Farmed in the EU - Learning about European aquaculture

Table of contents

01. INTRODUCTION pg. 2

02. PROJECT OUTLINE pg. 4

03. IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT pg. 5Step 1: Preparing the visit Step 2: The visitStep 3: Follow up activities

04. BACKGROUND INFORMATION pg. 14

05. USEFUL RESOURCES pg. 17

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01INTRODUCTION

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Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of worldwide food production. In the very near future it will surpass global wild fisheries as the number one source of seafood, meaning more and more of our seafood will be farmed. Despite this it remains surprisingly unknown to many outside of the industry.

The Farmed in the EU school project has been designed to raise your students’ awareness of the sector, particularly in their community, and help them explore issues related to food production, the environment, and the different business and career opportunities aquaculture offers.

The diverse nature of the sector means there is plenty of scope for student research and discovery of the different marine and freshwater fish, molluscs, crustaceans and algae which are produced and the different traditional and more modern production methods used.

Farmed in the EU is part of the European Commission’s Inseparable initiative, which aims to highlight the benefits of eating, buying and selling sustainable seafood1 products.

The guidelines detailed in this booklet aim at helping any EU teacher interested in developing a school project about aquaculture.

A pilot project will be run in 2014 in 20 schools from 10 Member States (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom).

Why do we need fish farming in the first place?

Eating fish is good for your health, but there are not enough wild fish and shellfish to meet existing demand. Sustainable fishing goes hand-in-hand with fish farming. Only together they can produce enough fish to meet the demands of the growing global population without jeopardising the long term future of our wild fish stocks .

In the EU we rely on imports for 68% of the seafood we eat. A significant proportion of which comes from fish farms. Only 10% of our consumption is farmed in the EU. Bringing more farmed fish to our plates means less pressure on wild fish stocks, less reliance on imports, and more jobs and growth in our local economies.

1Seafood is a generic term that encompasses fresh water fish, marine fish, crustaceans, and molluscs.

For more questions and answers visit theFarmed in the EU website

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01INTRODUCTION

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Why a school project on aquaculture? The European Union is committed to supporting aquaculture because it can provide us with healthy, sustainable seafood, and spark innovation in new industries throughout Europe, from coastal communities to inland ones.

As an industry it is also hugely influenced by the social and environmental contexts that surround it, and not simply by the products and services it provides. That’s why this school project aims to connect fish farmers to their local communities by bringing them into schools in their area to speak about their work.

By creating links between schools and industry students get the chance to see how their local economy works, to delve into issues around healthy eating and sustainable consumption, and to discover a range of career opportunities.

Active participation

Debating skills

Formulating opinions with recently acquired knowledge

Evaluating information

Team work

Strengthening independent research

Working across multiple curriculum areas

Producing creative content that can be shared with others and disseminated online

Presentation skills for speaking in public

Offer students direct access to industries that are locally important

Foster dialogue and encourage joint collaboration

Learning objectives

This school project seeks to raise awareness about aquaculture among students, and by doing so to help them improve the specific skills listed below.

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02PROJECTOUTLINE

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What are the major species farmed in the EU?

Approximately 50% of the aquaculture production in the EU are shellfish. Mussels and oysters are the most popular shellfish. Marine fish such as salmon, sea bream and sea bass represent about 27% of our fish farm produce whilst freshwater fish such as trout and carp account for 23% of fish farmed in the EU.

The species farmed in the EU are very diverse and also include clams, scallops, lobsters, tilapia, sturgeon (caviar), and even intensively targeted wild species such as turbot, cod and sole. Algae production is developing.

The Farmed in the EU school project is about bringing schools and aquaculture professionals together to help students learn about the sector and its impact on the local community and beyond.UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

The goal should be to understand what aquaculture is about, what natural resources it offers, and what modern consumption trends look like. Students might be able to identify some of the main benefits from aquaculture even if they do not fully understand the subject – aquaculture provides fresh, healthy, and affordable products which can be locally and reliably produced.

Aquaculture is also highly adaptable to different climates, landscapes and aquatic species, and offers us the chance to explore understanding of the social, economic and environmental aspects of farming and sustainability.

PARTICIPATION AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION

This school project is based on participation, seeking to engage students into participative learning across a range of different subjects.

