History of aquaculture in Malta
The National Aquaculture Centre (NAC) was set up at Fort San Lucjan in 1988 by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. The primary aim was to pioneer the development of fish farming as a new industrial activity in Malta.
The Centre started with the hatching and ongrowing of Tilapia Oreochromis spilurus and Oreochromis niloticus x O. mossambicus.
In 1992 the NAC developed its own marine hatchery to serve as a pilot project for commercial scale marine hatcheries. In 1993, 300,000 2g Gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata fingerlings were produced and the original targeted production of 400,000 fingerlings was reached in 1994. More investments and improved hatchery technology resulted in an average of 1 million fingerlings produced annually between 1995 and 1997. Apart from Tilapia and sea bream, European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax broodstock were reared and trials on the culture of dolphin fish Coryphaena hippurus, amberjack Seriola dumerilii, and eel Anguilla anguilla were carried out.
The annual aquaculture production increased dramatically during the 1990's from 60 tonnes in 1991 to a peak of 1800 tonnes in 1998 through the operation of 6 commercial farms. This consisted of 1200 tonnes of sea bream and 600 tonnes of sea bass, however, due to decreased prices for these two species throughout the Mediterranean region, production dropped to 1300 tonnes in 2001 and current production is around 1000 tonnes. The market for these species is currently is re-expanding and production is expected to increase once again in the coming years.
The production of Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) through tuna penning has been increasing over the past few years. The fattening of this species around the Maltese islands started in the year 2000 with one farm producing 300 tonnes. During 2001 two farms produced 1150 tonnes and production reached a peak of 3550 tonnes in 2003.
The NAC was re-named the Malta Centre for Fisheries Sciences (MCFS) in 2001 with research on aquaculture focusing in particular on the development of new potential species for aquaculture, fish pathology and fish nutrition.
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Marine Finfish Breeding Program
Current research:
At present, the MCFS is focusing on the development of broodstock for the amberjack (Seriola dumerilii) and octopus (Octopus vulgaris).
Three year old amberjacks having an average body weight of 8 kg are presently kept in floating cages and fed an adequate broodstock diet daily. In 2004 octopus were caught from the wild and successful spawning was obtained. Larvae were reared until day 21. Further studies concentrating on larval nutrition are planned for 2005, were a better survival is expected.
In the case of the Bluefin tuna, discussions are on their way to try and find a permanent location were bluefin tuna can be held on a long term so that a broodstock may be cultivated.
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Main Projects:
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Paricipation in EU funded R&D project Q5RS-2002-01355 "Reproduction of Bluefin tuna in captivity - A feasibility study for the domestication of Thunnus thynnus (REPRODOTT)".
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Development of broodstock for new potential species for aquaculture (amberjack - Seriola dumerilii)
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Larval culture trials of Octopus
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Fish Nutrition
Nutritional Analysis in the Laboratory:
Chemical analysis forms the basis for determining the basic nutritional composition of diets and fish tissues. The Laboratory is currently being restructured to carry out these basic nutritional analysis.
Main Project:
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Fish Diseases
Activities:
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Routine Diagnostics of fish diseases on the fish farms and hatcheries in Malta and the Mediterranean.
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Study of endoparasitic helminths from cultured Bluefin tuna.
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Study of Heteraxininae parasites from cultured amberjacks.
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Oral, immersion and injection vaccination trials.
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Fish Rearing Facilities
All tanks at MCFS have a flow-through system and there are two sources of sea water supply, the BORE-HOLE water which is at a constant 21oC throughout the year and the AMBIENT water that fluctuates with the natural ambient temperatures throughout the year. (14oC and 28oC).
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One 18m3 circular concrete tank, formerly a Tilapia breeding arena. This tank is supplied with ambient water.
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Four 9m3 rectangular concrete tanks with egg collecting facilities. These may be supplied with bore-hol
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Three 16m3 rectangular concrete tanks with egg collecting facilities. These may be supplied with bore-hole or ambient water or a mixture of the two.
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One 28m3 rectangular concrete tank with egg collecting facilities. These may be supplied with bore-hole or ambient water or a mixture of the two.
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Eight 14m3 octagonal fibreglass tanks. These may be supplied with bore-hole or ambient water or a mixture of the two.
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Seven 7m3 round, conical bottom fibreglass tanks. These may be supplied with bore-hole or ambient water or a mixture of the two.
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Twenty one 2.5m3 round, conical bottom fibreglass tanks designed for larval rearing. These may be supplied with bore-hole or ambient water or a mixture of the two.
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Sixteen 1.5m3 square fibreglass tanks with bore-hole water supply.
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Thirty two 0.25m3 rectangular fibreglass tanks with bore-hole water supply.
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Quarantine room containing forty four 54L rectangular glass aquaria.
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Various phytoplankton and zooplankton rearing facilities.
