Fish International 2010 to Focus on Sustainability

With sustainability as its central theme, the 12th Fish International event will take place at the Bremen Exhibition Centre from 21 to 23 February 2010. Professional visitors from all segments of the fish industry, trade and catering come to the Bremen fish fair to obtain information, keep in touch with existing customers, establish new contacts and discuss the latest topics in the industry.

Within the topic block 'Aquaculture', it will be possible to gain information on sustainable and energy-efficient fish production in recirculation systems. For example at the stand of International Fish Farming Technology (IFFT) GmbH, together with its partners the company is currently setting up the world's first enclosed inland marine fish farming facility in Saarland and will be presenting the technology at fish international.

"The idea behind the system is to integrate aquaculture in the material cycle of its environment”, explains IFFT manager Friedrich Esser.

"The marine fish farm is thus connected to a biogas plant that produces energy and supplies heat. In this way we can achieve energy-efficient production and the resulting biomass is in turn used for heat recovery. And thanks to a water treatment system, water exchange is no longer necessary. Farming takes place in clean filtered water and produces convincing tasty products."

The farm opens up the possibility of farming fish under controlled conditions without detrimental environmental influences such as parasites, chemical loads or algal bloom and in the required quantity for year-round delivery to traders.

"International experts believe that indoor fish farming will play a special role in fish supply in the future," confirmed Dr Adrian Bischoff from Institut für Marine Ressourcen GmbH (IMARE). "People are rather sceptical in Germany, however, with regard to competitiveness due to the still widespread belief that economic conditions are better elsewhere."

The fact that this is not true and that German producers, too can benefit from the main advantage of indoor fish farming, i.e. from bringing controlled farming and consumption of table fish closer together, can be seen in the topic block 'Aquaculture'.

"The indoor fish farming segment is not only very interesting for fish industry experts but also for fish buyers and sellers," commented Sabine Wedell, Project Manager of Fish International at Messe Bremen. "Producers and distributors from Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands will display product alternatives from sustainable aquaculture and present state-of-the-art technology. There will also be plenty of opportunities for discussion, sharing experiences, and giving and obtaining advice."

The accompanying lecture programme, in which speakers will talk about their experiences in aquaculture is being drawn up together with IMARE. Speakers include Adrie Cornelisse from the company Groente en Viskwekerij Cornelisse B.V. (Grovis Co), Dr Bert Wecker from IFFT, Michael Lutz from Köster Marine Proteins GmbH and Brian Thomsen, Managing Director of the Danish Aquaculture Organisation.

Aspects such as sustainability, animal welfare and feed usage will also be discussed. Among the topics are: Sustainable supply of fishmeal as a protein source for aquaculture; Suitable fish species and new candidates for farming in recirculation systems; Sustainable farming of marine fishes in enclosed recirculation systems under integration of the environment but without direct access to sea water; Certification of fish and seafood from aquaculture and fisheries.

For more information on Fish International 2010, click here.