Exploring
the biological and socio-economic potential of new-emerging candidate fish
species for the expansion of the European aquaculture industry – the DIVERSIFY
project (EU FP7-GA603121)
by Constantinos C Mylonas, Project Coordinator (HCMR, Greee), Birgitta Norberg, Reproduction & Genetics - Atlantic Halibut Leader (IMR, Norway), Kristin Hamre, Nutrition - Atlantic Halibut Leader (NIFES/IMR, Norway), Torstein Harboe, Larval Husbandry - Atlantic Halibut Leader (IMR, Norway), Sonal Patel, Fish Health - Atlantic Halibut Leader (IMR, Norway; currently at VAXXINOVA, Norway) and Rocio Robles, Dissemination Leader (CTAQUA, Spain)
One of the species included in the EU-funded DIVERSIFY project, which ran between 2013 and 2018 was the Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus). The Atlantic halibut is the world’s largest flatfish and can attain a weight of over 300kg. It is highly prized at markets worldwide, but availability of wild Atlantic halibut is decreasing.
Norwegian stocks are classified as viable, but fisheries are subject to strict regulation. This has led to a higher market demand for Atlantic halibut, which cannot be met by fisheries alone.
The Atlantic halibut (see figure one) is a semi-fat fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, with a characteristic flaky white meat with few bones. Cultured Atlantic halibut has an excellent reputation and is traditionally marketed as large fish steaks or cutlets. It can be smoked or marinated in the typical Scandinavian style. These characteristics led to the inclusion of Atlantic halibut in DIVERSIFY, as a great candidate for fish species and product diversification in European aquaculture.
Research and cultivation efforts of Atlantic halibut started in the 1980’s, and although the total annual production of cultured Atlantic halibut is increasing, it still only reached ~1600 tonnes in 2017 (Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries).
In Europe, Atlantic halibut farms exist in Norway and Scotland. The desired market size is 5-10 kg and production time is currently four-to-five years. Despite a significant research effort between 1985 and 2000, the complicated life cycle of Atlantic halibut made aquaculture progress slow, and very little research funding has been allocated thereafter.
However, during this time slow but steady progress has been made by the farmers in order to improve production stability, and interest in both cage and land-based culture is growing. The remaining bottlenecks for increased and stable production are related to a steady supply of fry and a need to decrease the production time.
The latter may be achieved with the recent establishment of "all female" juvenile production. This is expected to have a major impact on production time as females grow faster and mature later –80 percent of slaughtered fish <5 kg are mature males.
The project DIVERSIFY addressed these important bottlenecks with a coordinated research effort in reproduction, larval nutrition and husbandry and vaccine development. The combination of biological, technological and socioeconomic research activities developed in DIVERSIFY are expected to support the diversification of the EU aquaculture industry and help in expanding production, increasing aquaculture products and development of new markets.
Read more HERE.
by Constantinos C Mylonas, Project Coordinator (HCMR, Greee), Birgitta Norberg, Reproduction & Genetics - Atlantic Halibut Leader (IMR, Norway), Kristin Hamre, Nutrition - Atlantic Halibut Leader (NIFES/IMR, Norway), Torstein Harboe, Larval Husbandry - Atlantic Halibut Leader (IMR, Norway), Sonal Patel, Fish Health - Atlantic Halibut Leader (IMR, Norway; currently at VAXXINOVA, Norway) and Rocio Robles, Dissemination Leader (CTAQUA, Spain)
One of the species included in the EU-funded DIVERSIFY project, which ran between 2013 and 2018 was the Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus). The Atlantic halibut is the world’s largest flatfish and can attain a weight of over 300kg. It is highly prized at markets worldwide, but availability of wild Atlantic halibut is decreasing.
Norwegian stocks are classified as viable, but fisheries are subject to strict regulation. This has led to a higher market demand for Atlantic halibut, which cannot be met by fisheries alone.
The Atlantic halibut (see figure one) is a semi-fat fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, with a characteristic flaky white meat with few bones. Cultured Atlantic halibut has an excellent reputation and is traditionally marketed as large fish steaks or cutlets. It can be smoked or marinated in the typical Scandinavian style. These characteristics led to the inclusion of Atlantic halibut in DIVERSIFY, as a great candidate for fish species and product diversification in European aquaculture.
Research and cultivation efforts of Atlantic halibut started in the 1980’s, and although the total annual production of cultured Atlantic halibut is increasing, it still only reached ~1600 tonnes in 2017 (Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries).
In Europe, Atlantic halibut farms exist in Norway and Scotland. The desired market size is 5-10 kg and production time is currently four-to-five years. Despite a significant research effort between 1985 and 2000, the complicated life cycle of Atlantic halibut made aquaculture progress slow, and very little research funding has been allocated thereafter.
However, during this time slow but steady progress has been made by the farmers in order to improve production stability, and interest in both cage and land-based culture is growing. The remaining bottlenecks for increased and stable production are related to a steady supply of fry and a need to decrease the production time.
The latter may be achieved with the recent establishment of "all female" juvenile production. This is expected to have a major impact on production time as females grow faster and mature later –80 percent of slaughtered fish <5 kg are mature males.
The project DIVERSIFY addressed these important bottlenecks with a coordinated research effort in reproduction, larval nutrition and husbandry and vaccine development. The combination of biological, technological and socioeconomic research activities developed in DIVERSIFY are expected to support the diversification of the EU aquaculture industry and help in expanding production, increasing aquaculture products and development of new markets.
Read more HERE.
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