group companies are based in Lithuania, some of them are in Russia, in Spain, and in Mauritania on the west coast of Africa.

Fishing off Mauritania, Morocco It is off the coast of Mauritania and Morocco that the Baltlanta vessels are currently active fishing for horse mackerel, mackerel, sardines, and sardinella. Here they can fish more or less all the year 36 Eurofish Magazine 5â&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;2009

round though some periods yield more than others. There are two fishing seasons explains Captain Bronius Bikulcius, the director of Baltlanta and a former fisherman with many years of experience, the winter season which is good and the spring which is poorer.

From May to July the boats fish off the coast of Mauritania and then as catches get smaller in July and August the boats move north to Morocco. For three months the boats fish off the Moroccan coast and then head back down again to Mauritania. When the fishing is bad then the boats can come into port and make any repairs that may be necessary, reprovision, take a new crew on board and set out to the fishing grounds again.

This is convenient also from a logistics point of view as the main Mauritanian port of Nouadhibou has good facilities and an airport so it is easy to change crews.

either as headed and gutted fish in which case it is usually sold in Europe or as whole round fish intended for African customers.

Damaged fish is not wasted, but is ground up into fish meal and oil on board the vessel. Some of the fish bound for Europe is sold to processing companies within the group. One of these has facilities in Klaipeda and in Palanga where it produces canned fish for the eastern market. The local market is saturated with canned fish from Latvia, Estonia and Russia says Mr Bikulcius, so the cans are exported to Belarus, Kazakhstan, other former Soviet Republics, as well as Russia. But processing the fish is really only a secondary business, the main activity in the group is catching and freezing fish.

The vessels are freezer trawlers which catch the fish and freeze it

The most interesting species in the Baltic Sea is cod, but the quo-

Baltic cod quotas are too small

tas are limited so the four vessels that Baltlanta has there share a quota of less than 300 tonnes of cod. This is not enough to make the fishery profitable, but in addition the company has a quota of 530 tonnes of Baltic sprat and also targets Baltic herring. Catches of the latter two species have not been high which may be due to an increase in the cod stock.

The cod prey on the small herring and sprats which has an impact on catches of these species, suspects Mr Bikulcius. Smaller catches of Baltic fish are not the only concern for the company at the moment. The economic and financial crisis has exacted a particularly heavy toll on the Baltics and other nations in Eastern Europe and for Baltlanta this has meant that many of their customers in the canning business in Latvia and Russia are not buying fish preferring to wait and see how the situation develops. Six months ago we could sell 1,000 to 2,000 tonnes of pelagic fish a

lithuania

Baltlanta is part of a group of companies that has interests in several aspects of the fishing and shipping business.

The Baltlanta high seas fleet is active fishing off the coast of West Africa for pelagic species for sale to Africa and Europe.

month, says Aleksandr Lobaciov, the director of a sister company Baltic Atlant Shipping, now we are lucky if we can sell 100 to 200 tonnes and the price has fallen significantly. Part of the problem is that banks are not making credit available to the companies and for canners this is a serious problem as they need credit to survive.

and suppliers with whom they have stable relationships.

Modernised vessels to join fleet next year Despite the current situation Baltlanta is optimistic about the future. Of the vessels that are being refurbished at the moment one will join the fleet early next year and the other at the end of 2010 or early 2011, These vessels replace two that were decommissioned earlier, but also indicate that the company is investing in its fleet to keep it modernised because it sees a future in the fishing business. Mr Bikulcius and Mr Lobaciov feel that if catches

are lower in one period then they are higher in the next and in fact if one looks at the graph of the total of caught and frozen fish from 2000 to 2008 the numbers look fairly stable apart from a peak in 2004. Of course, they may be affected by the distribution of quotas in Atlantic which is done by the EU and can move up or down depending on the kind of agreement that is signed with the countries. Competition is also growing with for example big Dutch vessels that come and fish in roughly the same area and which can freeze 300 or 400 tonnes a day. But although we compete in some ways with other nations’ vessels, we also cooperate on other issues, adds Mr Lobaciov. This could be joint projects, how to improve the fishing, or deal with the local authorities or the EU. But in general, according to Mr Lobaciov, the fleets keep out of each others way. Each has its own niche in the market with their own buyers

The fish that is meant for sale in Africa is traded through longterm partners who in turn sell it to African customers. The fish is sold at sea as trading in Africa can be complicated and the company does not wish to get involved in that side of the business. While conditions in parts of Africa can be difficult, the en-

vironment at home can also be frustrating. Sometimes we need to get quick and clear decisions from the authorities either in Brussels or in Lithuania, says Mr Lobaciov. Each day we wait costs us money, but unfortunately the wheels of government turn very slowly, and we often have to wait long periods. So, while it is possible to make a lot of money in the fishing business it is just as easy to lose it.

Baltlanta UAB Company Fact File Artojo 7e LT 92105 Klaipeda Lithuania Tel.: +370 46 340069 Fax: +370 46 341648 sp@balticatlant.eu Commercial manager: Sergei Petrov Employees: 660 Fleet: Eight vessels in the high seas fleet; four refrigerated transport

vessels; one tanker; four smaller vessels for the Baltic Sea. Species: Horse mackerel, mackerel, sardines, and sardinella, Baltic cod, Baltic herring, sprats Product form: Frozen at sea whole round or headed and gutted Ancilliary activities: Fish canning, ship repair yards, ship supplies, design, manufacture and repair of fishing gear

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Gintaras Gylys, the director of Spika, a company with two vessels fishing in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea fleet is in distress because of the age of the vessels and the small cod quotas.

Spika fishes in the open Baltic Sea

Struggling with inadequate cod quotas

The Lithuanian Baltic Sea fishery is split between the coastal zone and the open Baltic Sea and targets cod, Baltic herring, sprats, and some flat fish. The most valuable species is cod but a decline in stock levels has triggered the imposition of a management plan for cod. Under the terms of the plan cod quotas have been set at levels that should allow the stock to recover, however these levels are well below the capacity of the existing fleets.

S

pika is a fishing company with two vessels active in the open Baltic Sea and, like many others, one that has been severely affected by the

small cod quotas. We are fishing at half our capacity says the director, Gintaras Gylys, because of the limited quotas. This year the company has a quota of 250

Spika Company Fact File Spika Karkles Km 6A, Kretingales Sen LT 5800 Klaipeda Lithuania Tel.: +370 698 30839 gintaras.gylys@takas.lt

38 Eurofish Magazine 5â&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;2009

Director: Mr. Gintaras Gylys Vessels: Two trawlers fishing in the open Baltic Sea Species: Cod, sprats Volumes: Cod 250 tonnes, sprats 1000 tonnes (2009)

tonnes of cod and 1,000 tonnes of sprats, which has nearly all been landed. The company had three vessels to start with, the two trawlers and a gill netter, but then in 2005 decided to avail of the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compensation mechanism and scrap the gill netter. The two trawlers at about 35 years are fairly typical of the aging Baltic Sea fleet, which is characterised by old and underpowered vessels from Soviet times. Vessel renovation which is eligible for funding does not

address the real problem, complains Mr Gylys, which is that the vessels need new and more efficient engines. We cannot compete with the vessels from the older EU member states that fish in the Baltic because they are yonger and more efficient than ours, he claims. The vessel modernisation programme covers measures to improve hygiene on board as well as increase safety for the crew, but does not extend to newer engines or newer vessels.

lithuania Replacing vessels an expensive proposition For us the best solution would be if we could get assistance from the EU to replace our two old vessels with one that was perhaps 10-15 years old with the same engine power as the two being scrapped, says Mr Gylys.

However this is not possible under the existing rules and for a company like Spika replacing the existing vessels with newer ones without some form of aid would entail a massive loan from a bank. In these financially troubled times borrowing a couple of million euro would be a considerable achievement in itself, but paying it back when only fishing at 50 % of capacity would take longer than Mr Gylys is willing to contemplate. I would like to

see the kind of compensation measures for fishermen that one hears about for farmers, he says, otherwise I fear we will see the end of the Baltic Sea fleet in the next seven to ten years. As it is he feels that the Baltic Sea fleet is facing a crisis due to a combination of factors, chief among them being the small quotas, the current low price for fish coupled with the price of fuel, maintainance, modernisation and other costs. If cod quotas do not change appreciably over the next few years more companies will probably find the business unviable and will pull out, ultimately bringing capacity in balance with the resource. This reflects the position at the Fisheries Department in the Minstry of Agriculture, where the feeling is that while capacity in the

Baltic Sea fleet has decreased considerably, in the cod fishery there is still scope for further reductions.

Compulsory to sell some cod through Klaipeda auction Mr Gylys feels that the volume of cod in the Baltic is growing far more rapidly than the quotas, which under the management plan can only increase by 15 % a year. The increased numbers of cod is affecting the sprat fishery, he says, because they are eaten by the cod. The fishing vessels follow the cod as it moves from Lithuanian waters into Polish waters in early spring and then to Bornholm in April and May. In the past as the fish were caught the fisher-

men landed them in the port where the price for the fish was the best. In the last two years however a government-owned auction has been established in Klaipeda and fishermen are now forced to land a percentage of cod their catch in Klaipeda to be sold through the auction. This irks Mr Gylys who would like the freedom to land where he can get the best price for the fish. In fact, if Mr Gylys were to name three priorities, he says the first would be to increase the quotas for cod, the second would be to slacken the requirement to land cod at the Klaipeda auction and the third would be to ease the rules for aid to the fisheries sector so that investments in newer vessels would also be eligible for aid from the EU.

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The Margiris, the largest vessel in the fleet is currently fishing for mackerel and horse mackerel in the South Pacific.

The boat has a daily freezing capacity of 400 tonnes

Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company has vessels off Chile and Iceland

Supplying Pacific mackerel and horse mackerel to Africa

The Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company has had a turbulent recent history. Buffeted by fluctuating fish prices, the oil price hike, and then the financial crisis followed by the recession, the company has changed owners three times in the last decade. The current owners are the Dutch group Parlevliet and Van der Plas.

T

he company has existed as the Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company since 2005, but was in fact established in 1993, says Bernardas Kristanavicius, the General Manager. The repeated changes in ownership he blames on the financial crisis. Fishing requires a lot of investment and since the crisis banks have been very reluctant to lend particularly to the fishing industry where income can swing wildly from one year to the next depending on catches and prices. As the name suggests the company is one of a handful of Lithunian companies whose vessels catch fish in the high seas. The areas that are exploited include the Atlantic off the 40 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Bernardas Kristanavicius, the General Manager of the Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company, has seen multiple changes in ownership the last few years.

coast of West Africa, in the South Pacific off Chile and Peru, and in the NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fishery Organisation) and NEAFC (North East Atlantic Fisheries

Commission) areas, as well as in the Svalbard area in the Arctic. In the case of Atlantic two of its three vessels are currently operating in the South Pacific somewhere between South America and Australia while the third is catching redfish in the North East Atlantic off Iceland.

Oil prices necessitate investment in newer vessels We used to have five vessels says Mr Kristanavicius, they were built in Germany and the former Soviet Union. But they were too old and used too much fuel and when the oil prices went up they became

way too expensive to operate. The company therefore sold the vessels and bought another two, from Germany and the Netherlands.

The Dutch boat, which has now been renamed the Margiris, has a gross tonnage of 9499 tonnes, a daily freezing capacity of 400 tonnes, and is the biggest vessel in the Lithuanian fleet according to the European Commission’s fleet register. The second vessel now renamed the Rojus was build in 1988 in Bremerhaven and has a gross tonnage of 7646 tonnes.

Both vessels are currently in the South Pacific fishing for horse mackerel and mackerel. Here quotas have not been imposed on the stocks yet, but there is a limit

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on the number of vessels that may fish there. Lithuania has historically fished in the area and has the right to send two vessels. The fish is caught, frozen, and offloaded to transporters for sale to Africa.

We do not sell the fish directly to Africa, says Mr Kristanavicius, but to a Dutch buyer who has all the contacts and the experience to sell there. The relationship with the Dutch buyer is long established and stable and the price is good, so the company does not see the need to sell directly to African customers and can concentrate on the fishing instead.

The European market is not interested in horse mackerel or Pacific mackerel, claims Mr Kenstavicius. Europeans only like the Atlantic mackerel which has a high fat content that makes it a good fish for smoking. The Pacific variety does not have so much fat and its meat is dark, although it is bigger than its Atlantic cousin weighing about 1,000 g on average against the 300-400 g that is typical of the Atlantic mackerel.

But both the Pacific mackerel and the Pacific horse mackerel are favoured on African markets. They are bigger and fattier than the varieties found off the African west coast which makes them popular among African buyers.

Redfish fillets frozen on board The third vessel, the Nida, at 1943 tonnes and a length of just over 62 m is smaller than the others and is fishing for redfish (Sebastes mentella) off Iceland. This is a deepwater species inhabiting depths between 300 m and 1,000 m, that can live up to 75 years and grow up to 55 cm in length though 40 cm is more common. Redfish has a delicate taste and firm white flesh, and is popular at more upmarket restaurants. The Nida can

ing in the area, but also Dutch and German boats. The Margiris and the Rojus have a crew of around 45, but if the fishing is good and substantial quantities are being frozen then this number can go up to 55. Our vessels are very well equipped says Mr Kristanavicius, there is a high degree of automation on board and the crew is needed mainly to monitor the operations. The vessels have a storage capacity of about 5,000 tonnes of frozen fish. The vessels are certified by the European veterinary service and which issues an approval number and carries out an audit each year to ensure that the facilities on the ship confirm to EU requirements. The temperature for example in the holds and the freezers is monitored constantly which the owners can then document for the authorities and customers.

The Rojus has a crew of about 45 and is usually out at sea for 30 to 45 days depending on the fishing

process up to 12 tonnes of redfish fillets a day in different formats, deep frozen, and stored. The vessel has a storage capacity of 350 tonnes and when this is achieved the fish sails into port in Iceland.

