Europe lag behind
- If the EU does not make drastic changes in their policies, Europe ends up totally dependent on seafood imports. It's Lara Barazi Yeroulanos saying this to FishfarmingXpert. She notes that the growth in aquaculture production in Europe in recent years has been at record low 1.7 percent. In important countries like France and Spain aquaculture production has been declining. In Europe, the only non-EU countries Norway and Turkey which has a growth rate of aquaculture production that is significantly above the EU average.
Lara Barzi Yeroulanos is Managing Director of the farming company Kefalonia in Greece, while she has trust in the national farmer organizations as well as at EU level. She is very critical of how the EU manages its potential in aquaculture production.
- In 2000, EU imported 350 000 tonnes of seafood. In 2010, imports increased to 1.3 million tons, she says, and explains why. - We see a sharp increase in consumption of seafood, not just in Europe but globally. In Europe we see, unfortunately, that the requirement set by the authorities for their own aquaculture production is much stricter than the requirements imposed on seafood that is imported. The result is a production stagnated while imports are increasing, she says. She uses Spain and France as examples. - In the event of conflicts over land use in these countries, loses aquaculture. The EU must now stop ignoring the fact that they no longer keep up, she says.
