ROMANIA
stocking ponds, silt removal equipment, aerators, live fish transporting trucks etc. The third piece of legislation enables the farmer to apply for support to hire specialists such as engineers and technicians. Since there is a shortage of people with this education the fish farmers’ association ROMFISH has entered into an agreement with a technical high school to train 14 fish farming technicians a year. Of the last three years of the training 75 will be spent working on the farm. Another legislative amendment that is being prepared will provide support for the acquisition of software. If enacted this will be of particular interest to fish farmers who are members of a producer organisation (PO) because they will be entitled to a higher degree of public support than non-members, the first time that members of a PO get some additional benefit. Furthermore, legislation that will regularise some 25,000 to 30,000 ha of ponds for which farmers do not have contracts with the state is expected to be enacted shortly.
Predatory birds are a massive threat to the industry There are also other reasons that prevent farmers from producing at full capacity even if they have the
necessary pond surface area. The farmers own the dikes but the land beneath the ponds is rented from the government. Banks, however, are reluctant to accept this as collateral for loans, which makes it difficult for the farmer to invest. With regard to public support through the EU structural funds the aquaculture schemes are not attractive unlike those for the agriculture sector, says Mr Platon. As a result, it may be more profitable to abandon fish farming and use the land for crop or livestock production – as in fact one of the biggest aquaculture farmers in Romania has recently decided to do. A further element which prevents the farmer from exploiting the full potential of his water surface is the need to implement Natura 2000 directive which hinder him from deploying production technologies yet do not provide for compensation. At the same time there is an absence of management plans for species that are not endangered but are generally protected. These include several varieties of fish-eating animals and birds of which cormorants are perhaps the greatest menace. According to Mariana Munteanu, President of the Romanian Fisheries Association, Romania has 140,000 cormorants and 25,000 pelicans in the Danube delta. The
losses to a fish farmer attributable to birds and other predators can amount to 50 of his/her production. The cormorant issue has not escaped the attention of the government. Petre Daea, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, says that the cormorant issue must be addressed as quickly as possible because over the last 25 years the population has swelled impressively. Appeals for a European management plan have so far not had results and the matter has been left to the member states to deal with at the local, regional, or national level. With a long-term perspective for the sector and a suitable legislative framework, a solution to the challenge of farmers leaving water ponds unused could be to link the aquaculture license, the production capacity of the farm and the minimum yield the farmer has to sell on the market. Despite the challenges, members of the ROMFISH association are seeing an increase in yields per hectare from 800 kg/ha in 2015 to 1,000 kg/ha in 2018. For the industry as a whole, which is about 430 farms, many of them small, the yield is just over 180 kg/ha. The two associations ROMFISH and the Romanian Fisheries Association between them have 70-75 fish farms responsible for
about 75 of the total production in Romania. The demand for carp is strong in Romania – the country imports some 4,000 t of carps from its neighbours – and the increase in output can easily be absorbed.
Industry strengths and ministry support will enable sector to prevail The aquaculture sector in Romania is moving forward in fits and starts. While there are clearly challenges that need to be addressed there are also several strengths – a long history, investors willing to put money in to fish farming, and a captive market. The recent launch of a consultancy centre as well as the passage of legislation favourable to the sector will also contribute to the sector’s development. Most importantly, the commitment of the ministry to the sector was highlighted at the NUCET event, where it was stated that the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development would intensify its efforts together with producer organisations, the aquaculture research institute, and academic institutions to provide a strong and simple administrative framework which would encourage long term investment in aquaculture activities and capitalise on the existing potential.
Danube Caviar farms sturgeon for caviar, meat, and restocking
Combining commerce with research Danube Caviar and a sister company Silver Sturio are farming several varieties of sturgeon for commercial purposes. However, for Marilena Maereanu who manages both the companies the scientiďŹ c aspects of the work is what she is most passionate about.
T
he Danube is home to six varieties of sturgeon, beluga (Huso huso), Russian (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii), stellate (Acipenser stellatus), ship (Acipenser nudiventris),
sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), and European (Acipenser sturio). Five of these are listed in Cites Appendix II (not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless
trade is closely controlled). The European sturgeon, however, is placed in Appendix I, that lists the most endangered species. Another body, the International Union for Conservation
of Nature, classifies sterlet as vulnerable and all the others as critically endangered, a worsening of their status since 1996 when they were “merely� endangered.
EUROFISH Magazine 2 / 2019
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