Here the fish is off loaded and the vessel takes on supplies and sails out again. A trip usually lasts a month depending on the fishing, if it is bad then forty to forty-five days is the norm, after which the vessel comes into port to pick up supplies and three days later it sails out again.

Well equipped boats for long trips In the Pacific the crews are usually at sea for sixty days at a stretch after which they are brought back to Lithuania via Santiago. There is a constant flow of men, materials, and fish between the fishing grounds and the port. Transport vessels are constantly approaching the area loading the fish on board and returning again. They service not only the Lithuanian vessels fish-

Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company, UAB Company Fact File Pylimo Str. 4 LT 91249 Klaipeda Lithuania Tel.: +370 464 931 05 Fax: +370 463 115 52 Email: afp@takas.lt General Manager: Mr Bernardas Kristanavicius Major shareholders: Parlevliet

and Van der Plas, Mr. Bernardas Kristanavicius Fleet: Three pelagic trawlers Operations: Currently two in the South Pacific, one in the North East Atlantic Products: Whole round frozen Pacific mackerel, horse mackerel, frozen redfish fillets Markets: West Africa for the Pacific fish, and Europe

Fishing, freezing, selling For the Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company the fishing business is what it knows best. Mr Kristanavicius was trained at a nautical school and then went on to a marine institute in Kaliningrad and has been working as a fisherman since the age of eighteen. We are not interested in deep processing that is not our strategy, he says, we focus on what we do best: fish, freeze, and sell. Except, of course, on the Nida where we make high quality fillets. So far the fishing has been good the problem has been the costs. Two years ago the company made a profit of EUR1.5m but last year the steep increase in fuel prices eroded most of that, and this year it is difficult to tell so far how things will turn out. It takes six months before one can begin to recoup ones investment in the fishing business, he says, but I am optimistic.

Eurofish Magazine 5â&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;2009

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Grain being pumped into silos.

The fish at Raseiniu Zuvininkyste are fed on a mixture of grain and extruded feeds.

Building on an ancient farming tradition

Raseiniu Zuvininkyste is Lithuania’s largest carp farm

Formerly governmentowned farm thrives after independence The fish farming industry in Lithuania is dominated by the production of carp which amounts to 90 % of the farmed fish in the country. There are a total of 19 carp farming establishments with sizes varying from 250 ha to 1,200 ha. Carp farms are characterised by vast expanses of water criss-crossed by paths that divide the water up into ponds which can be several hectares in size. The biggest carp farm in Lithuania is Raseiniu Zuvininkyste in the Raseiniu area.

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ith an area of 1,300 ha of ponds and a production of 800 tonnes the farm was taken over by its current owner Ceslovas Kenstavicius when the country became independent in 1991. Mr Kenstavicius was familiar with all aspects of the operation as he had been managing the farm when it was a government-owned company in the pre-independence years. Today when asked 42 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

Ceslovas Kenstavicius, the managing director of Lithuania’s largest carp farm Raseiniu Zuvininkyste.

if he is happy with the political changes in the early nineties Mr Kenstavicius is emphatic; “Yes, absolutely. Now it is possible to realise your dreams. All your dreams can come true.” His family is also involved in the fisheries business, his son has a processing plant and his daughter-in-law runs a luxurious lodge with a restaurant and fishing ponds for tourists interested in angling.

Apart from carp the farm also produces small volumes of pike and pike perch and some catfish.

Lithuania has a carp farming tradition that dates back to the sixteenth century thanks to the aristocracy, that was interested in fish farming both for its economic and recreational benefits.

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio carpio) was introduced in the seventeenth century, but it was in the nineteenth century that the aquaculture sector started to expand and thrive with the help of the imperial department of fishery and fish breeding that was established at the end of the century. Most of the fish ponds in Lithuania were established in this period. In total they amounted to about 10,000 ha, a figure that has not changed significantly since then, but they together with fishery related institutions and facilities were destroyed during the First World War and had to be rebuilt.

Most of the the ponds at Raseiniu Zuvininkyste also date back many years. Many of them are large, the biggest about 65 ha but there are also smaller ponds which were created more recently. The farming cycle starts with carp larvae obtained from the breeding centres run by the Lithuanian State Pisciculture and Fisheries Research Centre. These are introduced into small 10 ha ponds in the spring where they spend the next six months. In the fall the larvae are transferred to the smaller winter ponds which are usually about 0.2 ha where they over-win-

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but the yield from smoked fish was only 50 % and from fillets it was even less, besides he adds, there is a tradition for buying whole fresh carp here.

Carp being harvested prior to being introduced into the reservoirs.

ter at the bottom of the pond. If the winter is severe, these ponds may freeze, but usually only on the surface. A slow current is pumped through the ponds to circulate the water which is changed every 15 or 20 days. In these small ponds this movement of the water reduces slightly the risk of the water freezing and also introduces some fresh water into the ponds. During winter the fish are not fed resulting in a 12-15 % loss of weight. In the spring the fish are removed from the winter ponds, graded, and released into summer ponds.

Extruded feeds more efficient than corn Carps are grown for three years by which time they have attained a size of 1,700 g to 2,000 g. The fish are fed on a mixture of extruded feeds and corn. The extruded feeds contain corn, yeast, fish meal, oil, minerals and are two-and-a-half times more expensive than corn, but they are also far more efficient. Ceslovas Kenstavicius explains that with the extruded feed the yield is 1,300 kg per hectare, while when the fish are fed corn alone then the yield drops to 200 kg per ha.

The calculation is straightforward; to employ people to look after the fish there is no alternative to the extruded feed. At Ra-

The water from the pond is drained out through a channel trapping the fish.

seiniu Zuvininkyste there are 34 employees running the day to day activities on the farm, looking after the fish, maintaining the ponds, and protecting the stock from birds and other predators.

Many of them are from the time the farm was owned by the government.

The fish are harvested by draining the water from a pond. The ponds on the farm are laid out in such a way that they are at slightly different heights. This allows the water from one pond to flow to another using just the force of gravity. Once the fish have been harvested the water is pumped back into the first pond. The water can thus be circulated between the ponds. Ceslovas Kenstavicius says this way he manages to recycle 60-70 % of the water. The remaining water is taken from the river when it is in flood after the winter snow thaws. When the water is drained from a pond the fish are collected in a channel from where they are transferred to reservoirs. The three reservoirs can hold a total of 25 tonnes of fish in the fall but only 8 tonnes of fish in summer due to the lack of oxygen in the water. Four or five days before the fish are to go to the market they are not fed in order to rinse their systems.

They are then collected in special tanks and transported live. At the

retailers the fish are kept in fish tanks and customers can select the specimen they want.

Lithuanians prefer live carp to fillets

Imports of other kinds of fish particularly salmon have increased in Lithuania and might also put pressure on carp consumption.

But before independence when fish was heavily subsidised consumption of carp was the same as today, when there is not only no subsidy, but the price has gone up. This is encouraging and suggests that carp has a reliable following in the country.

Representing the interests of the farming community

Lithuania produces about 4,000 tonnes of fish of which 2,300 tonnes (about 60 %) is sold on the domestic market while the rest is exported, primarily to Poland and to Latvia. Ceslovas Kenstavicius knows there is a market in Germany as well, but the problem is the distance. The alternative is to increase the consumption of carp on the domestic market, perhaps by setting up a committee which will market the fish both at home and abroad.

Domestic consumption is not helped by the steep increase in VAT to 21 %, which in fact makes Polish fish cheaper. One idea to increase consumption may be to develop new product forms such as fillets or smoked fish. This has been tried says Mr Kenstavicius

Ceslovas Kenstavicius also holds the post of chairman of the National Association for Aquaculture and Producers of Fish Products, which represents the interests of the fish farmers to the government and is involved in consultations on legislation that may have an impact on them. For example, the association and the government are working on a proposal that will reduce the credit period that farms have to give their buyers from two months to thirty days. In discussion with its members the association plans the domestic market deciding in which part of the country each producer should sell. However for foreign markets each producer is left to his own devices.

Raseiniu Zuvininkyste Company Fact File Raseiniu Zuvininkyste Gabsiuk.

60192 Raseiniu raj Tel./Fax: +370 8 42870376 Managing director: Ceslovas Kenstavicius

Products: Common carp, pike, pike-perch, catfish Ponds: 1,200 ha Volumes: 800 tonnes (90 % common carp) Markets: Lithuania, Latvia, Poland Turnover: EUR1m

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Toma Daugirdaite, commercial manager, Jordanas Kenstavicius, managing director, Jurga Ciapiene, the production manager and Asta Simkute, product manager.

Norvelita shows impressive growth

Salmon processing moves to a new factory

The fish processing industry in Lithuania has shown a gradual development over the five years to 2008. The number of companies increased from 37 to 43 and the number of employees in the processing sector went up from 3,700 to 5,000 over the same period. In 2004 out of the 37 processing companies 25 or 67 % were certified to export to the EU. By 2008 of the 43 fish processors that were in business all were certified to export to the EU. The export of fish products to the EU increased steadily from 2004 to 2007, but fell back slightly in 2008, while exports to other markets such as Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus declined both in absolute tems and relative to the exports to the EU.

T

he fish processing industry in Lithuania produced just over 77,000 tonnes of products valued at EUR167m (LTL576m). Much of the industry is based on the import of raw materials as the domestic fishery cannot provide the volumes nor the variety of species needed by 44 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

the processing industry. Norvelita is one of the biggest and best-known Lithuanian processing companies that produces a wide variety of products for the domestic and foreign market.

Led by Jordanas Kenstavicius, Norvelita started out trading frozen fish when it was founded in

1995 by a group of Lithuanian and Norwegian investors. Since then however it has expanded dramatically into the processing business and today is one of the biggest seafood processors in Lithuania with three main product categories salmon, herring and smoked products (excluding salmon). An-

nual volumes amount to 9,00010,000 tonnes. Asta Simkute, the product manager at the company explains that salmon is the most important product in terms of volume accounting for 70 % of the production, while products based on herring, mackerel and other species make up the balance. The

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▲ By supervising the quality control and organising the logistics Alina Sandu, import manager at Norvelita, ensures that only the freshest raw material enters into production. ◀ Koko and Norvelita are the company’s own brands. Hot smoked products include redfish, hake, panagsius, mackerel and other species.

importance of salmon is such that the company receives between eight and thirteen trucks a week of fresh salmon and has just completed building and equipping a third factory dedicated to salmon processing.

Atlantic salmon dominates production Atlantic salmon is imported fresh from Norway arriving in the factory within one to four days after it has been loaded onto the trucks depending on the region the fish is packed and loaded. Especially in the winter time driving salmon from northern Norway takes three to four days before the fish arrives at the factory. We take care of the quality as well as the logistics to ensure only the freshest raw material goes into production, says import manager Ms Alina Sandu.

Once the salmon arrives at the plant it is immediately sorted and then salted and smoked following the different instructions received from the clients. Producing under private label for retailers is an important part of the business, but the company also sells under its

own brands Koko and Norvelita on the local market, a designation which includes Latvia and Estonia, as well as Lithuania, says Ms Simkute. Most of the salmon is cold smoked, but the new factory enables the manufacture of a wider range of products and so new items such as marinated salmon will be available soon. At one point Norvelita was also importing salmon from Chile, but that has now stopped.

The market for salmon has been affected by the drop in Chilean production and Ms Sandu, admits that for the last six months the company has been suffering from the unstable price situation in the fresh salmon market. Since January the prices have been increasing especially for salmon and while the company has long term contracts with fixed prices with its buyers, it does not have the same with its suppliers. As a result salmon has to be brought on the spot market where the price is always higher. But, says Ms Sandu, we are willing to pay the spot market price, the problem at the moment is that we cannot always get

the quality we want. After several years’ experience, the company prefers to purchase on the spot market to offer more competitive prices and to be a reliable partner to clients in the constantly changing salmon business. Another reason for buying more on the spot market is that the company can control and avoid the quality issues that mostly appear after the contracts have been running for a while. In the beginning of the contracts the quality is good, but then it starts to deteriorate, says Ms Sandu, the fish is too

pale, there may be blood spots, or bruising. Having its own very high quality standards for the finished product, the company is equally demanding of its suppliers. Unfortunately, the quality of fresh salmon in general is getting worse compared to 2-3 years ago. This is a difficult period at the moment both in terms of price and quality, stated Ms Sandu, but we are hoping that in the autumn salmon prices will stabilise at a lower level as they have done in the past, and the quality of fish will improve compared to the summer time.

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Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

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Herring fillets are weighed prior to being placed in thermoformed packages.

Herring products for local market Herring products are based on frozen fish, whole round as well as fillets, imported from Norway, and Iceland. At Norvelita the herring is made into salads and maatjes primarily for the local market with some exports to Germany. Other herring products include marinated herring fillets combined with a vegetable sauce, and salted herring fillets.

Mackerel is the main raw material used in the line of smoked products. This too is imported frozen from Norway and Iceland, then thawed, washed, salted, and

smoked. However, a number of exotic species are also smoked including hake from Argentina and Uruguay, red fish from Iceland, pink salmon from Alaska, and pangasius. The latter is not imported directly from Viet Nam, but through a Dutch company that is responsible for the quality of the product.

The products are available in different kinds of packaging depending on the customer and the market. Thermoformed trays weighing from 240 to 500 g, vacuum packaging for some of the hot smoked mackerel and the smoked salmon products, as well as modi-

Norvelita JSC Company Fact File Norvelita JSC LT 60192 Gabsiai, Raseiniu r.

