Changing tides in aquaculture in France and Spain

As the financial crisis raged through Europe more than a decade ago, aquaculture in the southern parts of the continent took a deep hit. Many were already trying to minimise costs while others were looking for ways to refinance production. A few even questioned the future of their family-owned business altogether. The survivors, however, kept producing, but the amount of new capital invested in development diminished dramatically, as the financial support from banks and investors disappeared – almost overnight. 

After almost 20 years the picture finally seems to be changing. A new generation of fish farmers is entering the stage, and they bring with them new ideas as well as new money.

They will need both, as they are venturing into a market burdened with more regulation than ever before, higher consumer demands, as well as rapidly rising prices on everything from energy to the raw materials used in the feed they depend on.

Adapting feed to a changing world

Several big challenges await the new farmers, from rising temperatures caused by climate change to severe water shortages for the land-based farms. However, other key elements are equally central to success, and some of them are interconnected.

Rising water temperature and water deficit may be out of the hands of the fish farmer. But we can actually help the fish cope with the higher water temperatures. We do that by developing feed that supports the natural metabolism of the fish and thereby makes the fish more resilient.

Here Madsen points to the rising prices of raw materials as one place to look for change.

For many years a key ingredient in feed has been fishmeal. But, as the world’s largest producer, Peru, has been struck hard by the climate phenomenon ‘El Niño’, prices are at an all-time high. So, looking for alternative protein sources is the obvious move.

At the Aller Aqua R&D test centre, some of Madsen’s colleagues have been collaborating closely with universities and other scientific institutions for years to test new ingredients. This could provide several benefits for modern farmers, says Madsen.

In many ways it makes far more sense to source the raw materials closer to home. Locally produced feed made of locally sourced raw materials will inevitably lower CO2 emissions. As the price for fishmeal rises, we are quite competitive. But organic feed is likely far more sustainable than your traditional feed.

Aller Aqua has already developed dedicated recipes for Trout, Sturgeon, Sea Bream, Sea Bass, Sole, and – the most popular farmed species in France and Spain.

Transparency, collaboration and shared knowledge

However, one thing is feed innovation. Another thing is developing the way aquaculture is conducted in a competitive world. Here Kenneth P. Madsen urges everybody to rise above it and collaborate toward a higher goal: making fish farming both economically and environmentally sustainable.

Of course, farmers already talk and discuss business. But they also protect their own competitive advantage and perhaps do not share the more specific challenges they have. But as some of the farms merge into bigger farms, we see an increased willingness to share knowledge and develop the industry.

To the Danish aquaculture specialist, transparency is paramount in order to progress and grow in a market, demanding still more farmed fish. In fact, the Danes are more than ready to help promote and even facilitate such conversations.

For us it is about documentation. You can’t maintain a reputation of constantly delivering a high level of quality, if you are not transparent. We need to share our knowledge with the industry. But we also need to be where the farmers are in order to fully understand what is needed.

In the past decades, Aller Aqua has formed still stronger collaborations with universities and research institutions as well as with fish farmers to ensure the shortest possible distance for knowledge to travel. Meetings do therefore often include engineers as well as specialists from the Aller Aqua R&D centre.

When we start experimenting with plant-based proteins, we say it. When we update a recipe, we say it and let the specialists who have been working with the feed explain the changes. This direct report also opens the door to feedback the other way, helping us make exactly what the farmers need.

Consumers call for organic fish

In France another trend is emerging. Through supermarkets, French consumers are calling for documentation that the fish they eat have been fed organic feed. To Kenneth P. Madsen this is grist to Aller Aqua’s mill. Working meticulously with sustainability has been a top priority for the family-owned company for years.

It is one of our core values: Most non-organic raw materials have traditionally come from conventional production sites. Some with fertilizers, crop enhancers, or other non-organic things. If you are to label your fish ‘organic’, you are required to follow regulations about anything from the materials used in the feed to water quality and waste handling. We know all about this, because we are deeply involved in it already and eager to deliver on our sustainability promises.

Today, Aller Aqua is engaged in projects all over Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands, and Madsen now sees an open window for two of the largest markets in European aquaculture – France and Spain – to ‘go green’ too.

“Organic feeds have typically been more expensive. Mainly due to scarcity of organic raw materials. However, with rising prices of conventional ingredients in general the price gap is closing, making the transfer to organic production far more attractive,” he says.

Price gap to organic feed is closing

According to the Aller Aqua Sales Manager, the reluctance to go for more organic feeds has been based on higher prices. But he now senses a change.

 Farmers know that organic food comes at a higher price to produce. But many also see that they get a higher price in the supermarkets. So we are slowly moving from conventional to more organic.

Especially France seems to be leading the conversion towards more sustainable production.

In France, there are some regulations in place to accommodate consumer demands. This makes it easier to sell the organic feed here already. Add to that, some of the French producers who simply don’t want to use feed containing some of the traditional non-organic raw materials. So, I think France will join Germany and be a market driver for organic fish.

Kenneth P. Madsen also sees similar trends emerging in Greece, Italy and Portugal, where new generations of farmers also stand ready to develop aquaculture and feed a hungry world.

“They are simply not just inheriting an industry. They are here to redefine it.”