There is historical aspect of aquaculture, including the study of traditional diets, the cultural reasons behind fish farming, and its geographical adaptations throughout Europe.

It may be a good opportunity to develop and integrate ICT skills, whether by researching online, or through producing presentations combining written, graphic and multimedia content, which could then be shared on social media, presented to the class or at an assembly to the whole school.

And let’s not forget the most important aspect of aquaculture – the fresh, local and healthy seafood it provides us with! By focusing on recipes, menus and actually tasting seafood, your students can find a whole world of new and inventive ways to eat more sustainable seafood, which can then be shared with the rest of the school, their families and can hopefully influence their eating habits.

The key part of the Farmed in the EU school project is the visit by the fish farmer. The visit provides students with the opportunity to talk to someone knowledgeable on the subject, to help them build on their own research about the sector, and to take part in a fun and interactive visitor session.

The school project has three steps:

These steps are detailed in the following pages.

Step 1:

Preparing the visit

Step 2:

The visitStep 3:

Follow up activities

For more questions and answers visit theFarmed in the EU website

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03IMPLEMENTING

THE PROJECTStep 1

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How are fish farmed?

Shellfish such as mussels and oysters are grown on ropes, poles or table-like structures. They require clean water to feed on the nutrients suspended in the water. Marine fish such as salmon and sea bass are farmed in large net pens suspended on the sea’s surface. Freshwater fish such as trout are usually farmed in a series of tanks through which river water is diverted. Other freshwater fish such as carp are farmed in large lakes and ponds.

REFLECTING ON FOOD CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

Seafood is often enjoyed or avoided according to personal taste! People living in coastal areas or close to ponds, lakes and rivers may have easy access to fresh fish products, while urban populations may prefer processed and pre-prepared products. Parents tend to be more conscious about nutritional values, while elder people often appreciate the health-related benefits from eating more fish.

Many people may have no notion of food production on the scale it is undertaken in the modern world. Our views on how food is produced is shaped by a wide range of influences – the images on the packaging of our food, historical ideas of farming, farmers, and fishermen, the countryside all around us – and this may or may not tally with the reality and scale of global food production.

FOOD: the past, the present and meLet’s start with a warm up activity for you and your class, to discuss any thoughts they have on food and their lives. Write some or all of the questions on the board and ask your students to talk in small groups for a few minutes, then feedback to the whole class. Maybe they have never thought about the food on their plate and how it got there, so do you ever think about how the food you eat got onto your plate?

IDENTITY: what do I eat, where do I buy it, and how do I prepare it? How would my grandparents answer these questions?

FOOD PRODUCTION: how is seafood produced? Where does the seafood you eat come from? What are the impacts of mass production on the environment? Is what you eat farmed fish or caught in the open ocean?

FOOD CONSUMPTION: how much does a person need to eat? What is the population of your town or country? The world population? What are some modern trends in food consumption? How often do you eat fish?

SUSTAINABILITY: What is sustainable food and why is it important? How can food production become more sustainable? Can labels on food help people make more sustainable choices? Have your students heard of labels on seafood/aquaculture products?

Step 1:Preparing the visitIn order for you to implement the visit from the local aquaculture professional we suggest following the steps described below. This lesson should take place before the aquaculture professional visits, and can take as long as you decide to dedicate to it, based on your available time.

Activity

For more questions and answers visit theFarmed in the EU website

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Engaging into sustainable change:Write the words ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Consumption’ on the board, and ask your students to imagine the link between the two, if they think there is one.

Although your students may not know much about sustainability, they can always try to imagine what it means in a wider context – where does the responsibility along the supply chain lie when it comes to sustainability – the producer, the sales point or the consumer?

Talk about what sustainability means, and make a list on the board of what practices in the wider world they think are unsustainable. Continue the discussion by asking what kind of sustainable practices they know or think are present in aquaculture. You can focus on their role as individuals (and consumers and influencers of the household food budget), and what they can do alongside professionals and other citizens to engage with sustainability.

Promoting responsible habits:To lead healthy lives, your students need to develop responsible attitudes towards healthy eating habits, and think about how they will apply this new knowledge about their diet and ethical concerns to their future lives as adults. They should grasp this in their own way of speaking, and adapt it to their daily lives.

