Fish Farming | Aquaculture in the Canary Islands

You might have had it grilled, steamed, or as sushi. There are a number of ways to cook and eat fish. But have you ever given a thought to where your fish is from? With billions relying on seafood as a key source of protein, recent decades have seen demand skyrocket. And if you've ever had fish, chances are you've had catch caught from aquacultures. In fact, farmed fish is already responsible for around half of global seafood consumption. But what exactly is aquaculture and what does it look like? We've traveled to the Canary Islands to deep dive beneath its surface. You can see a bit of what we call the railing, which is the network. This is polyester material, everything is mounted in polyester. In this installation of Marion Steyer crops, we have around 35 meters deep. The tanks are designed so that you can introduce 280,000 animals, 280,000-300,000 animals, that can reach commercial size without exceeding these 25 cubic meters. In terms of fish feeding, it's a very important part, a very good question, because there's always a lot of fish, what do we feed the fish with? The fish's food is basically fish oil and extracted fish flour. I think I could eat these fish every day, I could eat any other person without any kind of problem. Even more so, with brutal levels of demand and control. It's essential to have a quality and safe product. First of all, it's the food. When you feed, the fish do their little things, and so that these particles are not deposited, small pieces of pienso, with the deposits of the fish, there has to be a minimum margin between the bottom and the surface, so that these particles are not deposited below. So, when you design the installation, you take into account the depth. Despite what the name suggests, aquaculture can also be found on land. We joined the Spanish Institute of Oceanography to hear them explain how they take care of their fish in their inland facilities. This is one of the usual operations in any marine aquaculture facility. These are anesthetized in tanks with anesthetic products, so that they can be handled with the least suffering and risk possible for the animals. In this way, we obtain biometric data that allows us to estimate their growth, as well as samples and observe the state of health of these specimens. But in the Canaries, aquaculture not only includes fish, but also other aquatic animals like octopus. We also have to know what sex they have. The use of tanks as shelters is very important to reduce stress for the animals. If we don't put them in shelters, the animals get stressed, and in the long run, they end up getting sick or dying. So, it's a very important element. It has a high acceptance in the market, and it's also native to the Canary Islands. So, we won't be introducing new species for their cultivation. With such high demands of fish on a global scale, is aquaculture a sustainable solution? It has to go on, it's well-detailed. In principle, thank God, we've never suffered a massive escape. I hope it continues like this. The current path of the great study in aquaculture is that. Very interesting insect flours have appeared. Studies and trials have been carried out, and they are very correct. But they are not defined, but it has to go that way, it's clear that it does. In my humble opinion, I think aquaculture is going to be important, because it's a protein that we produce, a cheap protein, available to all consumers. It's a product that is always on the market every day, it never goes wrong, with maximum quality and freshness. Obviously, I see a lot of future for aquaculture. We just have to look at the historical demand for this product. Year after year, the demand is increasing. It is true that we have to solve some problems, national problems. Consuming the same product with other prices, for us, as Spanish aquacultures, from the brand that is defending ProMar, which is the breeding of our seas, it is very difficult for us to compete with the same product, another price from other countries, whether it's Turkey or Greece. But obviously, I consider it to be the protein of the future. And yes, of course, aquaculture has a future. So what do you think of aquaculture?