Ecomare

Although farming sole is considered by many 'just as attractive as difficult', a breakthrough in 2008 may change things. The Dutch sole nursery Solea BV succeeded to produce the first offspring from its own farmed fish. The company managed to overcome the most important bottleneck with farming sole: the menu of the fish. For a long time, there was no good food for the fussy sole so that the larvae died. Solea BV has succeeded in having the larvae switch over from live food to man-made food. Along with the creation of ideal spawning circumstances, this breakthrough has led to a nursing population of 500,000 sole fish. Whether or not the nursery will be economically profitable still remains unanswered. Much more research into a good breeding program and better food is still needed.

The growth of the fish nurseries is due in particular to the nursery ponds in China, India, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines; the fish species in these cases is carp. Eighty percent of all of the cultivated fish originates from Asia. According to the FAO, the demand for fish as a food provision will rise tremendously in the coming years, especially as a result of the growth of the world population.
North Korea is growing strong on the Asian farmed fish market. In the second half of 1999, this country already had more than 3000 hectare of fish ponds. The farmers want to use hot springs to farm tropical fish.
An increase in fish farms is also found in Europe, although on a smaller scale than in Asia. A lot of trout and salmon is farmed here, the majority occurring in Norway. In the countries around the Mediterranean Sea, one has been farming bass and red sea-bream reasonably successfully. According to the Dutch Agricultural-Economic Institute, the Netherlands is following the trend. In 1996, 2700 tons of cultivated fish (mainly eel, sheath-fish and trout, but also turbot) was produced and sold. In 1997, the total fish production in the EC was more than eight billion kilograms. Of this, 1.2 billion kilograms originated from fish and shellfish farms.

The fish nurseries in the Norwegian fjords is an enormous success: in 1988, more than 700 fish farms produced 80,000 tons of salmon. In 1998, there was more salmon produced on farms (900,000 ton) than caught in the wild (800,000 ton) worldwide. The largest producer of farmed salmon in the world is the Dutch livestock feed company Nutreco, which owns a large number of fish nurseries in Norway.
Fish farming in Scotland is also growing strongly; since 1990, the production of salmon has multiplied by six. The Scottish authorities want end expansion of the nurseries because farmed salmon can contaminated wild salmon with fish diseases. The population of wild salmon and wild sea trout on the Scottish west coast have experienced a lot of damage due to the salmon nurseries. In addition, the nursed salmon can also contaminate shellfish.

Cod is a new species being experimented with in aquaculture. Wild cod has become scarce due to overfishing, making cultivation profitable. One problem found during the experiments was that the cod refused to eat the pellets they were fed during the first few weeks of their life. Algae and small shrimp were the solution.
Nutreco invests heavily in cultivating cod. They requested more than 200 licences for cultivating cod in Norway in 2002. They are even farming the fish in Great Britain. Nutreco expects to sell thousands of tons of cultivated cod in the coming years.
In 2008, the Ministry of LNV subsidized scientists in Leiden that were performing studies to cultivate elvers (young eel). The long swimming voyage made by the eel to the Sargasso Sea was imitated. In the meantime, they have succeeded in having eel spawn in confinement. Offspring are also produced but the larvae die within several days. The prognosis is that the scientists will be able to cultivate elvers within 3 to 5 years.
In anticipation of this success, businesses in Volendam and the University of Leiden have joined forces in researching the possibility of starting an eel nursery in fishery vessels in the harbour of Volendam. They want to have the entire process of culvating eel take place in the vessels. Should the project succeed, a part of the cultivated eel will not be for consumption. They would be released as elvers in the IJsselmeer with the hope that they can contribute to the recovery of the eel population.
Other new species for fish farming are halibut and cobia. The latter sells well on the market as wild fish, but is also very suitable for aquaculture. Cobia is a saltwater fish, suitable for farming because it grows extremely fast. It is not yet cultivated much but the possibilities are being researched a lot. Fish farms are gambling particularly with cage cultivation in coastal water, although cobia seem to do well also in recirculation systems.
However, the greatest share of aquaculture consists of shellfish, cultivated on plots in the Wadden Sea, Oosterschelde and Lake Grevelingen. Mussels are cultivated the most in the Netherlands. Almost 6000 tons supplied in 2006, followed by the Pacific oyster (310 tons in 2003) and the European oyster (26 tons in 2003).

In 2008, the Eko mark of quality was introduced for cultivated products in the Netherlands. The Eko mark of quality is given to products that are cultivated organically, or so naturally as possible. The Foundation Skal, that distributes the quality mark, oversees the process in a strict manner. Shrimp importer Heiploeg is the first to receive the Eko mark of quality for its cultivated shrimp from Ecuador. These organic shrimp are farmed without preservatives.

