With breeding and order: The zander
Fish consumption has been increasing worldwide for decades and around half of the fish comes from aquaculture - that is, they were not caught in the wild, but farmed. In freshwater ponds, marine enclosures or - as has been the case for several years - in closed-loop systems. Forecasts assume that this proportion will rise to up to 80 percent in the next 20 years. Supported by politicians, as (one) answer to the question of how the still growing world population will be supplied with sufficient animal protein in the future. Critics fear that aquaculture will simply supplement the existing mass livestock farming systems. With all the known consequences for the environment and food quality. But when it comes to aquaculture, it is worth taking a closer look. FIRE&FOOD visited the Fischmaster Zander farm in Trebur, Hesse, in 2018. Here, zander grow from reproduction to slaughter, and are offered in the farm's own shop and online shop together with other farmed fish produced in-house, such as rainbow trout and char. Oliver “Olli” Sievers was responsible for the subsequent grilling, including tasty recipes for these extremely fine fish.
A fish farm that has it all. Eric Nürnberger explained all the details to FIRE&FOOD.
Comprehensive energy management is necessary to operate profitably.
Fish and seafood are a great thing, especially in the summer months, and offer a tasty alternative for the grill. It's not just us in the editorial office who feel this way; overall, per capita consumption in Germany is a good 14 kilograms per year, and the trend is continuing to rise. The downside: there are problems with self-sufficiency; less than a quarter of what we consume comes from local waters; we import the rest - about half from global wild fish and half from aquaculture stocks. In the rest of the European Union, things are only looking better in some countries, which is why the European Commission has set itself the goal of increasing self-sufficiency across Europe to an average of 50 percent. And all of this on a sustainable basis if possible. Aquaculture seems to be the method of choice here, because all fish that come from farms are not caught in the wild, which protects stocks in seas, rivers and lakes. In addition, compared to most farmed animals on land, farmed fish are better at converting feed and convert almost every gram of feed into their own body mass. This has not left the agricultural industry unmoved, and according to an article in the magazine "National Geographic Germany", in 2012 aquafarms produced more food than all the beef farmers in the world for the first time. This has fuelled expectations that the proportion of animals from aquaculture will make up up to 80 percent of our hunger for fish in the next 20 years. But in order to really relieve the burden on ecosystems, aquaculture must also be made more sustainable. Otherwise, the negative side effects are comparable to those of industrial agriculture, and the mass production of fish and seafood comes at the expense of natural habitats and biodiversity.
New paths in aquaculture
One way to produce fish and seafood sustainably is aquaculture using a closed-loop system. This is a largely closed water cycle that operates independently of the environment and - as in the case of the Hessian pikeperch farm - without influencing it. This type of fish farming uses only a fraction of the fresh water of conventional flow systems, such as those often used in trout farming. A further development is so-called aquaponics, which is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, in which the closed cycle is supplemented by a special greenhouse in which salads, herbs or tomatoes are produced. The fish serve as nutrient producers, while the plants in soilless culture live off the waste products of the fish culture. This process can also be observed in inland waters and is known as the "nitrogen cycle". In contrast to conventional agriculture, which only uses a section of the nutrient cycle, aquaponics represents the entire biological cycle. Compared to nature, this corresponds to an entire ecosystem. The cultivation takes place without synthetic fertilizers or herbicides and the fish do not receive antibiotics.
threatens a penalty!
Bright golden trout in the Bassain
A proprietary development, the spawning cushions
Alternatives to fish meal
Most fish species eat everything. However, a 100% fish-free, vegan diet in aquaculture is not yet possible.
But science is working on this task and so the use of fish meal for aquaculture has been declining for years, despite higher fish sales. Eric Nürnberger, company founder and owner of Fischmaster IP-Services GmbH until 2019, was also faced with the question of how to approach the issue of feeding when he started breeding pikeperch. After all, pikeperch are predatory fish and feed exclusively on live food in the wild, and it is only by switching to dry food that breeding in aquaculture is even possible. At Fischmaster in Trebur, feeding is based on special pellets with a high protein content, as the breeding expert explains to us: "Pikeperch generally has a very good feed ratio, which means that it converts one kilogram of feed into one kilogram of fish mass. In our facility, it is given optimal conditions and reaches its slaughter weight of one kilo after 12 to 14 months. In nature, this process takes about three to four years. Since the pikeperch has around 40 percent fillet content, this produces two fillets of 200 grams each - perfect meal portions. The process of switching to dry food begins in the larval stage and is a very complex adaptation process. First, small saltwater crabs are fed, which some may remember from the Yps magazines of their childhood and youth. Then comes the dry food."
It doesn't get any fresher than this!
Smoked fish of the highest quality
In general, the mortality rate in aquaculture is far lower than in nature. At Fischmaster, the pikeperch live in four separate climate zones, in which, in addition to different temperatures, day and night times are simulated by the light control. In the first climate zone there are males and females who are several years old. As soon as they are due to spawn, they are moved to other tanks. The males build nests and the females spawn on specially developed spawning mats. The males then wet the eggs and guard the nests. The mats with the fish eggs are moved to aquariums, in which the small pikeperch then hatch. As soon as the fry grow, they are moved to larger and warmer tanks. The risk of disease during their life cycle is low for the pikeperch due to the closed system, as no sick fish or pathogens can enter the facility from outside. In addition, strict hygiene rules apply and only employees who have previously passed through a hygiene lock are allowed to enter the facility. If the spawning fish are injured, however - this can certainly happen due to territorial fights during the spawning season - the affected animals are placed in a quarantine tank and treated with salt. The facility is generally cleaned with peracetic acid, a product that can also be found in the home. Once a year, the fish farm is inspected unannounced by the fish health service of the regional council, and fish are taken away and examined.
Aquaponics is certainly an issue for the company and Fischmaster already operates a small system in conjunction with "vertical farming" in a greenhouse. Here, 128 Lollo Rosso are produced in 28 days on one square meter of floor space. Our conclusion after the tour: Aquaculture and aquaponics are an important factor, especially with regard to future global food supplies. And the fact that entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists work closely together in this way and are united by the desire to produce food as sustainably as possible is definitely not a mistake.
Olli is curious to see which fish Eric has chosen for the barbecue recipes.
Oliver Sievers' recipes forpike-perch skewers with green sofrito and pineapple , grilled pike-perch with Chinese cabbage and mushrooms and trout with apple and fennel mix can be found in our recipe database! Check it out!
And if you want to find out more about local fish and just can't get enough of delicious grilled fish recipes, you shouldn't miss the new edition of the FIRE&FOOD fish special! Now available as a download in the shop.