The Global Aquaculture Summit Webinar 2020 by Vaughn Entwistle, Managing Editor, International Aquafeed
Organised by the German Agricultural Society (DLG) and organisers of the EuroTier China exhibition, The Global Aquaculture Summit Webinar 2020 took place on June 22nd, 2020. Due to COVID-19, the summit was held online in the form of a webinar. International expert speakers from Germany, Norway, China and Taiwan represented industry leaders from across the globe with their insightful presentations. Dr Birgit Schmidt-Puckhaber, Project Manager for Aquaculture, DLG The seminar was opened by Dr Birgit Schmidt-Puckhaber, DLG. Beside her contributions as part of DLG in Frankfurt, Germany, she runs and lives on a fish farm in the North of Germany, together with her husband and three children. Dr Schmidt-Puckhaber spoke about her experience of aquaculture within Germany. Firstly, she mentioned, most fish farms in Germany use ponds and raceways. There are very few cage systems that are commonly seen in countries such as Norway. Secondly, many, if not most of the fish farms in Germany, grow freshwater fish such as trout. German farms are also usually family-run affairs that sell their fish directly to the public through farm shops and restaurants, or they smoke the fish to be sold at a later date. Drawing upon her professional
and personal knowledge, Dr SchmidtPuckhaber outlined the parameters that must be optimised in order for farms to achieve high quality products: • Production techniques • Genetics and reproduction • On-site management • Feed and feeding • Health and hygiene • Processing and production quality • Dipl.-Ing Alexander Tautenhaun, Fish farmer The next speaker was also from Germany, Dipl.-Ing Alexander Tautenhaun. Like Dr Schmidt-Puckhaber, Mr Tautenhaun is a fish farmer himself and has been operating a family-run fish farm in South-Eastern Germany for 35 years. Fortunately for him, COVID-19 has had little impact on his operation as he
sells mostly through his own farm shop Mr Tautenhaun’s farm also implements concrete raceways inside buildings and ponds outside. The local geology in his area is primarily limestone, so pure water flowing through the sedimentary rocks is high in carbon dioxide and must be degassed. The use of paddle aeration removes carbon dioxide and some of the ammonia present in the water. Because he only has a small supply of water, his farm must rely on oxygenation and filters to keep the water clean, which results in healthy fish. In fact, Mr Tautenhaun uses oxygen control at every stage of the fish-rearing process. He credits the 100 percent oxygen saturation of his water with the fact that his farm experiences no problems with disease, despite the fact he makes only limited use of antibiotics. Mr Tautenhaun says that he typically goes through 20 tonnes of O2 over the course of two-and-a-half weeks. Hygiene is important and careful attention is paid to using biofilters and quickly removing morts, instead of using chemicals. Feeding is another important factor. Automatic feeders are used to ensure the minimum wastage of feed pellets. This system also results in smaller fish being able to readily feed and grow, reducing the need for grading. All wastewater is also thoroughly filtered, to remove contaminants, before it is returned to the stream. Finally, Mr Tautenhaun’s fish farm does not produce its own eggs, but he instead purchases them primarily from the US. Dr Hanno Slawski, CEO, Aller Aqua Research GmbH Dr Slawski explored the intricacies of Norwegian fish farming. He noted that Norway has a very long coastline, compared to the size of the country, because of all its fjords. The calm, sheltered waters of fjords, plus the cold-water temperatures found at
60 | September 2020 - International Aquafeed