Lithuania Tel.: +370 428 53 993 Fax: +370 428 57070 info@norvelita.lt www.norvelita.lt Managing Director: Mr. Jordanas Kenstavicius Products: Salmon products including smoked, marinated; salted

46 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

herring fillets, marinated herring in vegetable sauce, maatjes; smoked mackerel and other smoked products such as pangasius, hake, pink salmon, redfish Volumes: 9,000 – 10,000 tonnes per year Markets: Germany, Belgium, UK, Ireland, Italy, Sweden USA, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania Employees: 350 Turnover: EUR20m

Thermoformed packages with the herring fillets are filled with a marinate or with oil and then sealed.

fied atmosphere. In addition there are plastic buckets and tubs from 250 to 600 g which are used for the herring products.

Major investments in modern equipment

the finished package. The focus on quality is illustrated in the new factory which is designed to avoid all contact between staff who work with non-processed products and those who work with processed products.

The company is authorised to export to the EU and the factory is certified to the British Retail Consortium standard as well as the International Food Standard. In addition many customers come and do their own audits at the factory to ensure that it complies with their requirements.

Norvelita has grown rapidly says Mr J. Kenstavicius, last year by 30 % and this year we expect it to be 40 %, and our factories need to be ready for the challenges posed by this growth. This means high levels of investment in new equipment and technology so that we can meet today’s stringent quality requirements.

The new factory is equipped with machinery from well known international manufacturers and includes three smoking ovens, each with a capacity of one tonne, as well as six slicers, sophisticated packaging machines, and metal detectors to check

The general economic recession has had a particularly severe impact on the Baltic countries.

In Lithuania GDP fell by 20 % in the second quarter. Even companies with solid balance sheets are tainted by the fact that they are based in the Baltic, and find it difficult to get credit lines. Norvelita is no exception, a funding limit which used to cover ten truckloads of raw materials is now limited to one-and-a-half trucks. The problem is fortunately limited to small suppliers who are unwilling or unable to take what they perceive as a risk.

Big suppliers are less concerned, says Ms Sandu, and are willing to extend credit. Despite these irritants the company is actively developing new products and courting new clients without neglecting its existing partners. The company knows that things will get better and is preparing itself for the future.

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Lignesa’s hot smoked mackerel is available split, whole round, and as fillets.

herring and mackerel, but other important supplying partners are the Netherlands, Latvia, Germany, Russia, and the US. Lignesa too imports much of the raw material that is processed, but Sigitas Jukna, the marketing director, claims that he is also one of the biggest processors of Lithuanian freshwater fish such as perch and bream partly because of his location in Taurage just 60 km from the Curonian Lagoon. Compared to the volume of the marine fish that is processed at the Lignesa facilities the freshwater fish however amounts to very little – just 5 % of the production.

Products with a difference

Lignesa processes marine and freshwater fish

Winning the battle against the recession

The Lignesa fish processing factory used to house a chicken ranch before it was taken over in 1995 by what was then called the Trade Company Lignesa. Eight years later the company was reorganised and renamed Lignesa Ltd.

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he fish and seafood processing industry in Lithuania comprises a mix of micro, small, and medium companies processing a range of products.

The domestic supply is sourced primarily from the Baltic Sea and inland waters (mainly the Curonian lagoon). But the number of species fished in the Baltic Sea are limited to cod, sprats, Baltic herring, and some flatfish, while freshwater catches are limited in volumes so procesors meet their requirements for fish from imports. Norway is one of the main suppliers particularly of salmon,

Mr Sigitas Jukna, the marketing director of Lignesa, has had to reorganise the company as a result of the economic and financial crisis.

Lignesa manufactures a wide range of products including smoked, salted, frozen, dried, batter-fried, salads, and what are termed culinary products. Visiting the factory in the evening it was easy to see that many people had been working hard all day for some days as the storage areas were packed with products waiting to be distributed.

Later that evening we were told some of the workers would be working a night shift to prepare the products for the final despatch.

The smoked fish is produced in two large smoking ovens each with a capacity of about one tonne. The products include traditionally hot smoked items like mackerel which is smoked round, split, or filleted with pepper or paprika; salmon and salmon bellies; but also hake imported from Argentina which is smoked and attractively presented tied in a cord; butterfish, squid, capelin, sea bass, and bream. The butterfish is imported from Thailand while the squid is from the South Pacific. In addition to hot

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

47

lithuania

goes out under the Captain Grand label as well as another, Captain Nemo.

Plans to modernise and expand facilities

Squid from the South Pacific is smoked and vacuum packed for European markets.

smoking Lignesa also manufactures many cold smoked items including mackerel, herring, roach, bream, capelin, smelt and plaice.

The salted products are primarily small pelagics, herring, mackerel, Baltic herring and sprats. All the products are made from scratch, says Mr Jukna. We do not rely on ready made marinates or salad mixes, but get the ingredients and combine them here following our own recipes and thereby creating our own tastes. We use no synthetic

materials but focus on high quality natural ingredients, he adds.

Dried fish of all kinds The company also has two production lines for the manufacture of fish, herring or mackerel, in oil or sauce in sealed flat thermoformed trays. Raw vegetables and dried beans are also prepared in-house and then combined with fish to make salads. One of the more unusual products is the

Lignesa UAB Company Fact File Lignesa UAB Tauru km.

LT 72114 Taurages, Lietuva District Lithuania Tel.: +370 446 62432 Fax: +370 446 62434 Email: lignesa@lignesa.lt.

Website: www.lignesa.lt Marketing Director: Mr Sigitas Jukna Products: Smoked, salted, frozen,

48 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

dried, batter-fried fish, salads, and culinary products Markets: Lithuania, Germany, Spain, England, and Australia, Estonia, Latvia Species: Salmon, mackerel, herring, Baltic cod, Baltic herring, sprat, smelt, squid, hake, bream, roach, flatfish, etc.

Volumes: 500-600 tonnes per month Employees: 280 Turnover: EUR12m

dried fish. To produce this delicacy the company uses hake, cod, bream as well as ten other species of fish. In Norway and Iceland cod is dried by hanging it out on racks in the open air, but at Lignesa the fish is suspended from racks in a large room for several days depending on the size of the fish. The weight loss can vary from 50 % to 80 % if the fish is small. The dried fish has a pleasant, lightly salty taste that varies from species to species, a tough chewy consistency and makes an excellent accompaniment to a drink!

The production is packed in plastic bags (dried fish), plastic jars and tubs (salads and marinates) and the company can also vacuum pack. Altogether Lignesa produces 500 to 600 tonnes of finished products a month some of it under private label for supermarkets. The products are also exported to Germany, Spain, England, and Australia. In Estonia the company sells under its own brand Captain Grand while on the Lithuanian market the production

In addition to the processing facilities Lignesa also has a side business consisting of a guest house with a swimming pool and a lake stocked with fish that is used for nature tourism and anglers. The company also offers a freezing and storage service to fishermen from the Curonian Lagoon from where fish comes to the factory every day, escept in the winter months. In general it is wise not to put all your eggs in one basket, but particularly times of a recession it is useful to have different commercial interests, says Mr Jukna, who has seen his processing business dragged down by the financial and economic crisis. We have had to make workers redundant at our two distribution centres, salary structures have been revised, and each staff member is now working for one and a half or two people. Another distribution office in the UK was sold. In addition, the competition on the market has increased and while the prices from the retailers have not changed costs are rising making the business less profitable. Despite the current economic climate the company has expanded significantly since its inception growing to 280 employees and a turnover of EUR12m from 45 staff and EUR1.7m over the last thirteen years. Ever the optimist he is now looking for investments worth EUR6.5m in order to modernise and expand the factory and develop new forms of packaging. Some German supermarkets have expressed an interest in Lignesa products and he is confident that it will lead to concrete orders in the near future.

lithuania

Klaipeda Fish Auction

Changing the structure of the fish market takes time

In Klaipeda the Ministry of Agriculture with the financial support of the European Union has established a fish auction that has been active for the last two years. It is currently the only auction in the three Baltic States and Kaliningrad and was set up to end the system where fishers would sell only to certain buyers.

B

efore the auction about forty companies fishing in the Baltic Sea were selling their catch directly to a few buyers. With the auction the hope is to increase the number of buyers and thereby the prices that the fishers get for their catch. The auction has a capacity of 120 tonnes of fish a day.

Last year, the first year of operation, 1,000 tonnes of cod were sold through the auction, but this year 1,100 tonnes of cod have already been sold in the first six months.

The success of an auction is also determined by the number of buyers.

Before the auction there were only a few big buyers and no small ones, while now the number of registered buyers has increased to 160 and includes buyers from Poland, France, Latvia, Norway and Kaliningrad, apart from Lithuania.

Guaranteed fish quality The auction is conveniently located in a building that also houses the Fisheries Control Division of the Fisheries Department. Inspectors from Fisheries Control are responsible for the legitimacy of the fish that is caught and can verify that the fish sold in the auction is not below the minimum size. They also check the size and the weight of the boxes to ensure that they conform to the landing declaration. The auction also guarantees the quality of the fish through its agreement with the State Veterinary Services

fishing for cod. Lithuania fully supports the management plan for cod that has been implemented in the Baltic Sea. Almost 98 % of the fish sold at the auction is cod with very small quantities of herring, sprat, and mackerel. One drawback is the limited number of species that are sold through the auction, but the lack of species is compensated for in quality and service.

The Klaipeda Fish Auction was completed in 2007 with the help of EU funds and has now registered 160 buyers.

who check the size and freshness of the fish and label it in accordance with EU standards. Buyers are thus assured that they will get the product they have paid for. The auction also offers other advantages such as allowing anybody to participate. The only condition is that the person has to register, but registration is free if the buyer has a first time buyer’s license issued by any EU state. If not, there is a fee of 100 euros for the license which is valid through out the EU. The auction charges a commission of 3 % from the seller and 3.5 % from the buyer for a transaction, but this compares favourably with other auctions where the commission can be much higher.

Wide range of services on offer The auction also provides other services such as cleaning, packag-

Perspectives for the auction

ing, and indoor transport. It is possible to ice the fish, have the fish boxes cleaned and stored and to rent boxes if necessary. In the future the auction will also consider adding filleting to the palette of services it can offer in order to make it more attractive to buyers and sellers.

Buying and selling is also possible over the internet so fishers know what the prevailing price at the auction is and can compare it with the price at other auctions in the area before deciding where to land the fish. Lithuanian cod fishermen however do not have this choice.

The government has imposed rules making it mandatory for 70 % of the cod catch to be sold through the auction. Fishermen who fail to meet this obligation will lose some of their cod quota when quotas are distributed the following year.

Pressurising the fishermen to bring their cod catches to the auction is another way of combating illegal

As mentioned earlier the auction was built with support from the European Union and conforms to all the relevant EU requirements. The main purpose of the auction is to get a competitive price for the fish caught in the Baltic Sea. A project to join the PEFA auction network is under preparation, which should help to attract more fish buyers from other European countries. To achieve this the government, the establisher of the auction, is investing a lot of political, financial and administrative effort. The auction welcomes an open dialog with both fishermen and buyers that will contribute to a better and bigger institution.

For more information about the Klaipeda auction contact: JSC Klapeda’s fish products auction Tel.: +370 46 365657 Fax: +370 46 365657 Zuvu.aukcionas@gmail.com www.zuvuaukcionas.lt

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

49

Norway Safe stocks, sustainable fishing

Norway’s fishery policy pays off The oceans have been fished empty, fish species are threatened with extinction. Negative reports like these can be heard nearly every day. They are an obvious source of concern to consumers, particularly since some environmental organisations then advise people to eat less fish. Traders are alarmed, too, and remove the supposedly endangered species from their counters and shelves. Sometimes too fast, because even in the case of the closely observed species cod there can be no objections to consuming fishes that come from healthy stocks and a sustainable fishery like that practised in Norway.

50 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

T

he fish industry is the economic backbone of a lot of coastal regions in Norway.

Fishing, aquaculture and fish processing provide over 30,000 people with work and income.

With an export value of 3.5 billion EUR per year the seafood industry is one of the most important export sectors in the country. The huge economic and social significance of fishing explains why Norway sets such great store by keeping its living marine resources within safe biological limits and utilizing them sustainably.

Norway’s fishery management is geared to sustainability, i.e. to

Anyone who says consumers should do without cod damages fishing nations like Norway who manage their fish stocks in an exemplary way through sustainable fishing practices.

the USA, Canada, Australia and Iceland) in a ranking of responsible fisheries.

This success is based on the ecosystem-oriented approach which Norwayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fisheries management takes. For decades the different fish stocks were managed from a single-species perspective â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a procedure which hides certain inadequacies, however, because it does not pay sufficient attention to interactions between the species or to the impact of environmental factors. Today, Norwayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fisheries management takes into account the consequences of fishing for the whole ecosystem. That means it does not only look at the species targeted by the fishing industry but also at environmental protection as well as the state of other creatures that live in the sea. This approach is complex and it is complicated, but it is proving to be increasingly successful. ensuring that the amount of fish taken by the fishery is adapted to the capacity of the stocks to renew themselves so that there will be a sufficient supply of fish and seafood tomorrow and in the futureâ&#x20AC;Ś as demanded by the UN Fish Stocks Agreement of 1995 and the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries from the year 1995. Other states endeavour to achieve this, too, but not all of them as convincingly or as successfully as Norway. Only recently did the Universities of British Columbia and Rio Grande and the WWF put Norway in first place (ahead of

Herring and mackerel now have MSC certification, too At the end of April three big pelagic fisheries were awarded MSC certification: Norwegian spring spawning herring, Norwegian North Sea and Skagerrak herring, and the North East Atlantic mackerel pelagic trawl, purse seine and handline fishery. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The certification of these three species is important for us because our customers ask specifically for sustainably fished productsâ&#x20AC;?, says Knut Torgnes from Norges Sildesalgslag, the Norwegian fisher-

WE HAVE THE PERFECT FISH SEASONING. ALL YOU NEED TO DO NOW IS TAKE A BITE. IT WONâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;T BE LONG BEFORE YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;RE HOOKED. 1SFNJVN PSHBOJD TQJDF CMFOET JOOPWBUJWF PSHBOJD BEEJUJWFT BOE VOJRVF SFDJQF DSFBUJPOT XJMM HFU ZPVS UBTUF CVET UJOHMJOH

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norway

men’s marketing organisation for pelagic fish. “It is just as important for our fishermen because it gives them greater certainty with regard to the resources.” Together the certified fisheries represent an annual catch volume of well over one million tonnes of fish.

