Multinational aquaculture company Grupo Culmárex, based in Murcia, southeast Spain, has revolutionized the market for gilthead bream and sea bass with the launch of the world’s first ecological preserved varieties of the species.
Under the brand name Ecológica Culmárex, the innovative tin and glass jars were unveiled during BioFach 2012 in Nuremberg, Germany, last week, Europe’s largest organic product fair.
“These new products are evidence of the qualities of white fish, so important in the Mediterranean diet, to improve the organoleptic qualities of gilthead bream and sea bass in extra virgin olive oil, also organic and natural,” said the company. Organoleptic properties refer to the species’ taste, sight, smell and touch.
Reared at Culmárex’s sea farm in Aguadulce in Almeria on the Mediterranean coast of Andalucía, the fish enjoy natural marine waters that provide their exceptional quality (“aguadulce” means “sweet water” in Spanish). The farms “have a distinct production cycle, the fish are fed with organic feed made with organic ingredients, also from sustainable fisheries,” explained the company.
Here, species’ performance are analyzed in collaboration with public institutions “to demonstrate the high quality omega-3 content and low saturated fats,” said the company, adding that the new products are especially recommended for inclusion in low calorie and low carbohydrate diets.
Employing some 300 staff, Culmárex has operated in the Águilas town of Murcia for 20 years, breeding and marketing more than 6,800 metric tons of gilthead and sea bass for domestic consumption, certified by Murcia’s Organic Farming Council since 2010.
The farms comply with current European Union legislation on organic production for aquaculture animals and seaweed, which entered into force in July 2011. Last July also saw the acquisition of Culmárex by Canadian farmed salmon producer Cooke Aquaculture.
