ROMANIA
SC Aquator Halasz SRL
Building a market for African catfish in Romania Eva and Nikolaus Halasz returned to Romania a couple of years ago after spending 30 years in Germany working in the Horeca sector. Using the experience they gained in Germany, the couple decided to establish a recirculation facility for the production of African catďŹ sh (Clarias gariepinus), a fast growing species for which they saw a market both in Germany and in Romania.
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ocated in Satu Mare in north west Romania close to the border with Hungary, Aquator Halasz’ production facility has been operating for just 14 months. The location was selected because, Mrs Halasz has family in the area. The company not only farms the African catfish, but also processes the fish into fillets and smoked products. African catfish requires some 27 degrees centigrade to thrive which necessitates heating the water by about 13 degrees. The company therefore heats the water using coals and wood. Unfortunately, energy prices have risen since the project was planned and therefore the company has had to adjust its strategy to compensate for the higher costs of heating the water. One of the ways is by using less
branded feed. Instead, the company has invested in its own onsite feed production unit, where it manufactures fish meal using by-products and leftovers from processing operations on other farms cultivating other species. Nikolaus Halasz explains that fish may not be fed with products based on the same species, so he sources the raw material for the fishmeal from carp farms.
Rapid growth makes African catfish a natural choice The farm is located in an area with thermal water resources, but these lie deep underground says Mr Halasz, and the cost of bringing it to the surface would exceed that of heating up colder, but more easily
The farm has a capacity of 250 tonnes of catfish a year grown in a recirculation system.
Eva and Nikolaus Halasz returned to Romania after 30 years in Germany to set up a catfish farming and processing company.
accessible water. It was in 2011, while still in Germany, that the couple learned about the European Fisheries Fund and realised that they could use it to make an investment. We were familiar with African catfish from our work in Germany, says Mr Halasz, and also studied catfish farms there before deciding to return to Romania and establish a catfish farm ouselves. The fish is very fast-growing, reaching 1.5 kg in just 8 months, which is the optimal size as far as the taste goes. This growth rate was one of the decisive reasons for the company to opt for catfish rather than, say, carp. However, if the fish is intended for the production of fillets then 2 to 2.5 kg is a better size as the yield is
proportionately higher. A problem with the biofilter at the end of last year forced the company to harvest its first batch of fish in December 2016. Subsequently the biofilter was changed and now the company harvests each month. The annual capacity is 250 tonnes a year. Sales are currently channelled through a Hungarian distributor, but the company is also exploring the market for headed and tail-off fish that are smoked. The big retail chains have also shown an interest in the fish, but the conditions they impose are so strict that it would cost much more to supply fish that met their standards, explains Mr Halasz. Also, since we are still in the very early stages of production, we felt that
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