The majority of the Norwegian fish catch is taken in the Norwe-

gian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Together with the fishery protection zones around Svalbard and Jan Mayen the marine region that is under Norwegian jurisdiction amounts to 2 million square kilometres – six times more than the country’s terrestrial area. Most of the fish stocks that Norway harvests are shared with other nations. The

52 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

management of these stocks thus demands international cooperation and to this end Norway has negotiated a series of agreements with its neighbouring countries.

The different parties meet regularly to discuss management strategies and fix the distribution of the fishing quotas. The most

important of these agreements are with the EU and Russia. In the context of the NorwegianRussian fisheries commission important details for the fishery in the Barents Sea have been negotiated since the 1970s. This is to the advantage of both parties and has proved increasingly successful, as current stock developments prove.

sustainable fisheries

The cod stocks have increased so much that it was possible to raise the quota for 2009 to a total of 546,000 t, 95,000 t more than in 2008.

up between Norway, Russia and third countries in the same ratio as in previous years this means 234,100 t for the Norwegian fishery, equal to an increase of 40,000 t compared to 2008.

Larger catch volumes ensure employment and stabilise raw materials supply to the fish processing industry.

The haddock stocks developed very well, too, so that the fishing quota could be increased from 155,000 t in 2008 to 194,000 t in 2009. Norway’s share of the quota for this fish species amounts to 93,050 t or 16,500 t more than in 2008.

Fish is the economic backbone of a lot of coastal communities in Norway.

More than 30,000 people earn their livelihoods in the fishing, aquaculture and fish processing industries.

Higher fishing quotas in the Barents Sea for 2009 “The state of the fish stocks in the Barents Sea is very pleasing”, constitutes Helga Pedersen, Norway’s Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs. “We can see that our lasting co-operation with Russia in the areas responsible manage-

ment, research and fisheries control pays off.” The Arctic cod stock in the Barents Sea has increased so much that it was possible to increase the quota for 2009 to 525,000 t. Together with the coastal cod for which the allowable catch is 21,000 t the total quota is thus 546,000 t. That is 95,000 t more than in 2008! Because the total fishing quota was divided

Even the capelin fishery (Mallotus villosus), which had been closed since 2003 can be continued in 2009. Capelin is not as important as a consumer fish but is a highly significant food for cod. Fisheries researchers are of the opinion that 390,000 t of this fish species can be fished without putting the stability of the ecosystem at risk.

Strict implementation of the sustainability principle in Norway’s fishery pays off not only for the fish stocks but also for the country’s fishing industry. The quota increases for cod and haddock and the re-opening of the capelin fishery alone constitute a landed value of 120 to 180 million euros.

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

53

alaska

Alaska’s fisheries policy and management

Sustainability and stock protection remain the top priorities The constitution of Alaska, which was officially proclaimed the USA’s 49th state in 1959, demands that “Fish … shall be utilized, developed, and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” With that, Alaska is probably the world’s only state to write the protection of fish stocks into its basic law. And the Alaskans adhere to this commitment: Alaska’s fisheries management is strictly geared to the avoidance of overfishing and the protection of the marine environment.

A

laska has a lot to offer, but what makes the region between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans really unique is its pristine, intact nature and its clean seas. The population of Alaska was 670,000 in 2006 so that in theory each person had an area of nearly three square kilo-

metres. Apart from forestry there is not much industry in the country’s north and marine pollution is more or less unknown. These excellent conditions enabled prolific development of the country’s flora and fauna, albeit with relatively few species, and this offers a stable basis for fishing and

54 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

fish processing – one of the most important sources of income in Alaska. That alone explains why protection and preservation of these resources were even written into the country’s constitution.

For some animal species that enjoy special protection, for example

The fishery can be closed temporarily during the season in order to ensure spawning potential: the vessels then stay in port.

Alaska’s sea lions, otters, birds and whales, special protection zones were set up in which fishing is either limited or completely prohibited. The total area adds up to several hundred thousand square sea miles. The Aleutian nature reserve alone measures 277,100 square sea miles and a marine region twice that size is closed to the bottom trawl fishery.

Alaska’s coast is 75,600 kilometres long. The marine region that borders it is under US-American administration and covers a total area of 842,000 square sea miles. About half of all the fishes caught in US waters are caught in this area … sustainably, because Alaska operates with one of the most successful fisheries management systems in the world.

It is based on individual fishing

[ fisheries management ] quotas that are strictly implemented and stringently controlled. The overfishing of fish stocks that has become a problem in a lot of regions of the world has been successfully prevented in Alaska or – where necessary – immediately stopped and subsequent measures put in place so that the stocks could recover. The latest report on the state of the US fishery which is published every year by the National Marine Fisheries Service did not class any of Alaska’s salmon or demersal stocks as “overfished”, “threatened by overfishing” or “on the brink of overfishing”. Only two smaller king crab stocks in the region around Pribilof and St. Matthew Islands are considered to be “overfished”. They are not permitted to be fished for several years to enable the regeneration of the stocks.

Task sharing and clear competence areas The management and administration of fisheries within the federal system of the USA are very complex. State (Alaska), national (USA) and international organisations that are responsible for resource protection co-operate closely. Just how this works can be seen by taking a closer look at the demersal stocks of Alaska pollack and Pacific cod. Both fishes are mainly to be found in the federal US waters and are thus managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Parallel to this the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) is responsible for guidelines and catch allocation. The fishery management system is based on laws and implementing regulations (especially on the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva-

tion and Management Act) and tries to keep all decision processes transparent so as to include the public and, in particular, the fishermen in these procedures.

In every fishery different bodies are responsible for the scientific tests, the implementation of regulations and guidelines, or the catch allocations. There is, however, a clear division between the two authorities that are responsible for nature conservation and resource allocation. Neither of these two agencies has sole decision-making authority so that they are obliged to co-operate with one another. This balanced system is one of the strengths of Alaska’s fisheries management system that – in the opinion of the Alaskans – sets standards for other fisheries in the world.

One of the key features of Alaskan fisheries management is its ambition to reduce fishing efficiency.

The methods used to achieve this include the following: - Seasonal and regional restricted areas. Fishing is only permitted at certain times or in certain regions. In some regions with a traditional occurrence of fishes that are ready to spawn the fishery can even be completely banned.

- Limitation of boat size. Boat size is limited in some fisheries, in the salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, for example, to 32 feet (equal to just under 10 m).

- Restrictions on fishing gear. In nearly every fishery there are specific regulations for fishing gear with regard to size, construction and usage.

- Prohibited gear. Some fishing gear is categorically forbidden, e.g. pelagic long-lines or fish traps.

A further feature of Alaskan fisheries management is the limita-

tion of the number of fishermen via stringent control of licence issue. This is called “limited access” in Alaska because not every interested party is authorised to fish in the fishery.

Fishing quotas fixed on scientific basis Probably the most important management instrument in Alaska, however, is the fishing quota which grants fishermen ownership rights for a certain share of an annual total catch volume. It is up to the individual fisherman when he catches his share within the fishing season. This ownership-based regulation prevents all fishermen from fishing at the same time to ensure themselves as large a share as possible of the joint catch. This form of fishing which was customary before the quota was divided up individually is also known as “olympic race”.

Through individual allocation of quotas, or “rights-based management” the profits earned by a lot of fishermen have improved noticeably, too. The “rationed” fisheries include the Alaska pollack fishery in the Bering Sea and in the region around the Aleutian Islands (BSAI).

Every year fisheries scientists review the condition of the stocks.

They estimate the existing biomass and calculate the share that can be safely and sustainably removed without endangering the future of the stock. This volume estimation is called the Acceptable Biological Catch – ABC).

The ABC is the basis for the calculation of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC). If it becomes apparent during the course of the fishery that the estimations deviate too strongly from the actual situation, the quota can be readjusted, i.e. corrected within the season.

Reduced TAC – Is Alaska pollack overfished?

In volume terms Alaska pollack is the most important fish species in the region, accounting for about 60% of the total fish biomass in the Bering Sea, and in the Gulf of Alaska it constitutes the second largest stock accounting for 20% of biomass. The stock around the Aleutian Islands has to be added to this. Like every fishery, the Alaska pollack fishery is regulated through quotas and seasonal fishing times. The fishery is carried out solely with pelagic trawls and operates in two seasons. Season A lasts from January to April, Season B from June to November. If the fishing quota is exhausted prior to the end of the season the fishing season is closed at an earlier date.

The Alaska pollack fishery was at a record level for several years after 2000 and the annual fishing quotas were set at 1.5 m tonnes. In 2005 Alaska’s Alaska pollack fishery was one of the first fisheries in the world to be recognised by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as sustainable and wellmanaged. Prior to certification, an extensive four-year scientific examination had been carried out by an independent team of scientists. Since certification a lot of producers have been permitted to mark their Alaska pollack products with the much sought after MSC eco-seal that stands for seafood products from responsibly managed stocks. The total fishing quota for Alaska pollack in the Bering Sea and Aleutian region (BSAI – 95% of the catch come from these waters) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) was still more than 1.4 m t in 2007. That was for the time being to be the last time it was so high, however, because since then the stocks have decreased and as a consequence

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

55

[ alaska ] quota reduction because the market for Alaska pollack – like that for other white fish species – has become more difficult. Demand is high anyway and is boosted further by the scarcity of raw materials so that prices are rising.

Something that should please fishermen, primary processors and exporters is sooner causing them concern because a lot of importers can’t sell their products if the prices exceed a certain tolerance level for consumers. The Eurozone can cope with the price rises best because the weak dollar eases the situation for exports.

In contrast, the Japanese surimi industry, one of the biggest and best customers for Alaska pollack, is suffering greatly under the raw materials scarcity. Prices have increased by nearly 40% during recent months.

Gillnetters like `Daydream´usually go out with a crew of only one or two.

the TAC has been reduced. After the TAC was reduced to 1.15 m t in 2008 the scientists recommended a further reduction of 18.5% for 2009 to only 815,000 t for the BSAI fishery.

thus no surprise. The scientists predict an improvement again for the coming years because the stocks are healthy and will remain healthy if the scientific recommendations are followed.

According to George Pletnikoff, Alaska Ocean Campaigner from Greenpeace, that is still too much.

He demands an even more drastic reduction of the fishing quota to at most 500,000 t, because the Alaska pollack stocks were clearly overfished. Not at all, counters Jane DiCosimo who shares responsibility for demersal fish stock management at NPFMC: there were no signs of overfishing.

The scientific recommendation to reduce the TAC was purely a precautionary measure in accordance with the cyclical nature of stock development. The fall in the stocks had been expected and

Like all biological populations the number of individuals (abundance) in the Alaska pollack stock is subject to fluctuations. The NMFS scientists had expected the reduction in biomass because between 2000 and 2005 too few young fishes had reached maturity and were ready to spawn. However, in 2006 the new year-class was very good and this will strengthen the stock in the coming years and increase biomass again. As was to be expected, the NPFMC followed the recommendation and set the quota for 2009 at 815,000 t on 13 December 2008. In the past thirty years the North Pa-

56 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

cific Fishery Management Council always followed the scientific recommendation and never set the TAC for Alaska pollack higher.

During their decision-making the Council was always guided by a precautionary approach and by the health of the fish stock and the total eco-system. “We put our whole trust in scientific findings for our management of Alaska’s fisheries”, says Doug Mecum, the Regional Director for Alaska at the National Marine Fisheries Service. “This can be seen in our renewed decision to reduce the quota for Alaska pollack.”

Stock protection more important than commercial interests From a commercial point of view it probably wasn’t so easy for the NMFS to take the decision on a

Alaska’s Alaska pollack industry also has fears that the lost market shares could be taken over by fishes from aquaculture. The fish industry of Alaska has been through this once before when farmed salmon (which people had initially not taken seriously) took over more and more market shares of wild salmon. Mass species like pangasius and tilapia are seen as potential competitors for Alaska pollack – and in a few years’ time other species such as farmed cod or barramundi, too. If consumers accept such alternatives to Alaska pollack it will be twice as hard to win back the lost ground.

This makes it all the more commendable of the people responsible for the fishery that they put the sustainability principle and the biological future of the Alaska pollack stocks before short-term commercial interests. But strictly speaking that is what makes Alaska’s fishery policy what it is – a model for the rest of the world.

ISSN 1868-5943

October 5 / 2009 C 44346

Vichiunai Group A global brand in the food industry USA: Alaska prioritises sustainability and stock protection SustainAqua: Project concludes with important results Lithuania: Impressive growth in processing sector FISH INFO network

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aqua c u lt u r e

RK Plast manufactures high tech plastic components

Newly improved substrate for biofilters

The Danish plastics industry goes back to the start of the twentieth century, but it really took off in the thirties. Today the Danish plastics industry comprises some 500 companies employing 33,500 people and with an annual turnover of just under EUR6bn. Most of the industry produces highly specialised products of which 70% is exported.

O

ne company that is perhaps typical of the Danish plastics industry is RK Plast. A medium-sized company based in Jutland that specialises in the manufacture of moulded plastic components RK Plast supplies a variety of industry segments.

The company was established in 1984 and has supplied among others the security industry, ventilation and cooling companies, the

automobile, pharmaceutical, and food sectors, and even dentists with its products. Durable, tough, and available in a variety of colours the plastic components are made in a high-tech environment on plastic moulding machines that are equipped with robots or are automated in some way. The company has fifty machines at its disposal with sealing pressures that vary from 25 to 700 tonnes.

