Responsible aquaculture is a necessity

Numbers

• 4 fish breeding out of 5 consumed in France are imported

Source: Cipa

• 178 Mt The volume of aquaculture products harvested worldwide in 2020

?Source: FAO

• 193,000 t The volume of shellfish farming, fish farming and seaweed farming in France in 2023, for around €800 million

Source: France Agrimer

• 2000 farms certified by the NGO ASC, including 4 in France

“ L’future of aquaculture is at stake now »alert Jérémie Cognard, co-founder of Agriloops, a Rennes start-up about to take on the crazy challenge of producing prawns in France, in salt water aquaponics farms. The entrepreneur participated, during Ocean Week in Monaco, in March, in a round table organized by the ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council), an NGO created in 2010 by WWF and which works for more sustainable aquaculture. A debate on the interest of blue finance for the aquaculture of tomorrow is essential according to Jérémie Cognard, because “ innovation has a cost ».

This is confirmed by Christian Lim, managing director of Swen Blue Ocean, an investment fund which finances start-ups engaged in ocean regeneration. “ We have a budget of 170 million euros over five years to contribute to changing aquaculture practices”, he explains. An envelope that he wants to devote as much as possible to companies engaged in sustainable aquaculture, like the investment taken by the fund in Noray Seafood, which cultivates shrimp on land in Spain.

Respect the environment

France is not ahead in this area, if we are to believe the report of the High Commission for the plan “The development of aquaculture: an issue of food sovereignty”, published at the end of 2023: French aquaculture does not currently covers only 8.7% of national needs for seafood. To remedy this, “ we must be able to build a sustainable plan”explain Camille Civel, general delegate of ASC Francea label to which French manufacturers, such as Labeyrie and its subsidiaries, are beginning to be sensitive.

“ All of our shrimp supply for the Delpierre brand is ASC certified and the salmon follows the same path. The goal is for all our products to obtain certification”affirms Estelle Brennan, director of sustainability and supplier assurance at Labeyrie Fine Foods UK. Because the challenge of this sustainable aquaculture is also, and above all, that of respect for the environment. Thus, in Southeast Asia and Central America, “ 1.5 million hectares of mangroves have been destroyed in recent years due to intensive prawn farming”, points out Jérémie Cognard. However, solutions like those of Agriloops or Noray Seafood could help reverse the trend.

Likewise on crucial issues such as water resources. A key question for Aqualande, the French leader in smoked trout. The Landes aquaculturists’ cooperative, which has also regained its independence from Labeyrie a few months ago, has made it a priority to try to preserve its forty fish farms installed mainly in the South-West and subject to repeated climatic events. . “ We install systems to only work according to the water capacity of the river, with fewer fish in our fish farms”explain Emmanuel Mazeiraud, general director of innovation and R&D at Aqualande.

Soon French prawns

Since 2016, the Breton start-up Agriloops aims to produce fresh and sustainable French prawns, thanks to a saltwater aquaponics farm, by producing both fish and plants (here fruits and vegetables) at the same time. within the same system. The prawn market is worth around 100,000 tonnes per year in France, but the vast majority is imported from Central America and South-East Asia. The farm’s first commercial demonstrator, which will be located in Rennes, is expected to open in 2025.