Lazunaren akuikultura jasangarria lortzeko aurrerapausoak.

Abstract

In order to adapt to the needs of today’s life, the European Union aims to contribute to sustainable economic activities including aquaculture. In line with this, at the end of 2017 the Basque Government’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Directorate, throughout the European Maritime and Fisheries funds, supports the AKURA project which involves different institutions in the Basque Country (GAIKER-IK4, PiE-UPV/EHU, KARDALA LHII). In order to promote sustainable development of the aquaculture sector, an innovative native fish species (mullets) has been chosen to focus on research efforts. It is a fast-growing fish, resistant, indigenous and omnivore. This latter characteristic differentiates this fish species from the most widely grown species in the industry today which are carnivores. Mullets, have low dependence on animal protein, for that reason it can be a good candidate to reduce the use on fish flour and advance on sustainable aquaculture. Therefore, together with the optimization of the mullets growing and breeding system, formulating specific and enriched diets will be one of the main goals in the aquaculture of this species. To this respect, it has been observed that an appropriate nutritional balance between protein, fat and carbohydrates is still needed. Closing the life cycle is known to be a bottleneck in aquaculture. In the present work the first breeding have been achieved and rapid growth has been observed after a initial mortality at critical stages. This research project sets out the first steps towards a sustainable aquaculture of mullets in the Basque Country. Although the project is underway and many challenges remain, the potential for the mullets in aquaculture industry is noticeable.