LITHUANIA
Programme to educate school pupils about ďŹ sh farming is an unqualiďŹ ed success
Farmed in the EU A project to teach school children about European ďŹ sh farming is part of the EU’s Farmed in the EU campaign to promote the aquaculture sector.
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lobally, production from fish farming overtook that from capture fisheries in 2014. In the EU, however, there is still a long way to go before production from aquaculture even nears that from capture fisheries. In 2017 output from capture fisheries was more than four times that from aquaculture. The slow rate of progress is among the reasons that fish farming is being promoted in the EU.
Aquaculture needs to be promoted in Europe to correct misconceptions Globally, aquaculture is the most rapidly growing animal protein sector providing economic, social, and nutritional security to millions. Fish and seafood are nutritious, with healthful fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. And fish farming has less
Lina Golovac, Head of Finance Division of Fisheries Service; Aidas Adomaitis, Deputy Director of Fisheries Service; and Tomas Kazlauskas, Director of Fisheries Service, all under the Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania. Agne Razmislaviciute-Palioniene, Head of Fisheries Unit; Darius Liutikas, Vice Minister; Adrija Gasiliauskiene, Advisor to the Fisheries Unit; Rimgaudas Peciukevicius, Specialist, all at the Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania.
of an impact on the environment than most terrestrial animal farming. On the other hand, fish farming has its detractors who claim that farmed fish are full of antibiotics and doused in chemicals and, in the case of salmon, riddled with sea lice that have an impact on wild salmon stocks. Small wonder then that the EU is keen to disseminate factual information about fish farming, encourage the consumption of European farmed fish, and repudiate accusations made against the sector. Paintings, carvings, recipe books, and calendars were some of the artefacts produced by pupils inspired by what they experienced during the Farmed in the EU project.
European fish farming contributes to the development of local
economies particularly in farflung coastal and inland communities and is also a source of locally produced high quality, healthy, and sustainable seafood. About 80,000 people are employed either full time or part time in the sector. In addition, the majority of the seafood consumed in Europe is derived from imports, while only a tenth of European consumption is farmed in the EU. Increasing the share of EU-farmed seafood will reduce pressure on wild stocks, reduce the environmental impact of transporting farmed seafood from distant
EUROFISH Magazine 4 / 2019
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