Today farming or conditioning of wild-caught fish is low in Sweden and Europe in general. There are however a number of advantages in farming of wild fish compared to wild catch, such as a better control of the production chain and increased profitability. This project aims at investigating the potential for farming and conditioning of wild fish in Sweden.
Today farming or conditioning of wildcaught fish is low in Sweden and Europe in general. There are however a number of advantages in farming of wild fish compared to wild catch, such as a better control of the production chain and increased profitability. The latter can be achieved by improving the condition of the fish, or to let the fish live until prices are higher. Wild-fish farming is also a way to produce certain fish species to consumers while mitigating the impact of seal and cormorants that disturb or destroy catches at fishing gears. To avoid a local eutrophication due to fish feeds, by-catches from local fisheries can be used to circulate nutrients locally, or to farm fish in closed circulating land-based plants.
In this project we will review which wild fish species may be suitable for farming conditions in Sweden, and synthesize knowledge from where it actually has been tested (e.g. cod in Norway and Sweden). We will also review eventual stresses on wild-caught fish, ethical and legal aspects of feeding by-catches, and identify the main knowledge gaps and other constraints for developing farmed wild fish in Sweden today. The results will be used as background information for continuing with research applications, but also as a synthesis for stakeholders who may be interested in developing farming and conditioning of wild fish. The project will end by an open seminar at SLU where we present the results and welcome feedback.
The conclusion from the project is that there is a potential for farming of wild caught fish with local-by-catches as a feed ingredient. To be economically feasible there is a need for developing feeding systems, investigate stress responses and ethical and sustainability aspects important for marketing of such products.
The project started in 2018 and last for one year. The project is funded by SLU Aquaculture, which support cross-faculty collaborations to further strengthen aquaculture research at SLU. Read more about SLU Aquaculture, current research projects and upcoming calls.