ROMANIA
Serviciile Comerciale Romane SA gains EFF support for aquaculture production
Pioneer in cage farming for trout The aquaculture industry in Romania is dominated by the farming of cyprinids in earthen ponds and reservoirs. Around the turn of the century the cultivation of rainbow trout started and production has grown steadily since then. Trout is now perhaps the single most important species farmed in Romania.
G
heorghe Lazarescu the director of SC Serviciile Comerciale Romane SA, has been planning a new trout farming project for the last two years. The project application was submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2013 as Mr Lazarescu was applying for support from the European Fisheries Fund. The project was to farm rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in cages and ultimately using the experience gained to also cultivate other species of salmonid, for example, Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). The application was finally approved and the project received 60 support from the EFF.
Growth closely linked to water temperature Water temperature is critical for the successful farming of trout
and the optimal temperature for cultivation is below 21 degrees C. Mr Lazarescu will produce the fish in a hydropower dam lake in the Carpathian mountains some 150 km east of Iasi. The temperature of the water in summer is around 24 degrees C, but it occasionally increases to 25 degrees at the surface. However, at a depth of three or four meters the temperature drops 3-4 degrees in the summer. The problem is not so much one of survival – trout can withstand temperatures ranging from 0 to 27 degrees – but one of growth. Feeding and spawning is in a much narrower temperature band, 9-14 degrees. Mr Lazarescu is therefore planning to use a variety of trout bred in Turkey that grows even at high temperatures.
Gheorghe Lazarescu, director in SC Serviciile Comerciale Romane SA, is establishing, what is perhaps the first cage farm for trout in a dam lake in Romania. 52
Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2015
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The water temperature is also affected by the level of water in the lake with lower levels generally meaning higher temperatures. This year the water level is lower than usual as the electricity company has been generating electricity from the dam all around the year, which is not typically the case. In addition, the rainfall over the last few months has been lower than usual, which probably also has an impact on the water level in the lake. Apart from leading to higher temperatures in summer the low water levels can also cause the lake to freeze in winter. A decade ago when the lake froze a number of rectangular cages that were in the lake were destroyed by the ice, but Mr Lazarescu is not unduly perturbed. Firstly, the construction materials are rated to
-40 degrees, and if the lake freezes it will he hopes just push the cages higher without damaging them. The fish themselves will move to the bottom of the cage, where the temperature is a little higher, but will not feed – or grow.
Cages to be commissioned in two stages The lake is very big, measuring 100 sq. kilometres and with a maximum depth of 70 m. It is also the only Romanian lake that has a harbour and vessels that take tourists in summer to look at the natural flora and fauna. The company has an area of three hectares, where the cages will be moored. Mr Lazarescu plans to reach a production of 250-300 tonnes of fish by 2016, but much
A consultant from Turkey is supervising the building of the cages using expertise from Turkey with support from the farming company. www.eurofishmagazine.com
02/12/15 10:57 PM