Photo: BAW-IGF
Fishfarming in Austria
The average per-capita consumption of fish in Austria is only about 6.3 kg/year. This means about three meals with fish a month. Nutritionists recommend eating fish twice a week, however.
The quality of fish depends on its freshness. Fresh fish is recognizable from its shiny skin, smooth flesh, firmly attached, smooth scales, slightly protruding eyes, and odour. Fish should be cooked very gently (at low temperature) in order to conserve all the valuable contents (e.g., by frying, grilling or steaming).In Austria, carp are raised in some 190 ponds (approx. 2000 ha of pond surface) and approx. 232 facilities raise trout. In a total of some 3300 tonnes are produced per year, including 2400 tonnes of edible fish and some 900 tonnes of stocking fish. The main kinds are trout (approx. 2000 tonnes) and carp (770 tonnes).
Almost all of the fish raised in Austria is marketed directly by the fisheries. Thanks to the high quality and freshness, it can be sold to fine restaurants or “directly from the farm”. Only a small percentage of local products are sold wholesale because of price pressure from industrially produced imports.
25.02.2010, Lebensministerium III/2