Encourage your students to think about the benefits of sustainable aquaculture products for a balanced diet, and to discuss the role of consumers in influencing the ‘market’ and lifestyle trends. How does marketing influence their (or their parents) choices in the market? Do they know what a healthy diet would contain, and how they would get all the vitamins, mineral and nutrients they need?

This is a preliminary discussion, so you do not need to find ‘definitive’ answers.

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Tips for teachersPreparing your visitor

It is important to stress that the visitor session is the most important aspect of this project, as it will give your students the chance to directly interact with someone who works in the industry, and who can hopefully bring the preparatory session findings to life!

The visitor should be aware of the format of the project, that your students will do some initial research, then the visit and finally a follow up session, and that their input will help make the project real for your students.

Also let them know the timings of your session, and that they can talk for around 10 minutes before the interactive dialogue begins, if that is the length of time you have allotted.

The visitor should be encouraged to bring photos or different materials to share with your students, as ‘hands-on’ experiences will engage them, spark up conversation and make everybody feel more at ease. They could for instance bring some food pellets, nets, or even some of the products they make.

You could envisage inviting several fish farmers in the same time to exchange on different productions (e.g. shellfish and fish).

At the back of this booklet you will find some data and web links that will help you stimulate the dialogue with your students and make contact with professionals across the European Union.

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Preparing the visit with professionals:Preparing your class for the visit of the aquaculture professional can be as in depth or as light touch as you wish to make it, but we recommend you undertake certain preparatory steps:

1. BRAINSTORM: ask students to spend some time on the internet searching for further information, either based around the results of the previous discussion, or from their own particular areas of interest. If your classroom doesn’t have a computer, or it is difficult to organise a room, the students could perform this task as homework.

2. RESEARCH: investigate your visitor’s background, the farm they work at, the aquatic species they farm if possible, and anything else the students are interested in. The visit should be as student driven as possible, so they should have questions or areas of interest prepared to talk about, however you will find discussion points and questions in the ‘Background’ section if this proves difficult.

3. FOCUS: after the background research has been completed, the class should choose the focus of the visit – what do they want to find out from the professional? There is room for more than one direction of questioning during the visit, so encourage active participation here. Your students should prepare a set of questions or a questionnaire that could be completed during the visit if there is time, or for homework if not.

4. PREPARE: this school project takes place over three sessions that are all interlinked, so with this in mind explain to your students that there will be a follow up activity after the visit involving their creativity! Also, have a few students document the visit by taking notes, photographing or even videoing the session. This will help them when the final activity has to be completed.

Activity

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Sections plan 60 minutes

Introduction 10 minutes

• Ask one or two students to explain what they talked about in the preparatory session, to give the visitor a little background of existing views.

• If the students prepared a question and answer sheet, now would be a good time to share it with your visitor.

Presentation 10 minutes

• Let the visitor present themselves, and give a brief outline of his/her company/background for a few minutes (not a ‘commercial’ presentation, it should focus on the human side of the job/career).

• If they have brought any items to help the students visualise their work, now is appropriate to ‘show and tell’ (and maybe taste if they brought some products with them).

Step 2:The visitHow to run your classroom session? You should define a clear programme for the visit of the aquaculture professional, to ensure everyone in attendance gains the most from the lesson. The pre-visit work is very important to facilitate the discussion and debate, and the follow up activity for evaluating what was discussed and your students’ feelings and opinions on the subject and the visit.

Group dialogue 30 minutes

The dialogue will be completed as a class, because as there may be only one visitor it will be difficult to organise smaller group activities. Regardless, participation from all students should be encouraged, and the activities are designed to get the whole group talking.

Discuss preconceptions 10 minutes

This activity is to be a follow on from your preparation class and the introduction, where the students will talk directly with the professional about their preconceptions of the industry, its methods and any other issues that arose before the visit. This is a great opportunity to build rapport between the class and the professional, and for them to get into the ‘flow’ of open discussion.