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History of fish farming in Malta:
Marine aquaculture started in Malta in 1988 when the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries set-up the National Aquaculture Center (NAC) at Fort San Lucian Tower in Marsaxlokk, Malta (Photo 1). This was set-up with the primary aim of developing the fish farming industry in the Maltese islands. Malta is strategically placed in the center of the Mediterranean Sea with excellent climate conditions for aquaculture (the most important warm-water marine species currently cultured in the Mediterranean) where the seawater temperatures range between 14oC in winter and 28oC in summer, giving Malta an advantage over other European countries that experience a colder climate.
Aquaculture was introduced into Malta after the establishment of the NAC in 1988 when basic rearing techniques were demonstrated through the hatching and rearing of Tilapia Oreochromis spilurus and Oreochromis mossambicus x Oreochrimis niloticus. Although these are fresh water species, they were acclimated to seawater after hatching and then fattened in indoor tanks. Soon after, the emphasis turned towards the marine fish and in the early 1990’s commercial fish farms started producing European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax and gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata. Various types of cages have been used for ongrowing, namely Dunlop and Farmocean cages for the offshore sites and Floatex and Kames cages for the inshore nursery sites.
The NAC also started developing its own marine hatchery for the production of sea bream and sea bass fingerlings in 1992. The initial target was for an annual production of 400,000 juveniles (2g in weight) which was achieved in 1994. During the following period, from 1995 to 1998, there was a production increase to 1.5 million fingerlings as the NAC improved its hatchery technology. This was also due to a greater demand for fingerlings by the Malta-based companies. Other fingerlings were also imported from approved hatcheries in Spain, France, Italy and Cyprus for commercial production.
Various trials and experiments have been carried out on sea bass and sea bream as well as other species at the NAC over the years, including growth trials on different species with a potential for aquaculture such as the amberjack Seriola dumerilii, turbot Schophthalmus maximus and dolphin fish Coryphaena hippuris. In 2001, the NAC was re-christened the Malta Center for Fisheries Sciences (MCFS) and now offers expertise to the regulatory bodies and support to the local industry in the form of species diversification, nutrition, the environment and fish health.
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Sea bass and sea bream farming:
On the commercial farms, 2g fingerlings are placed in sea cages and fed on dry pellets that are imported from Europe. The fish are fattened until they reach a market size of 350 – 450g, when they are harvested for export. The average duration for the fish to reach market size is about 15 months. All on-growing sea bass and sea bream farms are EU approved and hold HACCP certification.
The production of sea bass and sea bream increased from 60 tons in 1990 to a peak of 2300 tons in 1999 from four farms operating on seven production units around the islands (Table 1). Three development permits have been issued for land-based aquaculture units, however, none of these are currently operational. The sea-based farms also make use of ancillary land-based facilities. Ninety five percent of local farmed fish is exported to European markets, mainly Italy.
Unfortunately, an increase in the production of these two species throughout the whole Mediterranean area resulted in a drop in their market price and there was a slump in production throughout the region. After 1999, the production of these two species in Malta decreased to 1750 tons in 2000, 1290 tons in 2001 and 1175 tons in 2002 as Maltese companies shifted their interest towards the more profitable fattening of Blue-fin tuna Thunnus thynnus. At present in 2007 there are 3 sea bream and sea bass farms producing about 1000 tons per year.
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Tuna Penning:
Tuna farming, or tuna penning, as it is more commonly known, is carried out in 50m diameter offshore floating cages. The technology is similar to that of other Mediterranean countries that are involved in tuna farming, namely Spain, Croatia and Italy. Generally, fish are caught in International waters by purse-seine fishing during the month of June and kept in the cages where they are fed on raw fish, squid and krill, depending on the farm management and requirements. The fish are kept in the cages until they are harvested and exported to Asian markets (mainly Japan) between October and January, by which time they would have increased their body weight by about 10%. The number of tuna farms has increased from 1 in 2000 to 4 in 2006, producing approximately 5000 tons per year.
The size of exported fish is dependent on the size of fish caught from the wild and generally ranges between 80 and 600kg. Due to the fact that all farmed tuna are caught from the wild, the sustainability regarding fish stocks and coastal ecosystems is a matter of concern. Assessments carried out by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) indicate a strong decline in the spawning stock biomass since 1993. Malta is participating in cooperative research and development for the domestication of Blue-fin tuna to help establish a long term and sustainable farming industry for this species under the support of the European Commission.
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Species Diversification:
In Mediterranean aquaculture there is a need for species diversification to create a more varied market for aquaculture produce. A recent 10% increase in the wholesale price of sea bass and sea bream indicates that the crisis of the last few years is being resolved, but diversification is essential to produce and maintain a variety of marine species for the market. Apart from the highly priced Blue-fin tuna, there are quite a few species that are excellent candidates for Maltese aquaculture, such as the amberjack. This fish is a fast grower and fetches a good price on the market, however egg production on a commercial scale is the present bottleneck in this region. At present amberjack broodstock are being reared and the MCFS has plans to spawn and start producing fingerlings of this species. Other candidates that are also considered for future research are the grouper Epinephelus guaza, the common dentex Dentex dentex, the red porgy Pagrus pagrus and wreckfish Polyprion americanus.
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