Fish in a nurseries are given protein-rich food, consisting of fishmeal from the iindustrial fisheries. In order to produce one ton of salmon, 3.3 tons of lesser sandeel and sprat must be processed into fishmeal. Although these species are not for human consumption, they are consumed by marine mammals and the idea that aquaculture decreases the pressure on fish populations is dubious. In 2003, one third of the 96 million tons of fish caught annually was for production of fish food. Nowadays, krill is often used as an alternative for the fish in the food. It is caught in the cold waters of the South Pole and is one of the major sources of food for whales. Should one continue to fish krill, it will eventually have consequences for the whale population. Momentarily, studies were being performed on vegetarian fish food. Soja oil already serves as a replacement for fish oil.
Organically cultivated salmon are fed with waste from the fish processing industry.
Scientists from Stanford University in California warned in 2000 that farming fish in captivity is a danger to the world supply of fish. The oceans are being emptied of fish in order to feed the carnivorous specimen in an aquacultural system. Therefore, the scientists advise looking for commercial fish species which only eat plants. Another solution is to give fish a vegetarian diet. According to the fisheries department of IMARES, cod can be brought up on a diet of linseed oil and soja with no side effects. 'Vegetarian fish' contain fewer healthy fatty acids than carnivorous fish, but they still remain healthier than meat, according to an IMARES scientist.
Animal medication is often used when cultivating fish in order to maintain the health standards of the densely populated fish ponds. Remnants from this medication can remain in the fish and consequently be consumed by man; the rest ends up in the marine environment. The Dutch Union of Fish Farmers is conscious of this fact and have asked its members to take care of a good registration of the medication and a good management in order to keep the level of these remnants in fish products low. Nutreco stopped using antibiotics in nurseries in Norway in 1995.
From studies made in Norway, it appears that another disadvantage are the emissions of nutrients from the fish excrement. As of 2000, the 800 fish farms in Norway are the largest source of phosphates and the second largest source of nitrogen. In comparison: the Norwegian salmon industry produces just as much nitrogen as found in unprocessed sewage from 3.9 million people. These emissions cause eutrophication and large-scale algae blooms along the coast.
The Dutch aquacultures use circulation systems, whereby the water is continually filtered, purified and reused. Problems with ammonia and nitrates have been solved for this form of fish farming.
In addition, fish diseases can be carried over from fish that have escaped to wild specimen. One estimates that tens of thousands of cultivated salmon escape every year. At least half of the wild salmon die that come in contact with cultivated salmon. The guilty party are mainly diseases such as sea louse. In Norway in March 2000, 700,000 salmon had to be destroyed in a fish farm when the deadly disease ISA was established. In 2007, alarming news appeared concerning the extinction of wild salmon in northwestern Canada due to a salmon parasite. This parasite originated in the fish farms and will cost the lives of 99% of the wild salmon within 4 years when it spreads further. By 2008, 80% of the wild salmon were already killed.
Farmed fish that escape can also be a problem. They reproduce with wild salmon. The farmed salmon, and the hybrid to a lesser extent, lack the ability to swim from the sea to the river in order to spawn. This will eventually decrease the wild salmon's chance of survival. In Norway, a study made in 2003 showed that one out of every four salmon caught in the wild had escaped from a farm. In Scotland, around 157 thousand farmed salmon escaped in 2006.
According to Greenpeace and the World Wild Life, the problems concerning fish diseases and escapes can be prevented when the farming of salmon takes place in a closed system on land. However, technique for such large-scale systems are still lacking and the animal welfare on land is difficult to guarantee. Fish farms are hesitant due to high costs and growing competition.
There is a lot of interest in North-Holland for farming eel and zander. Pilot projects are starting between 2008 an 2010.
Another disadvantage is the animal-(un)friendliness of aquaculture. In general, the fish swim in small quarters and large quantities, as is often the case with salmon. Since several years now, Norway and Scotland have regulations for this situation. Organic salmon have more space.

Killing cultivated fish has been a sensitive point in aquaculture since the 1990s. In a RIVO report from 1996, it appeared that the killing methods cause a lot of suffering by the animals. Tilapia, for example, is placed on ice 15 minutes before it is processed. Because it is supercooled, the animal does not move so it was believed for a long time that the fish was dead before the innards were removed. Scientists have shown just the opposite by registering pain stimulants. These same stimulants were still reported five minutes after the fish was filleted. Since this report was published, research institute Wageningen Imares and the Productschap Vis have been studying methods for killing cultivated fish in an animal-friendly manner. In 2008, they reached a breakthrough with the development of an electrocution method. The fish are placed in a bath with water, which is placed under electricity. In this way, the fish are knocked out. The researchers could not detect any pain stimulants in this stunned situation so one can assume that the fish feel nothing before being processed. Fish species such as eel, catfish and tilapia can be killed in this way. It is unclear when this method will be put to use in the Netherlands. The Dutch Union for Fish Farmers says by the end of 2008 while the researchers from Wageningen Imares find this too soon.

A recent development in fish farming is genetic manipulation. In particular, one is attempting to cultivate fish that grow faster to accelerate the production within the farms. Favourable qualities in genes of other fish species are often used. In the meantime, a number of fish farms have begun to genetically manipulate their cultivated fish.
A fish farm in Canada farms genetically manipulated salmon that grow faster and larger than normally cultivated salmon. A gene from eel-pout which regulates the production of anti-freeze proteins is implanted. Furthermore, a growth hormone gene from a related salmon species is also used. By coupling these genes together, the salmon will grow throughout the year. Normally salmon hardly grow in the winter, which means it can take three years before non-manipulated salmon are suitable for consumption. Manipulated salmon are available in one and a half years.
New experiments are directed at the color of cultivated salmon, which are not pink like wild salmon. The color comes from eating shrimp, but this is not available at the farms. One hopes by implanting a color gene to make this possible.
Although the company expected to start selling the first genetically manipulated salmon in Canada and the USA in 2002, it has still not happened as far as known.
Genetically manipulating fish is not without risks. Environmental organizations including Greenpeace and the Dutch Milieudefensie have warned about the danger of such salmon escaping. Besides the genetic pollution it will cause, these fish will also need lots of food in the winter, which could mean the collapse of the prey population. In addition, genetically manipulated salmon can shift their boundaries. They are less sensitive to cold water and therefore survive in waters outside of their distribution area. Consequently, the animals living in these new territories will have new competition and enemies. Therefore, the Canadian fish farms work with infertile female salmon when farming at sea; the males are only allowed to be kept on land.