IAF Article: Trout Focus, Turkey

Today Prof. Dr. Belgin Hossu explains the trout industry in Turkey.

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Rainbow Trout and Feed sector in Turkey

by Prof. Dr. Belgin Hossu

According to the latest parametres from the Turkish Statistics Office, rainbow trout production is around 85.244 tonnes in Turkey and is increasing each day. Farms are mostly on land and damed lakes with a small amount in sea cages. 

Rainbow trout production in Turkey can be divided in to two parts. The reason for this is the continously changing cost of feed due to fishmeal and fish oil prices. Unstable prices of fishmeal and fish oil has forced the farms to produce their feed themselves. As a result, the feed sector has to be seen as commercial feed mills and self-feed producers. Feed production for rainbow trout is done totally in Turkey. Foreign feed mills have built fish feed plants in Turkey because of increasing demand by farms. Trout farms choose feed mills according to their prices and payment ease. 

Rainbow Trout (Photo credit: CircumerroStock)

Rainbow trout have differences between them because of geographic conditions of the country. Depending on these changing conditions, FCR is between 0.84- 0.97. The main protein source of feed is fishmeal. Fishmeal sources are foreign countries and sardine and anchovy from Black Sea according to the fishing seasons. Protein rate of feed is around 44 per cent at growing ages. 

In addition to fishmeal, vegetable protein sources have been used to decrease the cost of the feed. These are soybean meal, corn meal and wheat meals. Adding of caroteneids generally happens at salmon breeding or matured fish of trout. 

The feed manufacturing system is extruder. To decrease waste, floating feed is prefered.

Generally, the colour of the meat isn’t important because trout is consumed both fresh and frozen. On the other hand, yellow coloured meat isn't preferable because it indictaes high levels of corn and soybean meal.