58 Eurofish Magazine 5â&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;2009

Biofilter removes ammonia from the system In 2003 Robert Knudsen, an engineer by training and a key account manager with the company, developed a plastic substrate for use in biofilters in recirculation aquaculture systems. Biofilters are a necessary feature of recirculation systems as they remove the ammonia that comes from the meta-

The RK Bioelements are available in three variations, light, medium and heavy which have a density of 0.93, 1 or 1.20 g/cubic cm. The light and medium ones are used in up-flow and moving bed filters while the heavy one is intended for downflow fixed bed filters.

bolic wastes produced by the fish by converting it into nitrites and nitrates before it can reach levels that are toxic to the fish. A biofilter usually consists of a substrate that provides a surface for the nitrifying bacteria and is submersed in a separate basin. The efficiency of the nitrification process is determined by the water flow, the relative surface area of the filter, the contact time between the filter and the water, the acidity of the water, and the quantity and quality of metabolic wastes produced by the fish. The biofilter is a living organism and for it to per-

form optimally it is necessary that the environment is stable without sudden and significant changes in the values of pH, temperature, light, amounts of metabolic waste produced, ammonia, oygen content, or water flow.

The substrate developed at RK Plast has been christened RK BioElements and is a small finned plastic cylinder 15 mm by 15 mm with a relative surface area of 750 square m per cubic m of filter.

In 2009 Mr Knudsen refined the product improving the water flow by making the design more open, but crucially, without compromising the surface area. “That was the difficult part,” says Mr Knudsen, “because each time we tried to improve the water flow it cost us surface area. The challenge was to improve the flow without impacting the surface and now we have succeeded. In other words we have taken the best substrate on the market and made it better!”

Improving the water flow enables the substrate to be moved around more easily in the filter which means less electricity is needed to move the water around thereby reducing costs. The RK Bioelements are available in three variations, light, medium and heavy which have a density of 0.93, 1 or 1.20 g/cubic cm. The light and

economic and financial crisis which has tightened credit lines and other lending facilities and caused problems for farmers who want to invest. But the company is confident in the product and optimistic that the current situation will not persist and when companies start investing again it will be ready with the necessary volumes of the product.

Intellectual property belongs to the company The latest generation of the substrate has improved water flow characteristics yet maintained the surface area at 750 square / m3.

medium ones are used in up-flow and moving bed filters while the heavy one is intended for downflow fixed bed filters.

Environmentally friendly product The Bioelements are made of polypropylene, a kind of plastic made from oil or natural gas that is so versatile that it finds applications in several industries including the food packaging industry.

To achieve the right density the polypropylene is doped with small quantities of barium sulphate, an environmentally benign chemical.

So far most buyers have been from the Danish aquaculture sector, but the company has also had some success selling the product to fish farmers on the Faroe Islands, in Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and France. However, sales overseas have only really taken off in the last six months, before that Denmark was the main market.

We have doubled our capacity for the bioelements from 1,500 cubic m per year to 3,000 cubic m per year, says Robert Knudsen, and we plan to systematically market these products outside Denmark by visiting and exhibiting at different trade fairs. The expansion in capacity has come despite the

Norvelita JSC Company Fact File RK Plast A/S Fabriksvej 10 DK 7800 Skive Denmark Tel.: +45 96 14 71 87 / 97 58 40 55 Fax: +45 97 58 40 48 E-Mail: rkplast@rkplast.dk Internet: www.rkplast.dk Key Account Manager: Robert Knudsen Employees: 50

Currently the Bioelements are still a niche product contributing 10-15% of the company’s annual turnover. However, what makes this product different from the other items that the company makes, is that the Bioelements have been designed and developed in-house and the intellectual property belongs to RK Plast.

All the other work that is done by the company is based on other companies’ designs and patents.

The company is constantly working on improving the product and Robert Knudsen expects a further improved version to appear on the market in another two years or so. We keep a close eye on what is happening in the regulatory area as our products are closely linked to rules and regulations governing the environment.

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Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

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Even today wild-caught fish will sometimes be kept in cages for weeks, because prices in the main catching season are too low.

s e r ie s

Cod from Norwegian aquaculture Part 2 – Cod from Norwegian aquaculture

History of cod farming A simple form of cod farming has been carried out by Norwegian fishermen for decades.

They catch wild cod and keep them in cages to enable the supply of fresh fish even outside of the season. In the 1970s and 80s, however, first attempts were made to completely close the farming cycle from the egg to the marketable fish, and since then meticulous work has gone on to gradually perfect the farming process.

S

trictly speaking, Norway does not only supply one, but three, kinds of cod. The first is cod from the fishery which is mainly caught during the relatively short fishing season which lasts from February to May. During these months there is sometimes so much cod on the market that prices fall and excess fish has to be frozen which leads to additional costs. For this reason resourceful fishermen came up with the idea of keeping particularly healthy fish that had not suffered any damages during the catch in net cages for several months until demand and prices had risen again. Occasionally this simple form of capturebased aquaculture was pursued even further by putting small cod juveniles into the net pens and feeding them cheap feed fish until 60 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

they reached a marketable size. Although keeping fishes in net cages was never more than a side-line for most fishermen, and the quantities they produced remained accordingly small, these capturebased farmed fishes constitute the second kind of cod that is available on the market.

Based on a rough estimate, Norway produces about 500 t of cod per year in this way. After six to nine months in the net cages the fishes weigh four to five kilograms when they are placed onto the market – usually around Christmas time. Up to then they are mainly fed on herring and capelin (Mallotus villosus), but sometimes also on slaughter waste from fish processing (slaughter waste from cod processing cannot

be used, however). Following an increase in the price for feed fish in 2007, capture-based farming in Norway fell by two thirds, however. Attempts have been made to feed wild cod in other countries, too. In Canada, Cabot Martin, a lawyer from Newfoundland, even founded a company – Sea Forest Plantations – in 1985 especially for farming undersize wild cod.

The fish were kept in big dams and fed with herring, capelin and mackerel in order to increase their weight and make them more lucrative. Martin’s business model didn’t work out, however: neither the fishermen nor the processors wanted his farmed cod. And after all, why should they? The stocks off the Norwegian coast were still good, the fishery could deliver sufficient cod…

The third kind of cod and that upon which numerous hopes are now based is the pure, ”genuine“ farmed cod that is produced completely in aquaculture from the egg to the marketable fish. Although this had already proved possible for the first time in 1977 it was only at the beginning of the current millennium that cod farming reached a production level that could really be considered of any relevance to the market.

Hatching cod to support wild stocks Interest in cod farming was always very high in Norway, particularly at times when the new year classes were poor and catches fell. Flødevigen Hatchery was founded in 1883 to strengthen cod stocks and stabilise the fishery. It is today considered to be Norway’s first “marine laboratory”. Up to the 1970s, yolk sac larvae were hatched in Flødevigen with the aim of boosting local cod populations through stocking measures.

The Norwegians began a cod hatching programme in 1975. In field studies carried out around the Lofoten Islands and several other regions they initially investigated under which specific environmental conditions a maximum number of cod larvae could survive. On the basis of their findings attempts were subsequently made in Flødevigen to create similar conditions for the larvae in a 4,400 m3 outdoor tank. In each of the years 1976 and 1977 the researchers succeeded in raising 5,000 cod to fingerling-size. That meant rough-

[ Species ] ly about one fish per cubic metre of water. This was without doubt a success, although not quite as big a success as had been hoped for. However, one finding from these experiments was that under conditions of a confined tank environment plankton density did not come up to the levels found in the natural world and was not sufficient to produce the desired number of juveniles.

In the next step it was thus planned to use an even bigger reservoir for the hatchery, and the researchers chose to use a so-called “mesocosm system”. These systems are natural water regions such as a shallow bay or a salt water pond that are separated from the adjoining sea by a dam or a plastic foil.

Within these sealed off systems an environment is then created that offers the larvae suitable growth conditions. It is not possible, however, to isolate a mesocosm completely from the environment.

In order to supply the larvae with feed, water has to be pumped in from the open sea, for example, and passed through narrow meshed net sieves to concentrate the plankton it contains. The feed particle rich water is then flushed into the system. This process involves a certain risk, a fact that was soon to become apparent during the experiments, because pathogens and parasites could also get into the mesocosm along with the water and the plankton.

For hatching larvae on a larger scale the Norwegian scientists moved their facility from Flødevigen to Austevoll where a new aquaculture station went into operation in 1978.

They chose as their mesocosm the Hyltro pond which with a volume of 60,000 cubic metres seemed large enough for the project. Prior to the start of the experiments the scientists used rotenone (a natural fish poison from the roots of

Because the results were not as successful as hoped, fish production for stocking purposes was largely reduced already in the mid-90s and the project finally brought to a complete end in 1998.

the tuba plant Derris elliptica) to try and free the pond of earlier inhabitants, particularly potential predators of the cod larvae. In spite of this measure the researchers had to cope with a number of failures in the early years… firstly with masses of jellyfish that developed and ate most of the larvae so that in the end only very few fingerlings could be grown. After this problem was solved hundreds of thousands of larvae did reach the metamorphosis stage but then the stock decimated itself so strongly via cannibalism that ultimately and again only about one fish per cubic metre survived. It was not until the feed had been optimised further that yield was to improve noticeably.

Of considerably greater significance was a discovery which geneticists made in the genetic material of the employed spawner stock at the beginning of the 80s. They found out that individual spawners had a special gene which could be used as a “marker”, i.e. as a nat-

ural biological way of differentiating their young. If these spawners were crossed with one another, the geneticists predicted, every fourth offspring would be homozygous for this genetic feature. This fact gave the scientists the unique chance to identify their artificially hatched fishes… even if tens of thousands of juvenile fishes were released into the sea and were then caught later on elsewhere. But were the geneticists really right? To establish this fact a small 20,000 m3 lake near to Austevoll was completely emptied, thoroughly cleaned and filled with sea water. Genetic analyses of the young cod that were produced showed that the geneticists’ prediction had been correct: 25 % of the offspring were homozygous for the gene concerned without the fishes having an increased mortality! This was a real stroke of luck for

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Stable production of young cod enabled a number of further experiments. For example, experiments were carried out to test the effect of an acoustic signal which accompanied the feeding of 3 to 5 cm large fish. Already after a few days the fishes reacted and swam to the feeding point as soon as the signal was sounded. Subsequently, the scientists even considered trying to “farm” cod freely in the open sea. This idea was soon given up, however.

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Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

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[ Species ]

It is not only on the Lofoten Islands that cod and other whitefish are dried. Almost everywhere along the Norwegian coast this method of preservation is used.

the researchers who then took very good care of these valuable fishes up to maturity. Their homozygous juveniles played an important role later on as a “biologically marked sub-population” during sea ranching experiments that began in the 1980s. At first, sea ranching off the Norwegian coast was limited to cod but as from 1989 it was occasionally also used for salmon, lobster and char.

Hatching and farming technology greatly improved Huge quantities of cod fry were necessary for the restocking programme. For the farming of these fishes the researchers used an even larger water, Paris Lake, which comprised a substantial 240,000 m3. Parallel to this, a 62 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

method was used in which the larvae grew in large black plastic bags that were suspended in the water like net cages. On average, these microcosms had a volume of about 100 m3, some of them even as much as 300 m3. Bag farming proved to be good, and in particular it enabled more effective control of the larvae stock.

With this intensive technique it was possible to achieve survival rates of up to 80 %, partly also because it was finally possible to reduce cannibalism noticeably.

Something which contributed towards this was an innovation that is generally considered a breakthrough in the farming of marine fish larvae and proved decisive for the progress of cod farming. British researchers had experimented with feeding rotifers to turbot larvae in 1982 and this had proved to

be a real breakthrough. These tiny creatures which are only fractions of a millimetre long were subsequently used more and more as live feed for marine fish larvae.

Today, the farming of marine fish larvae is no longer conceivable without them.

Cod restocking activities were at that time mainly concentrated in five points along the coast between the region Troms in the north and Austevoll in the south. With the help of the genetic marker it was now possible to establish exactly how high the recatch quota was for cod from the restocking programme. On average, one in five fishes was caught again, which can be considered a good quota. In spite of this, expert Jørgen Borthen from Norsk Sjømatsenter believes that,

viewed overall, the sea ranching programme was not worthwhile.

Although over the years 1.3 million cod with individual weights of between 100 g and 1 kg were released no measurable effect on the fishery was noted. Already in the mid-90s production of fish for stocking was thus significantly reduced until the project was finally stopped completely in 1998.

Early cod farmers had to struggle with numerous problems Because the farming of cod for stocking purposes improved during the 1980s interest in farming cod in ”pure“ aquaculture grew, too. The rapid boom in salmon farming (Norwegian salmon production rose from 4,312 t in 1980

[ Species ] and problems these early farming experiments did show, however, that it was in principle possible to carry out the whole life cycle of cod in aquaculture.

Co-ordinated plan pushes research and development forward It was clear to all participants that there were still a great number of problems to solve before cod farming could become a profitable undertaking. Universities, institutes and other state research facilities took up the challenge along with private investors, companies and foundations. A strategic plan that was drawn up by the Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway has since 2001 been trying to co-ordinate the activities of all parties concerned, despite the fact that they partly pursue very different goals. This plan which

will initially apply up to the year 2010 and was already updated and supplemented in 2003 and 2006 sets the whole branch the aim of supplying the markets in the foreseeable future with a stable supply of farmed cod all the year round. It is assumed that, as in the salmon sector, Norway has the potential to take on a worldwide leading role in cod farming. And no one has any serious doubts that the effort will be worth it for the market potential of farmed cod is estimated at 2.5 billion euros.

