The Belgian and French companies Aquafrance, Gabriel and Aquanord have acquired the pioneer sea fish hatchery Ferme Marine de Douhet (FMD) on the Atlantic Coast of France from Stolt Sea Farm of Norway.
These companies already own Ecloserie Marine de Gravelines (EMG), between Calais and Dunkirk, and are combining the two operations. Their capacity to produce around 12 million sea bass and sea bream fingerlings a year puts them among the larger European producers.
They aim to specialize in these fish, with FMD now concentrating on sea bream and the EMG hatchery on sea bass.
The new owners believe that by focusing the efforts of each production center on one species, they will improve product quality and enhance research and development to produce the best-performing and healthiest juveniles.
Seabass and seabream production figures
Area 1994 1995 1996
(mT) (mT) (mT)
Greece 12,000 15,000 17,000
Spain 3,200 4,500 6,000
Italy 4,000 5,000 7,000
France 2,400 2,500 2,700
Portugal 500 700 800
Tunisia 700 500 800
Turkey 2,000 2,500 3,500
Morocco 650 800 1,000
Cyprus 550 600 800
Croatia 1,200 1,400 1,500
Malta 1,100 1,300 1,400
Others 1,000 1,500 2,000
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Total med. 29,300 36,300 44,500
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Annual Increase% +24% +22.5%
source: EWOS S.A., Dpto. Marketing, Feb.'96
(from Aquaculture Europe, 21(1):19, 1996)
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