Dialogue 20 minutes

This dialogue can be either an open, free flowing discussion without a plan, or could be guided by the questions/questionnaire your students made in the preparatory class, with a detailed plan of the questions they wish to ask the visitor. This is the chance for both sides to delve deeper into the subject, and should provide rich and meaningful answers. Individual students could take notes of interesting topics they would like to find out more about, which could then be used in the pooling and conclusion section, and for further research into the topic.

Pooling ideas and conclusions 10 minutes

Students and the visitor go back over the discussion, and talk about what they have discovered from the dialogue. This is also the ideal time to discuss any issues the students felt were not raised during the session or in the preparatory lesson.

The conclusions drawn from the dialogue session should have raised the student’s awareness of the role of aquaculture in modern food production, society and also as a source for future employment. They should also give them a solid basis to develop the follow up project, having opened new avenues of discovery and surprising facts and figures about the industry in both a local and Europe wide context.

Depending on where your fish farmer comes from in relation to the school, it would be very interesting for the students to visit the farm, although we realise this may be difficult to organise and depends on the budget of the school. The visit of the farm could be envisaged as an extra step 4.

Tips for teachersDon’t forget to visit the useful resources section in the back of the guidelines. Here you will find websites that will provide further information, and a series of questions to help the visit run smoothly should your students run out of ideas!

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03IMPLEMENTING

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Step 3:Follow up activitiesIn order to achieve the best results from the project it is important that all classes carry out a follow up lesson to reinforce what has been learnt and discussed before and during the visit. Ideally this session will take place the day after or close to the visit itself, so the discussion and the conclusions reached are still fresh in the student’s minds.

In the following sections, you will find four examples of engaging activities to further work on the topic of aquaculture from various perspectives, and designed to help develop different skills.

Throughout all of the follow up activities there are many elements of different skills that can be used – ICT can be present in all of them, as can elements of art and design. The presentation aspect is a good opportunity for students to practise public speaking, and of course, the idea of cooperation and working as a team are facilitated through the group aspect of the follow up activities.

Many of the resources you or your students will need for these activities can be found in the ‘Background’ section of this booklet.

The European Commission will select the best school projects and advertise them on its social media.

General objectivesWorking together in teams, also strengthening independent research

Reinforcing the ability to work across multiple curriculum areas

Developing knowledge into practical applications

Producing creative content that can be shared with others in the school setting or disseminated online

Presentation skills to familiarise the students with public speaking.

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Objectives for pupils: To gain and apply practical knowledge on the different nutritional values of food, and to combine them towards a healthy diet

To review the many varied products European aquaculture has to offer, especially those from local sources

To analyse the benefits associated with seafood like availability, affordability, quality, nutritional values and sustainability, especially when taking weekly recommended intake of proteins and nutrients into consideration

To encourage teenagers into becoming more involved in responsible consumption and healthy habits. Experiment with new materials and techniques.

03IMPLEMENTING

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Follow up activity1. Nutrition & cookingAround the issues of healthy diets and nutrition, including buying and cooking, we suggest you design a sustainable menu using suitable European aquaculture products, or investigate ideas of healthy eating to a budget.

This could take three main forms:

1. Plan a school menu Work on a healthy and varied weekly or monthly menu, and make a proposal of two dishes per week. They could be limited by the real school food budget, which will certainly make it more challenging! The class could then propose this to the school, or ask the school chef to come in and talk to them about their reasons for choosing what they do.

2. Design a gourmet menu Design a ‘gourmet’ menu for a special occasion, be it a birthday party, first date, or even a graduation party. The students should create a menu that utilises delicious and sustainable aquaculture products from either their local area or the whole of Europe.

3. Which protein? A study into the relative benefits of different forms of protein, contrasting the price against health benefits. This will be a complicated study that will need ICT research skills to complete, and would be best done in a larger group to save time and spread the effort equally.

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Follow up activity

2. Science & technology Science and modern fish farming are deeply interlinked. We suggest you have students develop posters or presentations covering the main aspects of aquaculture. The groups should then present their findings to the rest of the class.

The posters or presentations can either cover the biology and ecological aspects of aquaculture, or even the chemistry/technology of aquaculture systems.

Along these lines we suggest the following:

1. The processes and equipment of a fish farm What equipment is used and why, how the fish are transported both to the farm and then to market after harvesting, and the process of feeding the fish are all valid topics for this project.

