The Aquaponic Management Project is planning a venture on the outskirts of Chartres, France, which the company said is intended to become Europe’s largest “aquaponic” salmonid farm.
The farm is being planned for a production of 1,500 metric tons (MT) of trout per year, with a production cost of roughly EUR 10 million (USD 10.5 million). Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics – growing both fish and plants.
“We are hopeful of success with this ambitious project,” AMP President Pascal Goumain told SeafoodSource.
The company is still waiting for planning permission and permits for a site at Olis, an agri-district currently under development. The company said it hoped to start construction already, but delays have pushed the start date back to 2024.
AMP already operates a freshwater trout farm dubbed Pisciculture de l’Eure in Normandy; GMC Saumon de France, a salmon and trout farm in Cherbourg harbor; Le Saumonier Cherbourg, an experimental aquaponic greenhouse; and Les Jardins de Saumonier, a smokehouse.
AMP specializes in aquaponic techniques designed to produce fish in tanks in symbiosis with the growing of fruit and vegetables, while minimizing the use of water resources. In theory, for every one kilogram of fish produced, four kilograms of plants can also be grown.
The circular system relies on plants serving as biological filtration to break down fish excrement in the water and transform it into nutrients that can be assimilated by plants through their roots. The plants in turn, purify the water, which is returned to the fish tanks.
Growing fish in an aquaponic system has multiple benefits, including reduced use of chemical fertilizers, phytosanitary products, and antibiotics.
Goumain said aquaponic systems can be adapted to farming at any scale, and his company is planning more than 100 projects throughout France. These range from small urban farms producing 3 to 4 MT of trout alongside 1 to 2 MT of fruit and vegetables; through larger rural sites growing up to 20 MT of trout and 10 MT of fruit and vegetables; to large-scale peri-urban farms on 1 to 3 hectare plots, producing 300 MT each of trout, fruit, and vegetables.
AMP is also planning to pioneer salmon farming off the north coast of France, after losing three-quarters of the production at its Cherbourg fish farm this summer, when water temperatures topped 21 degrees Celsius. The fish were due to be harvested in 2023.
Amongst the company’s major backers is the French luxury retailer of body, face, hair, fragrances, and home product, l’Occitane.