- Encouragement of production methods that enable responsible fish farming and avoid escapes - Preventive control of diseases and parasites - Intensification of selective farming to increase production yields - Development of feeds that are optimally adapted to the nutritional needs of cod - Development of an attractive product range, and analysis of consumer behaviour in the key international target markets

In a list of the important tasks which have to be tackled the strategic plan names the following points: - Development of safe production methods for high-quality fry - Investigation of possible genetic interactions between wild and farmed cod

Picture: NSEC

to 145,990 t in 1990) raised hopes that cod might prove similarly successful. At the end of the 1980s the Norwegian authorities had issued nearly 100 licences for cod farming, of which only a few were actually in use, however. Almost as quickly as interest had been kindled, it died again because farmed cod was of poor quality at that time and had not proved as lucrative as hoped for.

The bodies of the farmed fishes were frequently deformed and their livers were unnaturally large.

In particularly drastic cases the liver could comprise between 15 and 20 per cent of total body weight (in wild cod it is about 7 or 8 per cent).

Opponents of cod farming at that time compared farmed cod to a balloon because its body seemed so inflated. In the meantime we know that this problem was mainly the result of the wrong feed – the feed contained too much fat. The flesh of farmed fishes was often unnaturally greyish yellow in colour and had a much shorter shelflife than that of wild cod. If at all, such fishes could only be marketed fresh. In the meantime these problems have been solved and even recognised experts often have difficulty distinguishing farmed from wild cod (the head of farmed cod is said to be somewhat smaller in relation to the body than that of wild cod). Things had not got this far during the 1980s, however. There were gaps in the knowledge of the fish’s needs and farming technology had still not been perfected. On top of that, it soon became apparent that although fry production was feasible it was by no means as stable as had been assumed. Supply volume and fry quality fluctuated very strongly and hardly constituted a sound basis for continuous production. Up to the first years of this millennium, supply of fry was thus considered one of the major bottlenecks in cod production. In spite of all these difficulties

The Norwegians have completely closed the production cycle for cod from egg to market-sized fish.

The strategic plan’s focus is to make cod farming safe, sustainable and ethically without fault and to avoid destroying the positive image of the fish. For the implementation of all research and development goals contained in the plan 135 million NOK, or almost 17 m EUR are necessary per year. Norway is also looking to co-operate on an international level. Companies and institutes from Norway, Scotland, Iceland and Russia worked together in the context of the NorthCod Project (total budget 1.4 m EUR) which was partly funded with money from the Northern Area Programme of the EU. This three-year project which was completed in 2007 had the objective to make cod aquaculture in the north of Europe economically viable and to push forward developments. It is hoped that aquaculture will already produce more cod than salmon in about 20 years. In mid 2005 scientists from Norway, Canada and Iceland presented a new project – ‘CodGen’ – which is concerned with the genetic make-up of farmed cod.

The researchers want to identify all 20- to 30,000 genes of cod by 2010. It is hoped this will contribute towards safeguarding wild stocks and making aquaculture more profitable through improved breeding.

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Norwegian Cod farming facing uncertainties

Economic crisis overshadows cod market

Prices of all groundfish species declined sharply in the first half of 2009. The main reason was lower demand by institutional clients. In addition, cheap cultured fish – pangasius and tilapia – create strong competition in the market. On the positive side, the return of cod stocks in the Barents Sea and in Newfoundland can be mentioned. In the latter area, it has taken almost 30 years for the cod stock to recover. Alaska pollack continues to be the main groundfish species caught worldwide. For this species, the situation is bleak in US waters, but higher quotas were given in the Russian fishing area. Supply to the market is expected to be abundant in coming months.

Cod stocks recover in Barents Sea In the Barents Sea, the overall cod biomass is now the largest it has

been since 1968, and the spawning stock biomass is the highest it has been since the early 1950’s. The 2008 TAC in the Barents Sea was 430 000 tonnes. For 2009, the TAC

64 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

is 525 000 tonnes. For 2010 and 2011, it will increase by another 50 000 tonnes each year. This means an additional 200 000 tonnes of cod available in the Barents Sea,

between 2008 and 2011 to which another 30 000 tonnes in Iceland can be added. Furthermore, surges in cod have been reported in the Northwestern Atlantic and in parts of Western Greenland at a time when the market collapse for cod has bottomed out. This change in the abundance of cod is caused by environmental conditions that are making the North Atlantic a more hospitable habitat. It is interesting to note that only recently, cod was being redflagged on various environmental lists, and there were demonstrations in the UK, against retailers who were selling thought to be ‘endangered’ cod.

Cod is back in Canada After almost 30 years cod is back in the Canadian Atlantic Ocean.

However, this increase in pro-

duction in this area has not yet had an impact on the present groundfish market, but it will most likely be felt in the coming years. The recovery of cod stocks in the Barents Sea and in the Northwest Atlantic were the subject of a presentation made at the Brussels Seafood Exhibition. It reported that cod stocks are at their highest levels in three decades. While the effect of possible increased catches is not apparent yet, it could impact the groundfish market significantly in coming years. Cod farming in Norway is experiencing an uncertain period as it battles to achieve profitability in the face of generally poor market conditions and difficulties in increasing cod growing rates sufficiently for economic production.

Higher imports into US market Groundfish imports into the US market showed an increase (10% from 34 300 tonnes to 37 700 tonnes) in the first quarter of this year compared with the first three months of 2008 but have not yet recovered to January- March 2007 levels (43 900 tonnes). This rise reflects increased imports by the USA of both frozen fillets and blocks. During the first three months of 2009 the quantity of frozen groundfish fillets imported by the US was 24 400 tonnes, 10% more compared with the same period of the previous year, whereas imports of blocks went up by 9%.

China is the main supplier of both groundfish fillets and blocks to the USA with 82% and 74% respectively of total imports during January-March 2009. This country has increased its shipments to the US by 7% (fillets) and 5% (blocks) in the period under review. China is the major repro-

Imports of cod-like groundfish

cessor of groundfish in the world, with strong imports of raw material from the USA, Russia and Norway. Prices of all groundfish on the US market have remained stable in the first half of 2009. The cod market, where prices had been in free fall since November 2008, seems to have stabilized at a low level. Fillets were quoted at USD 2.50/lb. Hake fillets, which followed the same trend as cod, had a value of USD 2.20/lb for the whole of this period. Only the Alaska pollack price declined in June 2009 from USD 2.00/lb to USD 1.93/lb, back to November 2008 levels.

USA in 1,000 tonnes

Jan-Dec 2007

2008

2007

Jan-Mar 2008

2009

91,3 16 9,7 2,1 9,0 128,1

74,5 11,1 5,5 0,2 6,4 97,7

71,6 7,9 4,2 0,8 5,5 90,0

20,2 4,1 1,1 0,4 1,0 26,8

18,7 2,5 0,6 0,3 0,0 22,1

20,1 2,9 1,0 0,4 0,0 24,4

25,4 2,9 0,6 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,0 2,0 32,4 160,5

41,7 2,0 0,8 0,1 0,8 2,1 0,0 1,7 49,2 146,9

35,2 2,3 0,9 0,2 1,3 0,7 0,0 1,4 42,0 132,0

14,2 0,9 0,2 0,0 0,1 0,7 0,0 1,0 43,9 43,9

10,3 0,6 0,1 0,0 0,2 0,2 0,0 0,8 34,3 34,3

9,8 0,2 0,4 0,0 1,1 0,2 0,0 1,6 37,7 37,7

2006 Fillets China Iceland Canada Norway Others Total Blocks/Slabs China Argentina Iceland Norway Russian Fed. Canada Korea Others Total Grand Total

Less cod on German market

Source: NMFS

Imports of frozen cod fillets Germany in 1,000 tonnes

China Poland Denmark Russia Iceland Norway Others Total

2006 8,1 1,4 1,2 2,4 0,5 0,6 1,8 16,0

Jan-Dec 2007 12,2 3,8 1,5 1,1 0,3 0,6 2,7 22,2

2008 12,1 2,2 1,8 1,1 0,2 0,2 2,1 19,7

2007 3,0 1,5 0,3 0,5 0,1 0,1 0,6 6,0

Jan-Mar 2008 3,8 0,6 0,7 0,5 0,1 0,1 0,3 6,1

2009 3,0 0,5 0,4 0,2 0,0 0,0 0,3 4,5

Source: Statistisches Bundesamt

Imports of frozen cod UK in 1,000 tonnes

China Iceland Norway Denmark Faroe Is. Russian Fed Poland Germany Others Total

2006 23,2 16,1 14,0 16,9 6,5 13,0 6,5 1,9 8,2 106,3

Jan-Dec 2007 21,9 18,0 11,4 12,4 4,4 4,1 3,6 4,5 6,0 86,3

2008 21,4 14,2 12,0 9,0 4,9 3,9 3,8 3,7 6,0 79,0

2007 8,2 6,2 3,2 4,9 0,1 0,8 1,0 0,7 1,9 27,0

Jan-Mar 2008 6,3 4,0 3,9 2,1 0,9 0,1 0,9 0,3 0,2 18,7

During the first quarter of 2009, the UK imported 15 400 tonnes of frozen cod, the culmination of a downward trend, finishing almost 18% below the corresponding 2008 figure and 43% below the 2007. Again, the main reason for this decline is the drop in imports from China (52% to 3 000 tonnes), the main supplier of cod to the UK market.

Outlook difficult

2009 3,0 4,1 3,4 1,5 0,4 1,2 0,9 0,3 0,6 15,4

Wild cod should be in ample supply in coming months, and prices are expected to decline sharply during the remaining part of the year. Already at present cod prices were EUR 4.65/kg, which is the lowest level since three years.

Source: Seafish / national trade statistics

German imports of frozen cod fillets have dropped by 26% in 2009 reaching 4 500 tonnes, mainly caused by the decline in Chinese exports (by 21% to 3 000 tonnes) but also by reduced shipments from Denmark and Russia.

Paola Sabatini, FAO GLOBEFISH 2009

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Prices fall as catfish-production increases

Pangasius back to full swing

Viet Nam exported 334 000 tonnes of catfish in the first eight months of 2009, worth an estimated USD 737 million. This made the sector the top foreign currency earner among seafood exporters. Exports of catfish have shown signs of recovery in many markets, except in Russia where the media reported that Viet Nam did not ensure the quality of the product. However, Russian agreed to import 10 000 tonnes of catfish a month from September 2009 onward which should give a boost to total exports. Viet Nam is thus expected to export USD 1.4 billion worth of catfish this year.

C

atfish exports have recovered as a result of economic improvements in key markets and because of the Vietnamese seafood sector has put a lot of effort in seeking new markets. Land set aside for catfish farms in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region has reached 5 154 ha, a 15% increase compared with last year.

Farmers in the region have harvested 457 000 tonnes of catfish in 66 Eurofish Magazine 5â&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;2009

Imports of frozen catfish USA in 1,000 tonnes

Viet Nam China Thailand Malaysia Indonesia Others Total

2005 3,6 0,8 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,7 5,1

2006 3,4 1,9 1,5 1,4 0,0 0,6 8,7

Jan-Jun 2007 7,3 7,8 2,9 0,5 0,4 0,3 19,1

2008 12,5 9,2 3,5 0,5 0,4 0,7 26,8

2009 16,4 4,3 3,5 0,1 0,2 0,9 25,4

Source: Globefish

the first eight months of this year, an increase of 13.5%. At present, Viet Nam has 110 plants producing 4.3 million tonnes of fish feed a year, including 88 plants producing feed for tra and basa catfish. In view of the good production, processing companies have reduced the price of catfish to VND13 50015 500/kg (USD 0.75-0.87/kg). The drop was attributed to large stocks of the fish plus a reduction in fish prices in some markets. In the EU, prices fell from USD 2.63/kg to USD 2.47/kg.

The outlook is unsettled It seems the same situation as last year: plenty of production, declining prices which in the long run will lead to less fish being produced in Viet Nam. On the other hand, demand is picking up again in Europe, where pangasius is a well accepted fish. The present low prices should help further penetration of the Eastern European markets.

Helga Josupeit, FAO GLOBEFISH 2009

[ sustainability ] MSC or Friend of the Sea ?

to “ecological” standards can for several fish species choose from about a dozen certification organisations and their seals. The final choice might, however, be difficult due to their similarity.

The range in the fisheries sector is smaller and here, with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Friend of the Sea (FoS) there are two big certifiers that dominate the relevant market. They occupy similar “ecological niches” and are for that reason “natural” competitors.

Eco-certifiers in harsh competition

Never before has there been so much public focus on the exploitation of the seas and the overuse of fisheries resources. More and more trading companies are thus endeavouring to offer their customers more products from sustainably fished stocks, preferably with the appropriate certificates such as those issued by MSC or Friend of the Sea. But what do these labels really stand for? What do they have in common, and where do they differ ?

P

robably any and every fisherman or fishmonger today will ensure people that the condition of the seas is not irrelevant to them and that they only offer fish from legal, sustainable fisheries. But what use are such declarations if consumers don’t believe them? At this point at the latest the eco-certifiers enter the arena with their seals and labels that are issued by independent, trustworthy certification organisations following thorough examination of production procedures.

It is their job to confirm to customers that all production procedures were in accordance with the rules and that it is thus possible to purchase the product concerned with a good conscience.

An eco-certifier’s logo is abstract, however, and does not constitute a symbolic source of information if the consumer is not familiar with the criteria and standards that have led to certification, at least with regard to the core issues… for example concerning which requirements in relation to the environment and fisheries, ethical and social aspects have to be fulfilled so that a certain product is permitted to carry this logo.

Not only does certification cost a lot of money but so do the flyers, folders and advertising campaigns with which the consumer

Certifications are a worldwide trend

The MSC is the older of the two. It was founded in 1997 by the environmental organisation WWF and the Unilever food group with the aim of offering a practical solution for the overfishing problem.

Since 1999 this internationally operating non-profit organisation has, however, been completely independent and mainly funded by money from foundations, state bodies and commercial companies, as well as the licensing fees which are demanded for the use of the MSC logo. Friend of the Sea which is also a non-profit organisation was not founded until 2006 but sees its roots in the international environmental organisation “Friends of the Earth” which was founded in 1969. FoS claims they thus have more than 20 years’ experience in the certification of fisheries and fish farming (e.g. through the protection of dolphins, mangroves and sea turtles). They still feel themselves to be committed to this task today. The FoS initiative initially received financial support from the FOP Interreg Programme of the EU but is today financed solely by royalties from logo usage plus money from individual sponsors who support specific marketing campaigns.