2. Life stages and husbandry of domesticated fish Why are certain fish used in aquaculture but not others? What are the life stages of a fish, and how will this affect the farming of each species (your students could look at salmon, trout and/or mussels)?

3. The environmental sustainability of aquaculture, both marine and freshwater Is aquaculture damaging to local environments or species of fish? How could feed for carnivorous fish become better? Your students could look into integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (links can be found in ‘Background’) and its benefits.

4. Location, location, location Finding a location for a fish farm within national boundaries, taking into consideration space needed, transportation issues, water requirements, local populations, etc. – with a presentation that will explain their choices for each element. The class could then vote on the proposal afterwards!

Objectives for pupils: To research the scientific aspects of aquaculture

To learn more about aquatic systems and processes

To marry different scientific perspectives with multi-layered understanding

To understand the challenges and opportunities of fish domestication and husbandry

To scientifically assess environmental sustainability.

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Follow up activity3. CommunicationSustainability, environmental impact, health and nutrition, and consumer choices are issues that are always in the news. Aquaculture is a perfect example of how mass media may empower consumers towards better choices, but also confuse them or even manipulate them when information is tailored to different interests.

To work around language and expression skills, we propose the following:

1. Journalistic review A ‘journalistic’ review of campaigns that are either for or against aquaculture. Students should map campaigns, articles and other texts on aquaculture, and develop the arguments for and against, the benefits and the risks. The outcome could take the form of an article, a short essay, a poster or presentation that displays the results.

2. Promoting aquaculture A campaign to promote local aquaculture targeted towards young people, to be presented to the school. Students should research local aquaculture, and produce a positive campaign to explain its benefits to the rest of the school. The presentation could include a slide show, a video, or any other creative ICT-based solution.

3. History of aquaculture A history of aquaculture in the local area. Your students could prepare a presentation detailing the history of fish farming in the local area, from its origins to its present state. This project could involve internet research, using the school or local council library or even contacting the fish farmer to ask further questions. It could be as a news report or standard presentation.

4. Aquaculture in society A look at the socioeconomics of aquaculture. It should cover the local population, ideas of food sources and security, possibilities of employment in the sector, and the economics of importing farmed produce versus producing locally. This is an in depth project, so if this route is taken the class should be split differently, in two groups, with pairs from each group taking one aspect and investigating it.

Objectives for pupils: Critical review of communication campaigns

Debate the pros and cons of aquaculture

Summarise objective conclusions on campaigns

Design and produce creative new content

Use ICT-based multimedia solutions.

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Follow up activity4. Arts Food, farming, professions, fish, aquatic landscapes, or even the anatomy of a fish, bivalve or algae are great topics to explore new artistic skills, materials and techniques. Artistic creation is a great way to deal with topics that are controversial, through the use of allegory and interpretation, as well as giving the artist the chance to express themselves in any number of techniques or styles.

We propose an artistic interpretation of local aquaculture, either focusing on skills or representing new knowledge / importance of the sector in their community.

Along these lines we propose three activities:

1. Representing a fish Choose a local aquaculture species and represent it. Aquatic animals are a good chance to work on details such as proportions, wet effects, or natural backgrounds. This can lead to anatomic illustration or more artistic and free representations.

2. What is a fish farm? Represent a fish farmer or a fish farm from your town, city or region. Try to grasp the nature and work of an aquaculture professional, either the one you’ve met or one defined by your group’s research. You can also represent a fish farm, in architectural or schematic diagrams, by drawing plans, putting pictures together, or making a 3D model.

3. Aquaculture-a past in pictures A historical study of fish farming in the area, detailing the different types of aquaculture used in the past, present and possibly into the future. This could take the form of a cartoon strip, poster or allegorical painting or drawing.

Allow the students creative freedom to draw, paint, model, collage, or use digital media.

Objectives for pupils:Observe and represent natural models (fish and/or their anatomy, the fish farmer, the environment of a fish farm)

Develop new artistic skills related to the special qualities of water and aquatic organisms

Express their own points of view in an artistic way

Experiment with new materials and techniques.

