Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture: practices, sustainability and implications

Wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture in Europe 215

TABLE 2
Freshwater finfish production in Europe 1996–2005 (tonnes)
Species 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Trout 288 483 307 316 332 616 333 473 344 969 360 035 375 346 348 137 338 258 328 816
Carps 67 494 70 343 67 300 75 329 79 300 77 664 72 743 73 265 73 039 72 090
Bighead carp n/a n/a 450 – – – – – – –
Silver carp n/a n/a 2 062 3 648 3 379 3 195 2 580 2 777 3 747 3 950
Common carp n/a n/a 62 550 70 144 73 121 71 669 67 616 68 282 67 936 66 740
Grass carp n/a n/a 2 238 1 587 2 800 2 800 2 547 2 206 1 356 1 400
Catfish 2 067 2 208 2 565 3 359 4 490 4 071 3 756 5 458 5 510 5 470
Tilapias 250 300 300 200 150 150 150 450 450 550
Other freshwater fish 453 568 546 619 595 420 496 528 481 495
Sturgeon 642 572 463 544 265 196 200 230 275 332
Total 359 389 381 307 403 790 413 524 429 769 442 536 452 691 428 068 418 013 407 753
n/a: Data not available.
Source: http://www.feap.info/feap/aquaculturedata/default_en.asp

between 10 000 and 25 000 tonnes. The main species is rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus
mykiss), although there is limited production of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and
brown trout (Salmo trutta), and growing interest for arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus).
European trout production has been in decline over the last three years, from a high of
375 000 tonnes in 2002 to 329 000 tonnes in 2005. During the same period, the value
to trout farmers slipped from €2.26/kg to €2.03/kg for portion-size trout, while large
trout rose in value from
€2.40/kg to €2.50/kg. The
overall first sale value fell
from €805.2 million to
around €700 million. With
a few exceptions, trout
production in Europe
is poorly organized
and is operated by a
large number of small,
independent farmers. This
has led to a production-led
rather than a market-led
industry, with fragmented
sales and decreasing
returns to farmers.
Five cyprinid species
share the European
scene, being the
common carp (Cyprinus
carpio), the silver carp
(Hypophthalmichthys
molitrix), the bighead
carp (Aristichthys nobilis),
the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) and the tench (Tinca tinca). Carp farming
is mainly in extensive or semi-intensive pond-based systems, the latter being
predominantly typical in Central and Eastern Europe. There is a big difference in the
production characteristics of Western Europe and Central/Eastern Europe, the latter
contributing 76 percent of European cyprinid production in 2005. The total European
production dropped from 158 000 tonnes in 1988 to 72 000 tonnes in 2005, the biggest

FIGURE 4

Finfish aquaculture production in Europe, 1996–2005

Source:www.feap.info/feap/aquaculture/default_en.asp

200 000

400 000

600 000

800 000

1 000 000

1 200 000

1 400 000

1 600 000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005



    

  
    



Salmon

Seabass

Flaish

Tilapias

Trout

Carps

Eels

Other freshwater fish

Seabream

Other marine fish

Caish

Sturgeon