Anyone in the aquaculture sector who wants to produce according

Whilst the MSC concentrates solely on fisheries and fishery products

Friend of the sea offers standards for both the fishing sector and for aquaculture.

has to be enlightened about the intention and content of certification. In the face of this considerable expense the question arises as to why suppliers do not shy away from the cost and effort of having their products certified. And the answer is simple: because behind certification is not only the wish to achieve more sustainable management of resources and improved environmental protection but also the hope that the consumer will choose to buy such products and be prepared to pay slightly more for them.

Together, these facts make it understandable why no suppliers or producers can be interested in there being various different cer-

tificates and logos on the market that all, at their core, represent the same issues and concerns but are still in competition with one another. Variety in this area is sooner counterproductive because it confuses the consumers, and this in turn renders necessary even more effort and money to explain things. Different certificates thus only make any real sense if they stand for differentiable objectives and contents and offer the consumer genuine alternatives from which to choose.

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[ sustainability ] and has only developed certification standards for these sectors FoS offers standards for both the fishing sector and for aquaculture, and it is even possible to attain certificates for fishmeal, fish oil and fish feed. Which of these two strategies – concentration and specialisation on one area or inclusion of as many products and product forms as possible – is preferred is largely dependent on the preferences of producers and consumers, because it is possible to find good reasons for both.

The organisation Friends of the Sea believes it currently has the most significant seafood standards worldwide, with 10 million tonnes of wild catches and 0.5 m t of farmed products already certified according to their principles.

The list of certified products is long and ranges from shrimps and caviar, through sturgeon, anchovies, salmon and turbot, to tuna and squid. More than 600 products in 26 countries carry the FoS logo and new ones are being added by the week. MSC also sees its certification and eco-labelling programme, which aims at well managed sustainable fisheries, as the worldwide leader. In mid2009 fisheries with a catch volume of 3.8 m t were certified according to the MSC standard and a further 2.85 m t were in the process of certification. In January 2009 the organisation was pleased to present a 500 g box of scallops from Patagonia – the 2000th product to enter trade (in this case in France) bearing the blue MSC logo.

Same objectives but different approaches What is decisive is, however, less the number of already certified fisheries, companies or products but, and above all, the standards themselves and their control.

After all, it will depend on them

whether and how fast the aspired objectives (more sustainability, better management, more environmental fishery) will be achieved.

The MSC standard, which was developed in worldwide co-operation between scientists, fisheries experts and environmental organisations, is based on three principles: 1. Protection and sustainability of stocks Fisheries companies have to operate in such a way as to avoid overfishing or depletion of the utilised stocks.

If stocks are depleted any fishing activities have to be able to prove that they will promote their recovery. In this way, the productivity of the resources is to be kept at a high level and not put at risk in favour of shortterm interests.

2. Minimal impact on the eco-system. Fishing activities should maintain the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the eco-system. This takes into consideration, for example, the impacts of fishing gear on the seabed or the by-catch, i.e. unintentional catching of juvenile fishes, other fish species, sea birds and marine mammals.

3. Effective, responsible management of the fishery. The fishing enterprise has to adhere to relevant laws and standards. The management system should dictate an institutional and operative framework for the responsible usage of the resource, thereby creating the prerequisites for an effective implementation of Principles 1 and 2.

All fisheries that catch wild fish and seafood – irrespective of size, type or location – can have themselves evaluated according to the MSC standard. The examination

68 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

according to the MSC standard is carried out in an independent company audit by external inspectors in co-operation with independent experts. If a fisheries company fulfils the standards it can label its catch with the oval blue MSC seal.

The MSC says that its standards are the only ones which correspond to both the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization guidelines for the “Eco-labelling of Fish and Fisheries Products from Marine Capture Fisheries”. However, Friend of the Sea also claims to be the only organisation to fulfil this FAO standard. FoS expressly refers to Article 30 of the guideline according to which certifications are only permissible in the case of products that do not come from overfished stocks. In saying this they are referring to the hoki trawl fishery off New Zealand. Although in the opinion of FoS these hoki stocks are overfished the fishery has been certified by MSC. Friend of the Sea certifies both fisheries and aquaculture enterprises and so there are different standards for each sector. The standards for the fishing sector include the following criteria: - Only products that do not come from overfished species can be certified. Decisions are based on FAO reports on the status of the stocks and regional fishery authorities - The fishing method must not harm the seabed - The by-catch must not contain any species that are on the red list of the IUCN and the discard share must not exceed 8% of catch weight - Fishing practices must adhere to all legal requirements (e.g. per-

taining to fishing quotas, mesh size, minimum size) The FoS criteria for the aquaculture sector include: - Estimation of the impact of the company on the environment (if possible prior to the farm’s being set up). Farming facilities must not be located in sensitive habitats (e.g. mangroves, biologically valuable wetlands, habitats of species endangered by extinction) - It must be certain that no fishes can escape from the farm and that no birds or other animals can penetrate it - No use of genetically manipulated organisms, hormones or antifouling paints - The fishmeal in the feed must be from slaughter waste from fish processing companies or come from fisheries that fulfil FoS standards - The company has to have in place management and control systems for waste, energy and feed.

In addition, the criteria for both sustainable fishing and aquaculture contain recommendations concerning the reduction of CO2 emissions and social responsibility.

Quick and cheap or long and expensive Friend of the Sea endeavours to distinguish itself clearly from MSC and to present the MSC criteria as less stringent. Whilst FoS, for example, prohibits trawl nets on principle they state that up to 30% of MSC tonnage is fished using this method. FoS also claims that up to 75% of MSC tonnage comes from fisheries that fish overfished stocks. This is not allowed by FoS. Friend of the Sea had also implemented the FAO Code of Conduct 100% whereas MSC did not follow

[ sustainability ] Friend of the Sea certification is definitely quicker and cheaper than MSC. Depending on the size and nature of the company the audits only last between one day and two weeks plus a maximum of two further weeks for writing the report. Aquaculture companies are subjected to renewed analysis every three years, fishery enterprises every five years. (In the fishing sector it is checked every year whether the condition of the stock has changed). The certificate entitles the company to the use of the FoS logo. The annual fees are 3,000 € per product (although during the first year at least 5,000 € including audit costs). Friend of the Sea explains the relatively low and uniform flat rate fees with the streamlined administrative structure of the organisation. They saved travel costs and instead used modern communication technologies to move the projects ahead.

Sustainability is worth it for everyone, whether with or without a logo If a fisheries company fulfils the MSC standards according to an independent auditor it can label its catch with the oval blue MSC logo.

it in full. Whether these claims are true and whether demands such as a principal ban on trawl nets actually make sense is another question. Friend of the Sea does have clear and relatively strict standards, adherence to which can be tested quickly and inexpensively but it seems to be at least doubtful whether this formalistic approach really does justice to the often complex and complicated realities in the fishing sector.

The ”holistic“ approach which does more justice to the complexity of the material sooner seems to be the case at MSC. But it also means that MSC in-

spections usually take several months or sometimes even years and can lead to considerable costs, not rarely in the region of several hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is because not only does the certification process – and later on also the usage of the logo – have to be paid for but also the necessary changes in fishing gear, vessels, logistics, documentation and the like. Opponents thus provokingly question the “sustainability of certification” because small fisheries, in particular, often have difficulty raising the costs and later on being able to get their money back through higher prices.

Both organisations use independent, internationally recognised certification offices for testing the fisheries and aquaculture companies. Friend of the Sea mainly commissions Aqa Certificazioni, Bureau Veritas, IFQC/ Global Trust, or SGS; MSC co-operates with about 20 institutes from Ars Probata and Norske Veritas to TÜV Nord Cert. A particularly convincing feature of the MSC certification programme is the possibility to have complete product chains (Chain of Custody, CoC) certified.

This would seem to be the only way to offer adequate assurance that certified products are not mixed with “normal” products on their journey from their origin to the consumer. It thus ensures reliable labelling and consumer trust.

An important prerequisite for CoC certification is complete traceability that has to be ensured throughout the whole chain. This is a huge challenge for the certifier, particularly in the case of fish and seafood that are traded on a global market.

It seems questionable whether the simple system of Friend of the Sea (the traceability system is controlled annually after the initial auditing) is really sufficient to fulfil all requirements.

And so we return to the question posed at the beginning: Is certification worth the effort and what does an enterprise gain from it?

Does a company really need certification and logos on its products just to show their customers that they are not indifferent to the condition of the fish stocks?

If producers are interested in furthering sustainability they could simply operate accordingly without spending unnecessary money on certification. But the answer is easy: Companies that subject themselves to the process of certification naturally hope that it will somehow pay off for them. Perhaps it will be possible to ask a higher price for products from sustainably utilised resources (although sustainable operation should actually be a matter of course). Or consumers may prefer to buy products with the logo which would then increase sales and reduce trade risks. Or – even better – the logo might open up completely new markets, or at least contribute towards expanding the market share in existing markets. Even if it only helps a company to assert itself on markets where competitors have the same logos it could often already be considered a success. In short – at present it seems impossible to get around certificates that set minimum standards for sustainable utilisation of resources.

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

69

Fish Infonetwork News Projects

EUROFISH co-developing a temperature monitoring system for freezer containers.

A device that can give frozen fish importers and exporters independent information about the temperature conditions in their freezer containers before they ar-

independent temperature record well before the container arrives at its destination. That should enable them to source alternative material for an order and/or plan for exten-

- Providing policy orientations for the ongoing reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and contributing to the design of the next generation of policy interventions after 2013; - Drawing lessons and guidance on the role of structural support to fisheries and aquaculture under broader EU structural policies in coastal and maritime regions.

EUROFISH’s main responsibilities will be to provide country reports and case studies linked with the implementation of the FIFG for the 2000-2006 period.

EUROFISH will carry out field missions in Belgium, Denmark, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. This study is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.

SustainAqua draws to a close

EUROFISH is working with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU-Aqua), Tommerup Elektronik, Blue Water Shipping, and Butler’s Choice to develop a device that can give traders in frozen fish independent information about the temperature conditions in their freezer containers.

rive is being tested at the moment in a project. This new device is able to function without any external power supply or physical installation in an 18°C freezer container for 50 days. The temperature record can be received by the importer/ export independent of the actual container owner or ship owner.

The solution is still not public but if the tests are successful the importer/exporter can receive an

sive inspection in case the temperature records look suspicious.

Eurofish is developing the system along with project partners: and Technical University of Denmark (DTU-Aqua). The project is supported by funds under the “Innovation law” (Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Danish Food Industry Agency) and will end in 2009.

The SustainAqua consortium met for the last time in Trondheim, Norway in August. The EU-funded project started three years ago with the aim of assisting the European freshwater farming industry to become more competitive by diversifying production, improving product quality, and by making production more efficient.

EUROFISH was a member of the consortium management with responsibility for dissemination and intellectual property issues.

At the meeting participants discussed the recently held training sessions that had been conducted

by the fish farmers’ associations in their countries for their members.

A report evaluating the training is being finalised. In total almost 600 farmers attended the twentyone training sessions which were divided up over two or three days.

Two e-learning courses were also held in June and July. The meeting was also given a status update on the SustainAqua Wiki which is another of the tools developed in the project to provide information on sustainable aquaculture. The final project results and conclusions will be available from the SustainAqua website www.sustainaqua.org

Training workshop on postharvest technology for organic fish and seafood The workshop was held on 9-10 June 2009 in Yangon, Myanmar under the aegis of the ongoing

CFC Organic Aquaculture Project.

The objective of the workshop was to familiarise the industry with the

Evaluating the FIFG programme EUROFISH in consortium with Ernst and Young, AND International, and Indemar, has won a tender related to the evaluation of the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) by DG MARE. The evaluation of the FIFG 2000-2006 will aim at:

- Accounting for the utilisation of the resources made available and measuring the relevance, the effectiveness and efficiency of the FIFG and its impact; - Drawing lessons and recommendations for the implementation of the future programmes;

70 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

As part of the Common Fund for Commodities’ organic aquaculture project a training workshop was organised in Yangon, Myanmar on handing and processing of organic fish and seafood.

proper handling and processing procedures for organic fish and fishery products, including marketing. Some 52 participants from industry and the Department of Fisheries (DOF) of Myanmar attended the meeting.

The two-day workshop which was opened by Mr Khin Ko Lay, Acting Director General, Department of Fisheries, Myanmar, discussed various subjects such as global seafood markets; organic principles and practices; fish handling, processing and

The Fish Infonetwork ( FIN )

preservation; quality control and traceability; organic certification; labeling, packaging and presentation; transportation storage; and trends and potential for organic and eco-labelled products.

Resource persons were Niracha Wongchinda, Lila Ruangpan and Wanwipa Suwannarak of the Thailand Department of Fisheries; Selina Gan of Country Farm Sdn Bhd, Malaysia; and Fatima Ferdouse and Tarlochan Singh of INFOFISH. The programme included a visit to a processing plant.

The FIN consists of 7 independent partner organizations. They cover all aspects of post-harvest fisheries and aquaculture. With more than 50 governments supporting the network, which also has strong links to the private sector, the activities are truly international. The FIN pages, which are a regular feature in the four network magazines – Infofish International, Infopesca Internacional, Eurofish Magazine, and Infosamak Magazine – present the FIN-wide spectrum of activities, showing actions and results. The FIN has more than 80 full-time staff and works with more than one hundred inter­national experts in all fields of fisheries. Through its link from FAO Globefish to the FAO Fisheries Department, it also has access to the latest information and knowledge on fisheries policy and management issues worldwide.

