1.5 An overview of trends in European aquaculture

The aquaculture industry has been one of the star performers in industrial growth over the past ten years. Increases in the quantities of fish and shellfish produced have been accompanied by an increased use of technology on farms. There is a growing feeling of confidence that modern aquaculture has become established as a significant player in the food industry. There have also been some negative aspects associated with the growth of the industry, particularly the mismatch of production with market demand, much publicised environmental impacts and the proliferation of infectious diseases.

The overall pattern throughout Europe is one of expansion and growth in production. However, it is clear that some countries and some elements of the industry have shown spectacular growth while others have only grown to a minimal extent or not at all. Production has increased to the greatest extent in Atlantic salmon (Norway, Scotland and to a much lesser extent Ireland), sea bass and sea bream (Mediterranean countries, particularly Greece and Spain), turbot (France and Spain) and a number of shellfish species (Ireland and Mediterranean countries). Those countries with the longer established more traditional trout, carp and shellfish industries have tended not to increase production to the same extent. In some cases, tighter new regulations controlling water usage or effluent discharges, increasing feed costs and fixed/reducing sales margins have brought about a stabilisation or decrease in production.

There has been an overall increase in production. In some instances, it is apparent that increases in production have been achieved through the utilisation of novel/modified growing systems and technologies that have opened up hitherto unusable or inaccessible natural resources (water bodies) to economically viable farming practices. The farming of salmon in sea pens began in the late 1960s, with small near shore cages, but in the 1980s and 1990s, this model was changed in countries such as Ireland which pioneered the use of larger cage units in more exposed offshore sites far away from sheltered coastal waters. The transfer of established cage technologies and husbandry practices from Northern Europe has allowed the expansion of finfish farming in Southern Europe. In the same vein, it should be noted that the significant advances made, in recent years, in land-based farming and the use of recirculation technologies have the potential to circumvent the limitations of local ambient conditions. Thus, the usual biogeographic constraints placed on aquaculture activities may be removed in the coming years.

A criticism of the aquaculture industry is that it has been production-led. The emphasis has been on overcoming technological problems, through EU-funded research and development. Increasing production has been based on financial forecasts that assume the ready availability of a buoyant market and a satisfactory price. As has been most clearly recorded with the salmon industry, production (supply) and market (demand) are not always in harmony and prices may drop and remain close to, or below, costs of production for months at a time. This trend has been observed in the Mediterranean aquaculture business with sea bass and bream and, in Northern Europe, with shellfish supplies even on a seasonal basis. It does not just apply to production for the table market but also to internal suppliers involved in the growth cycle i.e. the production of seed (eggs, juveniles, smolts, spat) for ongrowing.

Overall, in the past decade, market pressures and improvements in production practices and technologies have led to increased production efficiencies. These efficiencies may be measured through:

• Feed conversion ratios (or efficiency),
• Production output per employee,
• Juveniles required per tonne produced,
• Stock Survival

In terms of feed conversion ratios, on salmon farms this has been reduced to 1.1:1 ( 1.1 tonnes of food required to produce 1 tonne of fish), from a previous level of 1.5:1 or more. This improvement has come through developments in dietary formulations, feed delivery systems, feeding practices and better husbandry. In some Danish rainbow trout farms, food conversion ratios have been reduced to 0.8:1 and for sea bream it is now about 1.2:1. In all cases, these values continue to decrease and the net impacts in terms of financial performance and reduced environmental impacts are tangible.

In the Scottish salmon industry, annual output per employee has risen from an average of 40 tonnes in 1993 to over 60 tonnes in 1996. It should be noted that there is a considerable range of values across the industry with the larger farms managing > 100 tonnes per employee. In the salmon industry in Ireland and Scotland, mortalities during the sea stage has fallen from >45% at the beginning of the 1990s to <10% at the end, through improved husbandry, vaccines and better understanding of the farming process. Overall, the number of juvenile salmon required to produce a tonne of salmon has decreased from c. 1,000 to 300 in the past decade.

The business of fish farming has benefited greatly from numerous biological, technical and husbandry innovations over the past decade. Some of these have been mentioned in previous sections but a number of key developments will be described here.

Management of the life cycle: A major problem which faces fish and shellfish farmers is that most species tend to spawn only once a year and or over a very limited period. This imposes constraints on farming by producing gluts of juvenile stages for limited periods in the year. Also, perhaps more importantly, there may be significant year-to-year variations in quality and quantity of juvenile supply. For example, eel farming and many forms of shellfish farming have always depended on the supply of juveniles from the wild. The trend in most forms of farming (except some shellfish) is to have control over the whole of the life cycle of the animal by selecting as broodstock (fish or shellfish with) preferred characteristics which are, at least partially, genetically controlled. This means that juvenile availability can be controlled in terms of quantity, timing and quality and, equally, that wild stocks are not under pressure from the collection of juveniles for aquaculture purposes.

Stock Selection and Breeding Programmes: In Norway, the effects of breeding in salmon have been carefully measured as part of a genetic improvement programme. Other countries such as Scotland are now adopting modern genetic techniques to speed up the selection process. Breeding programmes are now becoming established for many species of finfish and even some shellfish. Desired characteristics in finfish include stress resistance, fast growth rate, resistance to disease, late maturation, good feed conversion efficiency and desired flesh quality.

       Fish health:                                                     In the 1980s the salmon farming industry gained a reputation for solving problems associated with infectious diseases by the use of chemicals such as antibiotics and organophosphates in an emergency response to sudden/severe outbreaks of diseases e.g. furunculosis and infestations with sea lice. These diseases, often present in wild fish with few signs or symptoms, thrived in the more crowded conditions prevailing on farms and their spread was favoured by lack of knowledge of transmission paths and the interactions between fish, disease organisms and the environment. During the 1990s, major improvements were instituted and health measures which are now incorporated into the operation of many farms include vaccination against disease, fallowing and rotation of farm sites, stress reduction.

Environmental awareness: The emergence of a keen environmental awareness in the 1990’s, amongst the public and consumer alike, has placed a duty of care and a social responsibility on farmers. This was the decade when environmental considerations became an integral part of aquaculture operations, production costs and consumer specifications. In the face of historical experience, farmers are clearly aware of the wider environmental context and the need for mitigation or minimisation of impacts. In their quest for future expansion, fish and shellfish farmers must be conscious of other users of water resources and be active in integrated coastal management strategies.

The European Union and public authorities (nationally and even regionally) are issuing an ever-growing series of laws, measures and regulations to govern, monitor and control the aquaculture industry. Many of the laws and regulations now applied to aquaculture activities have been adapted from the agriculture sector and serve to safeguard both the environment and consumer. A number of recent food scares relating to BSE and more recently dioxins in food stuffs have heightened this awareness and such controls are likely to intensify. In this context, it should be borne in mind that a short-term aspiration for the aquaculture industry should be guaranteed quality assurance and full traceability throughout the supply chain.