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04BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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What exactly is aquaculture? According to EU definition, “aquaculture’ means the rearing or cultivation of aquatic organisms using techniques designed to increase the production of the organisms in question beyond the natural capacity of the environment, where the organisms remain the property of a natural or legal person throughout the rearing and culture stage, up to and including harvesting”.

Simply put, aquaculture is a form of farming in water that can be both off-shore and on land. Its products are now found in most supermarkets and dinner tables across Europe and the world. Global aquaculture production is the fastest growing sector of the world food economy, increasing by a yearly average of more than 7%.

Is it true that aquaculture can damage the environment?

Like any other human activity, aquaculture must be managed sustainably and responsibly. The EU’s environmental standards are among the strictest and most effective in the world. Fish farmers must also play a wider proactive role in protecting the environment: for instance aquaculture ponds help preserve important natural landscapes and habitats for wild birds and other endangered species.

Shellfish contribute to cleaner coastal waters by absorbing nutrients which could otherwise damage water quality.

2http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727e/i2727e.pdf

Aquaculture – why do we need it? Seafood has always been a vital part of our diets, with evidence of its consumption dating back over 40 000 years. To this day, billions of people regularly eat seafood, and hundreds of millions rely on it as their main source of protein. With the world population ever increasing, aquaculture is becoming more important than ever as the fastest growing food production sector.

Global aquaculture already gives the world around 50% of its seafood every year, and continues to grow to supply an ever-increasing world demand2.Thanks to aquaculture, we can improve and control the productivity of many marine and freshwater species, and refine methods to ensure the environmental friendliness, economic profitability, and social fabric of their production.

Aquaculture is here to stay, and will continue to grow over the coming decades because food security is an issue, and because there is a need for constant progress in the development of more efficient production techniques and the domestication of new species.

For more questions and answers visit theFarmed in the EU website

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04BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Aquaculture, a European storyAquaculture, particularly in freshwater has a long history in Europe. In the Mediterranean, the cultivation of oysters, as well as the breeding of different species of fish in ponds, was well developed by Roman times, and ‘home-grown’ systems became very popular among wealthy families. References to aquaculture can be found in both Greek and Roman historical texts, and archaeological evidence of these ponds can be found all over their old territories.

Emperor Charlemagne (768-814) asked for fish ponds to be built wherever possible, to help alleviate the difficulty of feeding the mostly Roman Catholic population, who were not meant to eat meat on Friday or during the whole of Lent. As a direct result of this, monks began to develop systems for the production of carp, the first farmed fish in Europe, and the knowledge they gained spread around mediaeval Europe and was transferred to the marine environment.

Many of the most important developments and research in the sector since have taken place in Europe, or in collaboration with European institutions. For example, artificial fertilisation of trout eggs first happened here (1739), and the first aquaculture research centre in the world was built in 1852 at Huningue, France.

Following the ‘Green Revolution’ of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, a time when agricultural production increased hugely through the use of improved seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, aquaculture also experienced a massive boost. Over these few decades, scientists managed to realise the full domestication and enhancement of species such as salmon, sea bass and sea bream, so increasing production rates to industrial market levels.

Broadly speaking, aquaculture in Europe currently falls into the following categories:

• Farming of shellfish such as oysters, mussels and clams, in natural conditions with little human interference

• Extensive farming of fish, such as carp and cyprinids in freshwater ponds, levees and estuaries

• Intensive farming of fish such as trout, salmon, sea bass and sea bream in marine cages along the coastline

• Intensive farming of freshwater fish such as trout on land in specially constructed raceway systems using water diverted from a natural source, or recirculated, treated water

• Extensive farming of seaweed in natural conditions with little human interference.

European aquaculture is also a leader in research and development of new products, species and production techniques.

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04BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Carp

The carp was introduced into Europe at the time of the Romans. At that time, the effort to set aside the finest specimens for reproduction led to a genetic selection that has given us the robust, fleshy, long-lived fish that we know today, including those in the wild.

Trout

Rainbow trout is the leading freshwater cultured species in Europe. Its hardiness and fast growth quickly proved particularly well adapted to aquaculture. Rainbow trout are farmed today in nearly all European countries, especially in coastal countries with a temperate climate.

