TURKEY
Sustainability of fish farming in Turkey
Defining a path to value creation As we all know, by mid century, we must double world food production to feed the exploding human population sufficiently. The majority of that growth is likely to come from farmed seafood, as fifty percent of fish produced for consumption today are raised on farms. Besides the rapid increase in the population, declining wild-fish stocks and increasing seafood demand around the globe clearly indicate that fish farming is here to stay. And if aquaculture succeeds in fulfilling its goals acting responsibly, seafood will stay on the plate for generations to come.
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oday, the response of fish farming business to the aquaculture boom is changing from “risk management” to “value creation”. And sustainability is a vital part of “value”.
Balancing accelarated fish production with sustainability is a tough act. There are many issues to consider when realizing “ecologicallysound”, “economically-feasible” and “socially-responsible” aquaculture production. Economic issues have revolved around profitability, market demand and feeding efficiency. Sociological interests have centered on employment, infrastructure and living standards. Ecological issues include conservation behaviors, resource management and ecosystem well-being. If implemented properly, sustainable aquaculture offers many economic and product benefits, such as consistent harvest, scalable operations, high productivity and safe products.
200,000 tonnes farmed fish, Turkey is one of the most important fish producers in Europe. Aquaculture production has continued to increase steadily during the past 10 years. As of 2013, Turkey has become the world’s biggest producer of seabass and bream. The current development trend in production of three major species, trout, seabream and seabass, certainly seems set to continue. The aquaculture sector is identified as a rising star of the Turkish economy with considerable potential to provide a healthy boost to the country’s gross domestic product and to reduce the current account deficit. Besides, fish farming provides resources for the livelihood and adequate incomes of a majority of people.
Turkish aquaculture holds great promise
After government agencies implemented regulations in 2006-2007 ending inshore farming, the industry has gone through consolidation with some big companies buying smaller players. Consolidation ensured that only large-scale companies stayed in the business.
So, what is Turkey’s place in the “big picture”? Strategic location, government interest and support, and scope of expansion for both domestic and international markets makes Turkey a strong power in global aquaculture market. With an annual production of over
Today, in Turkey, all fish farming techniques aim for sustainability. It is proven that small-scale operations are not sustainable. Medium to large-scale operations are needed as aquaculture development requires two essential inputs: knowledge and
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Eurofish Magazine 2 / 2014
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Hasan Girenes, President of Agriculture and Fisheries in Yasar Group, Chairman of Izmir Fish Producers Association.
capital. Large scale companies in Turkish aquaculture business are fully vertically-integrated from juvenile hatcheries to fish farms as well as from fish feed plants to processing and packaging plants.
Sustainable fish feeds In Turkey, more and better aquafeeds have fueled the increase in aquaculture production. Fish feed industry is working hard to meet aquaculture industry’s needs, such as fish health and welfare, profitability and sustainability. Since most companies are vertically integrated, it is easier to track and trace the source of feed raw materials. As aquaculture grows, so does the demand for marine raw materials. There is no evidence that using
fish in aquafeeds threatens sustainability of resources. Fish feed of the future will probably contain some marine ingredients, both to make the feed tasty for the fish and to ensure that the fish contain healthy omega fatty acids. But to maintain a steady growth in aquaculture production, it is clear that the proportion of fish-based ingredients has to be reduced. Some promising next generation solutions might be plantbased protein for replacement of fishmeal and nutrition formulations that replace nutrients found in fishmeal. In Turkey, research and development studies are also carried out to use bacteria, yeast, algae and animal by-products as fish feed ingredients. These innovations have the potential to ripple through the industry and reshape the seafood industry. www.eurofishmagazine.com
05/04/14 5:47 PM