TURKEY
Akuvatur breeds uncommon species to unusual sizes
Seeking new markets in Europe In a sector crowded with farming and processing companies Akuvatur stands out for its approach, which differs in several respects from other producers. Owned by an academic, Dr Haluk Tuncer, Akuvatur has concentrated on species other than seabass and seabream. In addition, the company grows ďŹ sh to sizes that are usually larger than the typical market-sized ďŹ sh.
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kuvatur’s farming site is off Karaburun, close to Izmir, an area that is designated a reserve. It has a small rural population that is engaged mostly in animal rearing, chiefly goats, and nonindustrial agriculture, mainly the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. The construction of permanent structures along the coast is prohibited, and Izmir is about 100 km away so there is little risk that the water is polluted by effluents from the city. The site of the cages is out at sea, where currents and weather conditions are more extreme that in areas with sheltered bays. However this also means that there is less accumulation of feed and faeces from the fish and the currents result in fish with more muscle and less fat, giving the meat a good texture.
Broodstock maintained for each species The company is fully integrated with its own broodstock,
hatchery, nursery, and grow-out cages and thus completely selfsufficient. The nursery cages are also in the sea, but they are smaller and located closer to the coast than the grow-out cages. They are also termed adaptation cages as they are used to introduce the fingerlings from the hatchery to conditions in the sea. Mahir Yirmibesoglu, who works on the site, says that the fingerlings are put in the nursery cages from the hatchery when they reach a size of about 2 g. The company has two hatcheries, one in Milas in the west and the other in Adana near the Syrian border. Akuvatur farms a number of different species, among them, common dentex (Dentex dentex), pink dentex (Dentex gibbosus), blue-spotted seabream (Pagrus caeruleostictus), seabream (Sparus aurata), and seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and for each of these species the company maintains a broodstock.
Akuvatur farms a number of species including common dentex, pink dentex, and blue-spotted seabream in addition to the more usual seabass and seabream. www.eurofishmagazine.com
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One of the characteristics of the company is that it does not use traditional extruded pellets to feed the fish. Our feed is half dry, says Mr Yirmibesoglu, not fully dry, it still has moisture from the ingredients that go into it which are mainly marine proteins. Our feed is not composed chiefly of soja bean meal, which is increasingly being used as a substitute for fish meal, due to the high cost of the latter. The meal is made from sardines, anchovies, squid, among other ingredients such as fish oil and vitamins. Among the species farmed dentex does not eat feed in the form of extruded pellets as it is too dry. The company’s specially formulated feed is therefore necessary if the dentex is to survive at all, let alone grow to market size. The various ingredients used in the feed are bought from fishermen, mostly local fishers who fish in the Mediterranean, but also sometimes from Black Sea fishers. The feed is then produced in
the company’s HACCP-certified factory.
Specially produced feed high in fish protein Customised feed using fresh ingredients adds to the costs. As Mr Yirmibesoglu says, that is why our fish is a little pricey. Dentex is in any case more expensive, being a relatively seldom fish on the market, but our seabass, a species that everybody produces, also tends to be more expensive. According to him, the difference in price can be justified by the better taste. The fish eat a different and more natural feed and this is reflected in the flavour and texture of the meat. Seabass and seabream are produced mainly because customers want these fish as well. But the company really wants to be known as a producer of less common species. Dentex, for example, is very rare and many think it to be already extinct, so
Mahir Yirmibesoglu and Mustafa Yenikurtulus, the cage and packaging facility manager. Eurofish Magazine 5/ 2015
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