Salmon? From Hungary?

Plans are now in motion for a new aquafarm in Hungary that would produce a thousand tons of salmon in a year

A nice piece of fresh salmon meat.
Beeld: ©Shutterbug75

The news portal Telex reports that a Hungarian businessman is now planning on launching a large dry land salmon farm in Zalaegerszeg, Western Hungary. The fishery project of one Mr. Viktor Sagyibó will cost €23.65 million, and one-third of the investment will come from EU funding. According to the news site’s sources, the stakeholders of the project are calculating that with the EU subsidy, the project will return the investment in six years.

The EU funding will come out of the governmental project Hungarian Fisheries Operative Program (MAHOP), which is a part of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

The salmon farm will use a recirculating aquaculture system, which is a water exchange technology based on biofiltration. This might just be the most critical element of the project because many fish farming technologies use flow-through systems which have a high pollution output, however, recirculating systems have a low rate of water loss and the waste materials can be later used as organic fertilizer.

According to Mr. Sagyibó, this will also present the market with a more sustainable alternative for fresh salmon which is currently transported by airplane into the region. Meanwhile, 13 European capital cities are located within 800 kilometers from Zalaegerszeg.

The project is now in a preparation phase, construction is planned to commence in Q1, 2022 and according to the schedule, the first salmons farmed at the facility would hit the market in 2024.

For more about Hungary’s fisheries, see our aquaculture article over here.

Ceterum censeo,

Before you go - the Budapest-Belgrade team brings you curated newsflashes every Friday afternoon. These are quick, digestible, to-the-point briefings about all the latest developments in the Serbian and Hungarian agro sectors.

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