Events - Environmental Control Solutions for Aquaculture 2005, About
September 26 - 30, 2005
HAKI, Szarvas, Hungary
A training course with particular focus on the design and management of recirculation and waste control systems for freshwater aquaculture
About
The Aquaculture Innovation Network (under development as part of the EC supported research and demonstration project CSN-INTRAN) have identified recirculation systems and related environmental control methods as a key technology for the future of aquaculture. This course, held at the Hungarian Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI), was organised by project partners IFREMER (French Institute for Marine Research) and Aquapark Association (Hungary) with contributions from other partners and invited speakers.
The Participants
The 5-day course attracted 29 participants Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Slovinia, Norway and Ukraine. The opening day concentrated on overviews of controlled environment aquaculture systems – basic design philosophies, applications, economics and consideration of how and where they have been successfully used. Particular encouragement was drawn from experiences in the United States of America with Prof. Yonathan Zohar from the University of Maryland Centre of Marine Biotechnology, describing several large-scale recycle systems that have been constructed. Contrary to common expectations, Jean-Paul Blancheton from IFREMER reported on a recycle system in France that was proving more profitable than a comparable cage-based system, due to superior productivity. A more cautionary perspective was given by Guðmundur Örn Ingólfsson who provided a case study on a recycle sea bass farm developed in Iceland. Whilst technically successful, it failed commercially due to a collapse in sea bass prices in both the European and North American markets in 2002. An overview of recirculation system development in Eastern Europe was provided by László Váradi from Aquapark Association.
The second day provided an opportunity for more detailed consideration of recirculation system design principles. Oliver Schneider from Wageningen University in the Netherlands provided inputs on the principles of mass-balance calculations and overall system design; Prof. Raul Piedrahita from the University of California, Davis, discussed solids and gas control, Prof. Zohar presented again on biofiltration systems and Jeanine Person from IFREMER gave a presentation on fish physiology and consequences for recycle system design. The day concluded with a further discussion of recirculation systems economics and practical applications following a presentation by Lutz Debus from the German equipment supply company Aquacultur.
The third day was spent visiting various aquaculture facilities. The first was to a sturgeon farm in East Hungary where a disused hemp factory has been converted into rearing facilities for around 100 tonnes of sturgeon, that is eventually expected to yield in the region of 300-450 kg of caviar and 10 -12 tonnes of sturgeon meat per year. Large tanks are used with recirculation equipment including a rotary drum filter, fluidised biofilters and UV sterilisation. Geothermal water is also used to provide optimum rearing temperatures. In the afternoon, participants were able to visit the recirculated research facilities at HAKI and Szarvas-Fish, a commercial (African) catfish farm that also used geothermal water supplies.
The Sturgeon Farm - Inside the main rearing sheds
The fourth day considered some of the other technical issues associated with recirculation systems. Jean-Paul Blancheton (IFREMER) discussed waste control issues; Isabelle Metaxa (Dunarea de Jos University, Romania) spoke about control of off-flavours and Zdenek Adámek (University of South Bohemia, Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology) presented work on the processing characteristics of catfish reared in recirculation vs pond systems. The issue of biosecurity was addressed by François René (IFREMER) and supported by Jean-Philippe Caillères (Wedeco Katadyn, France), who gave a presentation on the control of bacteria and viruses particularly using UV and ozone. François René and Philippe Paquotte (OFIMER, France) then introduced the issue of product image and the importance of taking a pro-active approach if problems of negative publicity suffered by others in the aquaculture sector are to be avoided.
The final day gave further consideration to the final product with a presentation by François René on quality standards and certification, whilst Philippe Paquotte provided a more detailed overview of the European market for aquaculture products and key opportunities for meeting consumer demand. In this he identified the main areas of growth in processed fish products and especially convenience foods. The course was then steered towards how ideas and discussions shared during the week could be taken forward. Sergey Blokhin (Double Delta R&D, Hungary) discussed opportunities for accessing EC financial support, especially for research and demonstration systems. John Bostock (Institute of Aquaculture/CSN-INTRAN project coordinator) then highlighted the support opportunities provided by the Aquainnovation web site and future events, encouraging everyone to sign-up for full site access and support each other.
Francois Rene
All participants were provided with an attendance certificate and CD-ROM of course materials, some of which will be adapted for use on the Aquainnovation web site (www.aquainnovation.net), under the Learning section. A participant feedback review was also conducted to help with the development of future events.
