POLAND
Ponds farms provide a range of ecosystem services that are becoming ever more important
Earthen carp ponds contribute to EU strategies Carp farming in Poland has a tradition that goes back several centuries. And today the country produces more comon carp than any other kind of farmed ďŹ sh. Most of this is consumed on the domestic market, much of it around Christmas. Apart from its economic value, carp is a thus a culturally important ďŹ sh. To preserve and expand this role and to ensure the ďŹ sh’s relevance in the future, an advisory body has been established at the ministry to help shape policy governing the sector. Waclaw Szczoczarz, the head of the advisory unit, discusses here the carp farming sector in Poland and the challenges it faces. You head the Carp Management Team, an official advisory body at the ministry. What is the role of this body? What is the background of the members? Are the recommendations of the management team binding on the ministry? Carp farming is an integral part of the whole fishing industry, but it has its own specificities andchallenges, and therefore requires a special approach and distinct solutions in many places. Hence, on 20 January 2020, the Carp Management Team (CMT) was established as an advisory body to the Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation (the Department of Fisheries moved to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in November 2020). The CMT consists of representatives of carp farmers’ organisations supported by scientists who have been involved in carp farming for many years, headed by Professor Ryszard Wojda. The tasks of the CMT include analysing the issues facing carp farming and providing a vision for its development especially in the following fields: 1. 2.
Improving the economic conditions for carp farming in Poland; Promotion of carp breeding and consumption;
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Strengthening the environmental, social, cultural credentials of carp farming; Monitoring the position of carp farming in strategic national and European Union documents concerning aquaculture; Updating the Code of Good Fishery Practice in Fish Farming and Breeding together with its implementation on fish farms.
What are the characteristics of the carp sector in Poland? Carp farming has existed in Poland for centuries. The area of carp ponds in Poland has not changed much over the years and amounts to about 60 thousand hectares of usable area. The annual production of consumer carp, after a significant reduction a few years ago, has now returned to a stable volume of about 20 thousand tonnes. Carp ponds are earthen ponds, with low-intensity production of up to 1500 kg/ha in consideration of fish welfare and the ecosystem services provided by this kind of cultivations. Polish consumption is about 0.5 kg of carp per person, so domestic production is sold almost entirely on the Polish market. Periodic surpluses result from importing several thousand tonnes of
Wacław Szczoczarz, head of the Carp Management Team, a body constituted to advise the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on policy governing the carp farming sector.
live carp from the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Hungary. In recent
years, due to the withdrawal of hypermarkets from the traditional
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