June 24, 2010

 

 

Croatia's Plankton farm hopes to start exporting sea bass and sea bream to Europe after two decades of hardship, war and a loss of markets.

 

Local officials and researchers say fish farming, or aquaculture, is set to become the world's main source of seafood over the next 20 years.

 

With a small team, Mr Jasprica runs the Plankton farm, situated 2.4 kilometres, or 1.5 miles, out to sea from the picturesque fishing village of Drace, on the Peljesac peninsula in the southern Adriatic. The farm is hidden from sight and screened from the northerly wind by a tiny island.

 

The fish, grown in dozens of square and round cages, can be detected only by bubbles on the sea surface. The farm produces about 120 tonnes a year.

 

"Our plan was to adjust our standards and start exports to the EU, as demand on the local market is small," Mr Jasprica said. "We must be ready when Croatia joins the EU. We can't beat big producers, but we can be competitive with new technologies."

 

Experts say demand for seafood is set to rise as the world population grows and wild fish stocks decline. The EU, which produces 1.2 million tonnes of seafood and consumes 25 kilogrammes, or 55 pounds, per person each year on average, has to import 65% of its needs.

 

"We expect the world population to increase to nine billion in years to come, and there are some expectations that we need to double food production by 2030," said Torgeir Edvardsen of the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform.

 

"A lot of this production cannot come from terrestrial sources. We'll have to farm the sea much more than we've done up until now," Mr Edvardsen said.

 

Fish farms produced 51.7 million tonnes of fish worldwide in 2006 with an estimated value of US$78.8 billion, according to figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

 

Since then, farmed fish production may have reached 70 million tons, according to some estimates. That would be close to the 80 million tons of wild fish caught in open seas, a maximum that cannot be exceeded because of restrictive fishing quotas to protect species.

 

"There is no question - aquaculture is the way of the future," said Marshall Giles, the aquaculture director of Nova Scotia, adding that farmed fish would probably account for 60% of available world stocks by 2030. He also said his government fully supported the industry, which can provide permanent employment for the people who live on the coasts, most of whom depend on seasonal jobs in tourism.