Showing support for Spain's developing trout aquaculture industry, María Antonia Pérez León, president of the Delegation of Guadalajara, on Wednesday visited local trout farm Truchas de La Alcarria in the Valderrebollo region.
Operated by Naturix Iniciativas, the farm produces nearly 200 metric tons of fresh gutted rainbow trout per year. The company currently employs 10 workers and is set to double its workforce as the product's smoking and freezing processes are commercialized.
Touring the company with Naturix Commercial Director Mahmoud Lahlou, León expressed commitment "to these types of indispensable initiatives to invigorate our towns; businesses needing natural conditions as those offered in our province can contribute wealth for the zone in which they're based."
The president repeated the delegation's support for the aquaculture industry and announced that the subsidies currently limited to associations will be expanded to cover private businesses such as Naturix.
The fish farm is launching a line of smoked trout products in the coming months, subsequently expanding its offerings with a range of frozen trout products.
The company's facility features space dedicated to the study of rainbow trout and a lake ideal for training applications. It has also started organizing workshops and educational visits aimed primarily at students.
"Our objective is to submerge ourselves in this challenge with new initiatives to attack production quantity and quality, to convert this province into a reference point for this activity," said Francisco Villarreal, manager of Truchas de La Alcarria.
Underlining his commitment to ecological quality, Villarreal confirmed the company's intention to become self-sufficient in the production, diet, transformation and distribution of its trout.
During the visit, Cipriano Ramiro, secretary general of the Union of Small Farmers of Guadalajara, also supported "an ambitious project that keeps sustainability in mind," a view echoed by María del Carmen Mayoral, mayor of Valderrebollo.
October 22, 2009