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Learn what marine farms are and how they impact aquaculture in Brazil

The federal government announced, on Wednesday (12), the concession of Union waters for the practice of fishing activities and the promotion of aquaculture No brazil.

Among the announced agreements is the installation of the first marine fish farm in the country by the company Forever Oceans, which will count on international investment for fish farming on the coast of Ilhéus, in Bahia.

For the realization of the project, the Ministry of Economy will assign to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) two areas of salt water of the Union, located in the coastal sea of ​​the city of Bahia.

“The pioneering project that will be implemented at the site provides for the production of eight thousand tons per year and the generation of 91 direct jobs in each area,” the ministry said in a statement.

These waters from the national territory provided by the Union will be used as marine farms “environmentally sustainable, economically scalable and with technology to produce high value fish”, says the text.

Marine farms are the places where the production of aquatic organisms takes place. They can be compared with the farms we know, where different types of cattle are raised. The only difference is that they raise sea animals.

On marine farms fish, shrimp, oysters, mussels and other marine animals consumed by humans are raised.

Practical examples are pisciculture (fish farming), malacoculture (oyster farming) and shrimp farming (shrimp farming).

As explained by Altemir Gregolin, former Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture between 2006 and 2010, when CNN Brasil Business, marine farms are part of the so-called “aquaculture”, which can be defined as the production of organisms in water.

“Marine farms are a strategic area of ​​development. This is because the consumption of fish worldwide has been growing for more than 50 years, and the forecast is that this growth will continue for the next ten years”, he said.

“There are few countries like Brazil that can meet this market share. In addition, the greatest growth in consumption occurs in fish produced in marine waters, and not in freshwater fish, which justifies developing marine aquaculture through farms”, explained the former minister.

For Altemir Gregolin, Brazil has conditions to be the world’s largest producer of fish.

“We have 8,500 km of coastline, 13% of the world’s fresh water, a favorable climate, noble species, production of raw materials for animal feed such as soy and millet, and the necessary technology. Production in Brazilian aquaculture is growing, but we also have to develop marine aquaculture,” he said.

Another advantage of producing on marine farms is the sustainability that the option provides, according to Thayse Michielin, an aquaculture specialist. “In this way, we were able to combat extractive fishing and guarantee a better quality product,” he said.

Michielin explained that one of the main problems of extractive fishing is the way it works, which can end up with species that are in extinction, for example.

“The fishing vessels throw the nets to catch the fish and end up catching what they can in that environment. If they want to fish for tuna and end up catching other fish together, these other species will hardly be returned to the sea and would end up becoming feed and supplies,” he said.

In addition, Michielin stated that the production of aquatic organisms on marine farms allows greater care for the animals and the products that are taken to the consumer.

“Cultures on marine farms are produced in a controlled manner. Producers monitor the amount of feed given to the animals, check whether they are healthy or have any disease, in addition to taking care of health and water quality,” he added.

Reference: CNN Brasil

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