Aquaculture: The fish production of the future?

An aquaculture is the production of aquatic organisms. Primarily, these serve as a source of food. The term "fish breeding" is often used as a synonym for aquaculture, whereby this term only describes a smaller section. Because in addition to fish, mussels, algae, crabs and other molluscs are bred. This happens using different systems: Aquaculture takes place in ponds, recirculation systems or net pens.

China is the global leader in the aquaculture section: According to the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, the country breeds more fish annually than the rest of all of the countries in the world together. Whereas India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Egypt and Norway also export large volumes of fish bred in aquacultures, many European countries are trailing behind. Less than a fifth of all fishing yields of the European Union originate from aquacultures. The reason for this is above all the different animal welfare provisions, which prevent the member states from taking a uniform approach.

Opinions frequently differ regarding aquacultures. Theo Jansen is the Executive Director of Wechsler Feinfisch GmbH and sees many advantages in the aquaculture section, but also recognises potential problems: "Aquaculture is in a position to provide billions of people across the world with high-quality protein. In this way it makes an important contribution towards feeding the world and at the same time reduces the fishing of wild animals. The disadvantages of the aquaculture begin where the economy starts putting pressure on the ecology and where the maxim is making profit. When large companies get involved, farming mutates into the agricultural industry and shareholder value is the only interest, a valuable product is neither created for our nutrition, nor does anything good come about for our planet."

Sandra Kess from the Fish Information Centre e.V. feels that above all the high transparency is a major advantage of aquacultures: "All of the production steps are identifiable in the aquaculture and the production regulates itself. As a result the amounts and qualities available are plannable and traceable in comparison to the yields from wild fishing. This guarantees a higher degree of transparency, which is requested by many of the consumers." For Kess the disadvantages are strongly dependent on the production form: "Open systems, such as net pens or ponds are strongly affected by the environment, which one has little control over. Parasites or decomposition products can find their way in from the cultures or into the systems. Closed systems, such as highly-technical recirculation systems on the other hand offer the full control. A disadvantage here is the to an extent high costs to install and run the systems. The animal feed implemented is also frequently criticised: Fish oil and fishmeal are currently still important ingredients that are implemented to feed certain species."

Aquacultures appear to hold great potential to cover the constantly growing demand for fish and other aquatic organisms and thus also makes a large contribution towards the world nutrition. Furthermore, with regards to the global CO² emissions, aquacultures could have a positive influence on the environment. In many countries, particularly within the European Union, there is a lack of overarching regulations and provisions, which define the demands, controls and certificates, which in turn guarantee the animals' welfare.

How will aquacultures further develop over the coming years against this background? An exciting question which will be discussed at Anuga 2021 - particularly in the scope of the trade shows Anuga Chilled & Fresh Food and Anuga Frozen Food , where fish and fish preparations play a major role.