FIN executes donor projects, prepares market research for private companies, and organizes training courses on marketing and quality assurance. All seven services offer different possibilities for co-operation with the private sector, institutes, government offices and donors. n Globefish Fishery Industries Division FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla I 00100 Rome, Italy Tel.: (+39) 06 5705 6313/5059 Fax: (+39) 06 5705 5188 globefish@fao.org www.globefish.org Partners: Seafood Services Australia, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada; Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Denmark; European Commission (DG FISH); OFIMER, France; Norwegian Seafood Export Council; Ministero de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Spain; National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, USA; VASEP, Viet Nam

Regional meeting on domestic markets in Central America Considering the need to expand and continue with the activities within the project TCP/RLA/3111 “Improvement of domestic markets for fish and fishery products in Latin America and the Caribbean,” a regional meeting on domestic markets in Central America was organised to show the results achieved in the project. This meeting took place from 24 to 26 June 2009 in Salinitas, El Salvador. It was attended by 15 international and 22 national participants including fishermen, traders and technicians in quality control, both from the public and private sectors. A table of honour was created consist-

ing of Mr. Manuel Fermin Oliva, Representative of the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Manuel Sevilla from CENDEPESCA; Mrs. Maria Isabel Alemán deTorres, Municipal Mayor of Acajutla, Mr. Jose R. Benites, FAO Representative in El Salvador, Ms Helga Josupeit, Officer, FAO Rome for the Improvement of Internal Markets in Latin America, Dr. Nelson Avdalov from INFOPESCA, Mr. Waldemar Arneke, Representative of Fish and Aquaculture Chamber of El Salvador (CAMPAC) and Mr. Norberto Romero, Representative of the Confederation of Artisanal Fishermen in Central America (CONFEPESCA).

n Infopesca Casilla de Correo 7086 Julio Herrea y Obes 1296 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay Tel.: (+598) 2 9028701/2 Fax: (+598) 2 9030501 infopesc@adinet.com.uy www.infopesca.org Member Countries: Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Venezuela

The meeting on domestic markets in Central America included a vist to a local fish market in Salinitas, El Salvador.

n Infosa Southern African suboffice of Infopeche P.O. Box 23523, Kenya House Robert Mugabe Avenue, 4th Floor Windhoek, Namibia Tel: (+264) 61 279430 Fax: (+264) 61 279434 infosadc@mweb.com.na www.infosa.org.na Member Countries: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe n Eurofish H.C. Andersens Boulevard 44 - 46 DK-1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark Tel: (+45) 333 777 55 Fax: (+45) 333 777 56 info@eurofish.dk, www.eurofish.dk Member Countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Spain, Turkey,

n Infofish Menara Olympia, Level 2 8 Jalan Raja Chulan Kuala Lumpur 50200, Malaysia Tel.: (+603) 20783466 Fax: (+603) 2078 6804 infish@po.jaring.my www.infofish.org Member Countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Maldives, Malaysia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand n Infopeche Tour C -19éme étage, Cité Administrative, Abidjan 01, Cote d‘Ivoire Tel.: (+225) 228980 / 215775 Fax: (+225) 218054 infopech@africaonline.co.ci www.globefish.org/index.php?id=1113

Member Countries: Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

n Infoyu Room 203, Bldg 18, Maizidian Street, Chaoyang District Beijing 100026, P.R. China Tel.: (+86) 10 64195140 Fax: (+86) 10 64195141 infoyu@agri.gov.cn www.globefish.org/index.php?id=2074 Member Countries: China n Infosamak 71 Boulevard Rahal Meskini B.P. 16243 Casablanca, Morocco Tel.: (+212) 22540856 Fax: (+212) 22540855 infosamak@onp.co.ma www.infosamak.org Member Countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Yemen

Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

71

Fish Infonetwork News Publications

Events

Opportunities for trade and investment in Eastern Europe As part of the initiatives run under the Spanish Marine and Inland Aquaculture plan 2007-2008 EUROFISH has authored three studies to provide the aquaculture sector with information about the market for aquaculture products and investment and co-operation possibilities in Turkey, Poland and the Baltic States.

increasing economic prosperity of Polish consumers have paved the way for growing imports of these species to this country.

It is estimated that the market for dorada and seabass will increase by 15-20% per year reaching approximately 270 tonnes by 2012. The study presents the most important aspects for dorada, seabass and rainbow trout in Poland describing product details, market positioning, logistics, international competition and future market trends for those species.

Aquaculture is playing an increasingly important role in the economy in Turkey, as fishery products are the only products of animal origin that can be exported to the EU. Increasing fish consumption particularly in the domestic market is the main driving

Currently the three Baltic States are among the smaller aquaculture producing coun-

Survey of the fish industry in Turkey

Market possibilities

Aquaculture in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Focus on cooperation and investment possibilities

The Polish Market

Development and cooperation possibilities

APR 2008

JUL 2008

OCT 2008

for dorada, seabass, and rainbow trout

The three new publications are available from the Eurofish website www. eurofish.dk for EUR100 each.

force for the development of aquaculture.

The market potential for aquaculture products makes this sector one of the most attractive sectors for investment.

The study presents the most important co-operation possibilities focusing on the specific demands that Turkish aquaculture industry cannot meet because of lack of experience, knowledge or business practices.

In Poland dorada and seabass are considered exotic Mediterranean species, that belong to the narrow sector of luxury fish species. However, the development of the exotic fish sector, changing habits and 72 Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2009

tries in the EU. Rainbow trout is the main species in Estonia, while carp is the main species in Latvia and Lithuania. However there is scope for growth. The macroeconomic trends offer good opportunities as low labour cost and the market potential (including knowledge of the Russian market) create an attractive environment for investment in aquaculture. The study presents the most important co-operation possibilities and identifies potentially interesting scenarios for aquaculture investors and suppliers.

All three studies are available at www.eurofish.dk in PDF-format for the price of EUR 100 each.

Conference on fishery and aquaculture product processing in Riga A conference titled the “European Fisheries Fund and opportunities for fishery and aquaculture product processing” was held in Riga, Latvia on 1 and 2 October 2008. The conference was organised by EUROFISH on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia and with the support of the European Fisheries Fund. The fish processing sector in the European Union is an important economic activity that employs a significant number of people throughout the Union especially in regions heavily dependent on fisheries. The value of fishery products produced every year by the processing industry in the European Union amounts to about € 18 billion, almost twice the value of landings and aquaculture production combined. The conference was aimed at representatives from the fish processing industry from all the Eastern Baltic Region and will serve as an instrument for the effective achievement of targets set by the Latvian Operational Program in the area of processing. A report on the event will appear in the next edition of the Eurofish Magazine.

Regional workshop on the WTO and fisheries in Argentina A regional workshop called “Impact of the WTO agreements and current WTO negotiations on the fisheries sector” organized jointly by FAO and WTO, took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 30 June to 2 July 2009. Participants from 10 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) were invited to present the situation of fish production and trade in their respective countries. Roland Wiefels from INFOPESCA presented an overview of the regional seafood trade. Other staff member of INFOPESCA who also attended the meeting were Santiago Caro and Javier López Ríos.

Diary Dates

October 1-2 October, 2009 EFF and opportunities for fishery and aquaculture productLogo processing Eurofish Riga, Latvia hier Tel.: +45 333 777 60 Fax: +45 333 777 56 sebastian.rodriguez@eurofish.dk www.eurofish.dk 6-8 October, 2009 Conxemar Vigo, Spain Tel.: +34 986Eurofish 433 351 Logo hier Fax: +34 986 221 174 conxemar@conxemar.com www.conxemar.com

November 3-5 November, 2009 China Fisheries & Seafood Expo Qingdao, China Tel: +86 10 58672620 Fax: +86 10 58672600 info@seafarechina.com www.seafarechina.com

10-14 October 2009 Anuga Cologne, Germany Tel: +49 221 821 2214 Fax: +49 221 821 3410 www.anuga.com 12-14 October 2009 Dubai International Seafood Expo 2009 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel.: +971 4 298 7730 Fax: +971 4 298 7886 orangex@emirates.net.ae www.orangefairs.com

24-26 November, 2009 RIBPROMEXPO 2009 Moscow, Russia Tel.: +7 495 9818220 Fax: +7 495 9818221 fishexpo@Vvcentre.ru www.fish-expo.ru 9-12 December 2009 Shanghai International Fisheries and Seafood Expo Shanghai, China Tel.:+86 21 34141036 Fax:+86 21 64516467 daniel@sifse.com www.sifse.com

22-24 October 2009-07-03 Itech’mer Lorient, France Tel.: +33 2 97 83 21 68 Fax : + 33 2 97 87 53 42 contact@itechmer-lorient.com

7-9 October 2009 DanFish International 2009 Aalborg, Denmark Tel.: +45 9935 5555 Fax: +45 9935 5555 ehe@akkc.dk www.danfish.com

19-22 October, 2009 Interfish 2009 Eurofish Logo Moscow, Russia Tel.: +7 495 228 70hier 74 Fax: +7 495 228 70 72 interfish-expo@yandex.ru www.interfish-expo.ru

20-21 October, 2009 Sustainable Seafood Multi-Stakeholder Summit San Francisco, USA Tel.: +1 800 721 3915 Fax: +1 800 714 1359 info@american-business-conferences.com www.american-business-conferences.com

6-8 November, 2009 SlowFisch 2009 Bremen, Germany Tel: +49 421 3505 260 info@mgh-bremen.de www.slowfisch-bremen.de

2-4 February, 2010 London Seafood Expo 2010 London, UK Tel:- +971 4 2987730 Fax:- +971 4 2987886 orangex@emirates.net.ae www.londonseafoodexpo.com 21-23 February, 2010 Fish International 2010 Bremen, Germany Eurofish Logo Tel.: +49 421 3505 264hier info@fishinternational.de www.fishinternational.com 21-24 February, 2010 Mediterranean Seafood Exhibition (MSE) Rimini, Italy Tel.: +39 0541 744258 Fax: +39 0541 744225 o.foschi@riminifiera.it www.medseafood.com

12-14 November, 2009 Busan International Seafood & Fisheries EXPO Busan, Korea Tel.: +82 51 740 7358 Fax: +82 51 740 7960 bisfe@bexco.co.kr www.bisfe.com 12-14 November, 2009 EXPO PESCA 2009 Lima, Peru Tel.: +511 344 4386 Fax: +511 344 4389 thais@amauta.rcp.net.pe www.thaiscorp.com/expopesca_new

3-4 March, 2010 North Atlantic Seafood Forum Oslo, Norway Eurofish Logo Tel.: +47 66 93 91 06 hier Fax: +47 66 93 91 01 jjl@messe.no http://messe.no/en/ntf/Projects/

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

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September 2009

TK-Fisch Convenience Fisch Magazin a l S p e z i

Magazin für TK-Seafood, Chilled Food, Convenience

Martin von Höveling

Lüder Korff

BLG nimmt Kühlhauserweiterung in Betrieb

Olaf Adebahr

Mit Extra-Heft

„Unser Fokus liegt auf Fisch“

Seite 10

Die Fachzeitschrift für die gesamte Fischwirtschaft

Viciunai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Front cover Vichiunai Group

W. van der Zwan & Zn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

A global brand in the food industry USA: Alaska prioritises sustainability and stock protection SustainAqua: Project concludes with important results Hans Peter Schneider

Lithuania: Impressive growth in processing sector FISH INFO network

Eurofish Magazine

Sabine Wedell

12. Fish International in Bremen Nachhaltigkeit als roter Faden des Messe-Programms Seite 28

FischMagazin

www.eurofish.dk

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Success stories Hamburger Feinfrost GmbH - Frozen Quality Products

Gr. Elbstrasse 158 - 22767 Hamburg Tel.: +49 (40) 39 92 92-0, Fax: +49 (40) 39 92 92 39 E-Mail: info@hafro.de - www.hafro.de

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

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

“It is with the commitment and attention we receive from Eurofish Magazine in advertising opportunities, product publications and reviews that we see our sales increase and even more important that we are seen as a company contributing to the development of the industry.”

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“Our co-operation with Eurofish Magazine started five years ago, when the North Atlantic Seafood Forum was launched. Since then, each year, our advertisements in the Eurofish Magazine have successfully helped us reach our target group of senior industry professionals.

We look forward to continuing our co-operation with Eurofish in the years to come.”

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Transport

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Smoked salmon

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Wire ropes Feinfischräucherei Noll GmbH D-46514 Schermbeck Tel.: 0 28 53/20 57, Fax: 14 65 Web: www.fisch-noll.de E-Mail: info@fisch-noll.de

Sidsel Forsang Stangebye, Forum Manager and Jørgen J. Lund, Director NASF C 44346 October 5 / 2009 3

ISSN 1868-594

ISSN 1868-59

The fastest way to advertise in Eurofish Magazine

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July 4 / 2009 C 44346

ISSN 1868-5943

October 5 / 2009 C 44346

Contact our sales-team to start your success story Aleksandra Petersen Eurofish International Organisation H C Andersens Boulevard 44-46 DK -1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark Tel.: +45 333 777 63, Fax: +45 333 777 56 E-Mail: aleksandra.petersen@eurofish.dk Website: www.eurofish.dk

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Marderstieg 7 21717 Fredenbeck, Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 4149 8020 Fax: +49 (0) 4749 7292 E-Mail: e.preuss@freenet.de

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Aleksandra Petersen, Eurofish Magazine

Marderstieg 7, D-21717 Fredenbeck, Germany Phone +49 (0) 41 49 / 80 20, Fax +49 (0) 41 49 / 72 92 E-Mail: e.preuss@freenet.de

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

Eurofish Magazine

October 5 / 2009

ISSN 1868-5943 October 5 / 2009 C 44346

Vichiunai Group A global brand in the food industry

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USA: Alaska prioritises sustainability and stock protection SustainAqua: Project concludes with important results Lithuania: Impressive growth in processing sector FISH INFO network