POLAND
Pond ďŹ sh farming in Poland, a century-old activity, is adapting to changes at many levels
New product forms respond to market demands Anna PyĂź, Pustelnia Fish Farm
Alterations in climate patterns, developments in the market for carp products, and shifts in consumer proďŹ les are all having an impact on the way carp is produced and sold in Poland.
The area of carp ponds in Poland is some 60,000 ha, a figure that has stayed fairly stable for centuries.
P
ond fish farming in Poland dates back to at least the 12th century, when monks produced fish in earthen ponds. Over the next 500 years ponds were built that varied in size from 100 ha to 1,000 ha. The biggest ponds were subsequently divided into smaller, more manageable units and today the area available for fish farming is some 60,000 ha. A variety of freshwater species are produced in polyculture in these ponds including common
carp, bighead carp, grass carp, silver carp, catfish, pike, tench, and pike-perch. Production has shown a gently increasing trend over recent years and stood at 26,500 tonnes in 2018, according to FAO. Common carp comprehensively dominates the production of pond-farmed freshwater fish, though its position has slipped a little over the last decade or so, from 91 of the production
in 2010 to 79 in 2018. Carp is typically farmed extensively, meaning the yields are less than 1,500 kg/ha and the fish relies on the naturally available phytoplankton in the pond which the farmer supplements with cereals, mainly wheat—extruded feeds are not used. Average productivity of pond farms in Poland has also increased over the last years and was about 441 kg/ha in 2018 from 283 kg/ha in 2010. However, productivity of
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individual farms may be higher or lower depending on a variety of factors, management practices, use of supplementary feeds, weather conditions, water availability etc. The sector is highly fragmented with some 850 farms 70 of which are small with pond areas less than 50 ha, according to Krzysztof Hryszko, Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics and Andrzej Lirski, Inland Fisheries Research Institute, in an article in Przegląd &VSPl TI
01/12/20 3:48 PM