CROATIA
Recreational ďŹ shers can try to catch either carp or pike from one of the two angling ponds.
countries, who in turn distribute the fish to fish retailers. Travelling with live fish calls for special logistics and buyers usually bring their own trucks that have a capacity of 12-14 tonnes and are equipped with liquid oxygen to ensure the health and welfare of the fish for the entire length of the journey. For shorter distances, say to Bosnia and Herzegovina or within Croatia, Koncanica uses its own fleet of vehicles. The domestic Croatian market is mainly continental Croatia, because selling to the coastal areas is very difficult. Consumers have access to plenty of marine fish and are not used to freshwater species. More surprising is the lack of demand in the area around Koncanica, but Mr Previc thinks that may be because supply exceeds demand thanks to the presence of two or three fish farms in the area. In Zagreb too the company has mixed fortunes selling its fish. Perhaps because it was trying to sell live fish and in Zagreb like most other European capitals, residents have neither the time nor perhaps the space in their apartments to deal with live fish. 42
Value addition is a long-term project
best pursued by an association with some kind of public funding.
Value-added items do not so far feature very highly in the company’s range of products. Almost all the fish is sold live, and even slaughtered and cleaned fish has no takers. Mr Previc thinks however that in a few years there may be more demand for value-added products. But, as he points out, there is a 35 loss when filleting carp which makes it expensive to produce fillets. And when consumers see the price, they are more likely to buy chicken or some other form of protein. Another factor he identifies behind the lack of value-added products is that they are relatively unknown on the market and any first mover will have to be prepared to invest heavily in promotion to educate consumers. On top of that, if the product does not sell within a few days it will have to be discarded leading to losses. Adding value to freshwater fish is thus likely to call for a long term commitment with simultaneous activities on several fronts – consumer information, product development – and is possibly
The company has diversified into a couple of other income-generating activities. It owns an area of 2,500 ha where hunters can shoot wild boar, deer, duck and other game, and has two angling ponds, one for carp, one for pike, for recreational fishers. There are plans to make these activities more attractive by building accommodation where tourists can comfortably stay for short durations, but these plans will only be realised at some point in the future. Another activity, though not commercial, is
based on a collaboration with the University of Zagreb. Each year the farm hosts students from the Department of Fisheries (which also covers aquaculture), who arrive on a field trip. Students can also do a longer internship at the farm. For students among the most popular times to be on the farm is in the spring as this is when the one-year-old and two-year-old fish are moved to larger ponds, says Mladen Previc, and it is therefore a period of a lot of activity. Working with students and their professors can lead to new ideas or new projects that may evolve into something commercially interesting.
Ribnjacarstvo Koncanica Koncanica 488 43505 Koncanica Croatia Tel.: +385 43 325 181 ribnjacarstvo.koncanica@bj.tcom.hr http://www.ribnjacarstvokoncanica.hr/en/ Sales manager: Mladen Previc Tel.: +385 91 2391008
Activity: Fish farming Production: 750 tonnes Species: Common carp (80%), silver, grass, amur carps, as well as pike, pike-perch and catďŹ sh Product form: Live ďŹ sh Markets: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Croatia Other facilities: Hunting, angling
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