LOCAL fish farmers might soon join other Mediterranean countries in breeding tuna for export, pending fisheries department approval of their applications.
Fisheries department head Gabriel Gavrielides said yesterday that studies had to be carried to establish that there would be no negative environmental impacts from such an enterprise.
The highly profitable and competitive business has already taken off in Malta, Croatia, Spain and France, he said. Now, French and Spanish fish farmers have contacted Cypriot fish farmers to co-operate and raise tuna with them, said Gavrielides.
At present, there are eight fish farms in Cyprus, which are only licensed to breed seabream (tsipoura) and seabass (lavraki), he said. Six are located between Zygi and Limassol, one is in Paphos and another near Liopetri, in the Famagusta district.
Because tuna are big fish – growing to an average length of one metre and weighing an average of 200 kilos – existing fish farms would need large, additional cages to breed them and ensure they were fattened up for several months before they were fished out. They would also have to be kept separate from the tsipoura and lavraki cages because the tuna would eat the smaller fish, he said.
If tuna were farmed in Cyprus, it would most primarily be exported to Japan, he added. On a per person basis, the Japanese are the world’s biggest fish eaters and are well known for paying the most money for tuna, said Gavrielides.
The Tokyo fish market is the largest in the world and the tuna fish auction is one of the most important events of the day. The best of the batch is then served as sashimi in some of Japan’s finest restaurants.
“The Japanese do not have fixed prices for Tuna. Instead it is auctioned. If it of good quality, fish farmers could even make $100 a kilo,” said Gavrielides. In short, this would bring a lot of money to the island.
Although the government encourages this kind of enterprise, the fisheries department first has to examine environmental impact studies.
“They need permission first. The existing fish farms will have to carry out environmental impact studies, which will take a few months, before we approve the plans. Then we have to see if we have the room for the cages and to see where they can be placed.”
Fish farms presently breed an average 2,000 tonnes of fish per year, covering both local and export needs, said Gavrielides, adding the department had a target of 10,000 tonnes some day.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet has approved a further four fish farm licences, which the fisheries department would publish as soon as they streamlined the existing criteria, Gavrielides said.
