Page 29 - World Aquaculture Magazine - March 2011

World Aquaculture 27
Aquícola de Vila do Conde”, North of Por-
tugal. Likewise, we can only see records of
aquaculture as an organized commercial ac-
tivity after the year 1968 (Gouveia, 2001).
Since the 70s, when Portuguese fish culture
expanded, rainbow trout has been regularly
produced. Until the mid-80s (Fig. 1) aquac-
ulture production consisted of bivalves rear-
ing in parks in intertidal areas and farming
of freshwater trout (INE and DGPA, 1998).
Molluscs rearing, which evolved from the
traditional mollusc harvest in the intertidal
areas during the low tides, has been the most
important contribution for national aquacul-
ture in past centuries. At the end of the 19th century, oysters
catch activity in the Tagus estuary showed a huge increase,
in response to a demanding European market, especially
France. In the early 30s of the 20th century, Portuguese oys-
ter - Crassostrea angulata – reached the extraordinary ex-
port amount of 13 000 ton/year (Grupo de Trabalho sobre
a Aquicultura, 2003).
Portuguese Aquaculture and Integration in the EU
In 1986, following the Portuguese integration in the Eu-
ropean Economic Community (now European Union),
special incentives were given to promote aquaculture (Di-
nis et al, 1999). These incentives were designed for research
programmes, set up of new farms, professional training and
financial support to professional organizations. This action
promoted some dynamics in cooperation between farmers
and was supported by Professional Associations, whose
importance was fundamental in the dissemination of good
practices and technical advice. As a result the aquaculture
activity got an important impulse due to the EU incentives
policy. As a result fish farming suffered several modifica-
tions: 1) the earth ponds used in the traditional salt pond
production were replaced throughout engineered construc-
tions; 2) water treatment and recirculation systems were
introduced; 3) trash fish were no longer used as feed but
moist and dry formulated feeds started to be used promot-
ing better nutrition and waste management; 4) some manual
operations were replaced by automatic devices; and 5) the
ordinary personal intuition gave place to knowledge-based
operations.
In the early 90s freshwater farming importance starts de-
creasing (Fig.1), from 32% of the Portuguese production in
1987 to only 12% in 2008. Although the installed capacity
for freshwater aquaculture is higher, the production is set
according to the market demand as the product is mainly
for internal consumption. As freshwater production de-
creased, marine aquaculture showed at the same time an
overall increase when new technological improvements were
implemented profiting from the available EU incentives. The
decrease in fish catches, reported as 60% from 1986 to 1996
(INE and DGPA, 1998), also stimulated the interest of many
investors on fish culture.
In addition, most of these initial fish farmers were coming
from the declining fishing activity and tried to install aquac-
ulture units without enough technical knowledge. As a con-
Fig. 1. Aquaculture evolution by main production groups. Source INE and
DGPA.
sequence farmers had to self learn the management practices
and some could not maintain the activity and bankrupted,
although those who wisely managed their investment were
able to keep the activity until the present. Some farmers also
had other activities and invested in aquaculture as a side
business. Nowadays the profile of the farmers has gradu-
ally changed, and the second generation of farmers have not
only a better technical knowledge, but also a more profes-
sional view of the activity.
Marine fish farming developed at an annual compound
growth rate of 38%, during the 90s decade (Fig. 1). After
the year 2000 marine fish prices decreased rapidly with the
entrance of large volumes of fish from Greece and Turkey,
following free trading regulations within the EU. With this
market change, Portuguese farmers faced strong difficulties
for selling during some periods, as production costs of many
farms do not allow to compete with prices from these more
intensive systems. Therefore, Portuguese fish production did
not increase significantly from 2000 until 2008.
Portuguese Aquaculture Today
The new marine fish farms established since the 90s are
based in high market species like seabass, seabream and tur-
bot. The culture of these species brought several advantages:
well adapted to the environmental conditions; high avail-
ability of juveniles for ongrowing; accessibility of a wide
range of options in artificial feed with better quality; and
above all a high market value. Aquaculture developed from
an add-value of salt production to an economic activity spe-
cifically directed to protein production. As a result, in 1996
an inversion occurs, when marine fish exceeds freshwater
fish production (Fig. 1), and this trend has been maintained
until today.
Most recent data available are from 2008 where total Por-
tuguese production was 7 987 ton (INE, 2010), with the ex-
tensive and semi-intensive coastal farming representing 74%
of this value (5 929 ton). In 2008, Portugal had registered at
the Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DGPA) 1472
active farms as on-growing units (INE, 2010), 91% are used
for molluscs extensive production. Molluscs extensive rear-
ing originated 3 913 ton corresponding to 54% (23 490 M€)
of total income, attesting the importance of this activity in
the national aquaculture context. Although all the invest-
ments and support these numbers clearly characterize the
aquaculture sector in Portugal as still highly dependent on