On October 16-18, 2024 in Gdynia, Polish trout breeders met for the 49th time at their conference. The meeting was an opportunity to summarize the last production year, but also for many discussions about future challenges. For the first time, it was decided to hold a discussion forum under the theme “What are the main problems of the trout breeder?”, which was moderated by Anna Pyć – vice president of the Salmonid Fish Producers Association and Tomasz Kulikowski from the NMFRI Fisheries Economics Department. According to the breeders, among the numerous environmental (water availability and temperature), veterinary (fish gill diseases), and market problems (low selling prices and imported Turkish trout), it is bureaucracy and bad legislation that are the main barriers to the development of trout farming.
In the session devoted to “Market, communication and image issues”, the lecture was presented by Dr.Eng. Joanna Szlinder-Richert, NMFRI professor, who discussed the nutritional qualities of the most important fish species present on the Polish market, assessing trout against this background, as one of the most nutritionally valuable fish.
Photo: Dr.Eng. Joanna Szlinder-Richert, NMFRI professor discusses the nutritional value of fish on the Polish market
In her interesting lecture, she also drew attention to the high potential of trout processing by-products, which contain many valuable bioactive substances. In turn, Tomasz Kulikowski from the NMFRI Department of Fisheries Economics, presented the results of consumer research relating to the image of fish farming among Polish consumers, characterized the main communication problems, and pointed out that the leading distinguishing feature of trout from domestic production compared to other fresh fish available on the market, which should be highlighted in future promotional activities and on product packaging – is its origin (country of production, specific location of production). Guaranteed origin, in the light of the ARC Market and Opinion research for the NMFRI, is one of the key motivators for Polish consumers to purchase fresh fish.
Photo: Participants of the annual meeting of trout breeders
Text and photos: Tomasz Kulikowski