Pacific oyster

The Pacific cupped oyster was introduced into Europe in the 1970s. With its fast growth and adaptability to different settings, the Pacific cupped oyster is now the most widely reared oyster worldwide, including in Europe.

Seabass

Living close to shores and estuaries rich in micro-organisms, the European seabass has long been reared in traditional aquaculture. In the 1960s the growing scarcity of young fish and the example of salmon farming in northern Europe led Mediterranean scientists to develop an intensive rearing process.

Gilthead seabream

Gilthead seabream, whose name refers to a golden band on its head, has become one of European aquaculture’s main fish species. Gilthead seabream are consumed in ‘portions’ and can be marketed in different sizes. They usually weigh between 400 and 600 g and are sold fresh or whole.

Atlantic salmon

The farming of Atlantic salmon dates back to the 19th century, when hatchery techniques were developed in the United Kingdom. Most modern companies handle salmon from the egg to slaughter. The product is then delivered to processing companies, which market it fresh, cut up, or in smoked slices.

Sturgeon

Siberian sturgeon is now farmed in many European countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, and Germany. The number of farms is growing as operators aim to produce caviar, a highly lucrative luxury product. Siberian sturgeons can be reared in raceways, circular tanks, ponds or cages. They are carnivorous and are fed pellets.

Blue mussels and Mediterranean mussels

Mussel farming has developed all over the species’ liveable range – the entire European coastal area. The different rearing techniques were perfected at the end of the 19th century, when mussel farming was developed to provide a source of low-cost protein.

Some European aquaculture species

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Is farmed fish really as healthy as wild fish?

EU legislation sets strict rules, including maximum levels for contaminants, to ensure that our food is safe. These limits are the same for both farmed and wild fish whilst a strict system of official controls ensures that only healthy food arrives on our tables whether it stems from the EU or from abroad.

Questions directly to the fish farmer • How did you become involved in aquaculture ?

• Have you always been interested in seafood?

• Do you enjoy your work?

• How did you get to work in a fish farm?

• Do you eat fish at home?

• Where do you buy it?

• What exactly do you do / What are your responsibilities?

• What is the thing you like most about aquaculture?

About the fish and processes • How do you grow fish/shellfish? What do they need?

• Which species do you farm? Why those? Why not others?

• How do you take care of them along their life cycle?

• How do you slaughter them?

• What do you feed them with?

• Where do you get eggs or fry from?

• Do you use antibiotics?

• How can aquaculture help with sustainability?

• How do you deal with natural predators? Have you had any problems with poachers?

• Do you cultivate anything other than fish?

About the farm • Is your fish farm sustainable?

• What do you do to make it more sustainable?

• Why do some people say fish farms are not sustainable?

• Is it profitable?

• What are the economic risks?

• How does your farm contribute to the local community?

• What is a day at the fish farm like?

• How long has the farm been active for?

• Is it a family business?

• What are the environmental impacts of aquaculture on our local area?

• Do you process any products at the farm?

• How could you use by-products and/or recycle waste?

• Is there any scope to integrate the functions of the farm with other things, like growing vegetables, or algae, for example?

• Do you invest in research and development?

• How do you count fish?

Aquaculture and us• How could we start a career in aquaculture?

• Could you recommend a delicious recipe with an aquaculture product?

• Does aquaculture have anything to do with home aquariums?

Question suggestions

For more questions and answers visit theFarmed in the EU website

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Web links

European Commission

Farmed in the EU http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/inseparable/en/farmed-euhttp://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/aquaculture/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/aquaculture/aquaculture_methods/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/aquaculture/species/index_en.htm https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/inseparable/sites/inseparable/files/infographics_AQC_final.pdf

FAOhttp://www.fao.org/fishery/aquaculture/en

European and National Aquaculture Associations

FEAP http://www.feap.info/

Members FEAPhttp://www.feap.info/Default.asp?SHORTCUT=578

EMPAhttp://www.bivalife.eu/Collaborative-european-project-BIVALIFE/Bivalife-Consortium/List-of-partners/EMPAhttp://www.cnc-france.com/L-Organisation-professionnelle-europeenne.aspx

EATIPhttp://www.eatip.eu/

Members of EATIPhttp://www.eatip.eu/default.asp?SHORTCUT=285