TheFishSite Latest News
Veta la Palma Fish Farm at One with Nature
Looking out on to the carpet of flamingos that covers one of the lagoons that make up Veta la Palma, the fish farm in southern Spain where he is biologist, Medialdea shrugs. "They take about 20 per cent of our annuel yield," he told TIME. "But that just shows the whole system is working."
Located on an island in the Guadalquivir river, 10 miles (16km) inland from the Atlantic, Veta la Palma produces 1,200 tonnes of sea bass, bream, red mullet and shrimp each year. Yet unlike most of the world's fish farms, it does so not by interfering with nature, but by improving upon it.
"Veta la Palma raises fish sustainably and promotes the conservation of birdlife at the same time," says Daniel Lee, best practices director for the U.S.-based Global Aquaculture Alliance. "I've never seen anything quite like it."
With wild fish stocks declining precipitously around the globe and aquaculture has emerged as perhaps the only viable way to satisfy the world's appetite for fish. But most fish farms create as many problems as they solve.
The ecologically sound practices benefit more than the farm's fish and the people who eat them. By reflooding those drained lands, Veta la Palma transformed itself not just into a fish farm, but, somewhat unwittingly, into a refuge for migrating aquatic birds as well.
TheFishSite News Desk
More Fish Industry News
November Agriculture And Fisheries Council Agenda
Potential For Fishmeal-Free Salmon
Fish Wholesaling Industry Research
College To Boost Fish Farming
Consultation On Net And Trap Licences- Fish farming in Paddy Fields Takes Off
Tilapia-Skin Gelatine Next for Aquafinca
VIV China Reflects Development of Chinese Industry- Protection for Island Cockle Industry
Accessing Markets Directly To Improve Payments
