April 12, 2010

France to develop its aquaculture sector

By launching an aquaculture operation with new labels and open houses in a dozen companies in April, France strives to revive the country's long idle fish farming sector.

To counter the belief that aquaculture contributes to plundering the seas by catching wild fish for use as feed for fattening. Pascal Le Gal, president of the inter-professional committee for aquaculture (Cipa), says "It takes only three kilogrammes of prey fish to produce one kg of trout and salmon. To grow these at sea wild salmon will have consumed over 20 kg of fish."

Another misconception is the assumed pollution of rivers and ponds where fish farms are located. In contrast, water quality in many professional farms found in France is good, according to Le Gal.

However, France's aquaculture sector has been stagnant for years. "Fish plants are classified and controls are so tight that there has not been a single business creation in 10 years," says Le Gal.

A fisheries specialists from the WWF, Eric Bernard, confirms that there have not been major environmental problems in France that have been seen elsewhere, such as the destruction of coastal areas by over-exploitation or pollution.

Bernard believes that improvement could be made by using more by-products from the food and feed industry to feed the fish.

Currently, the sector has 450 to 500 sites and 2,500 direct employees. The government attempts to develop a single specification for mass distribution, and establish standards for sustainability.