The Orrua fish farm is dedicated exclusively to the breeding of turbot in the Basque Country. The firm is now vying to start cod farming there. It is said that the firm will begin raising cod fry as of February 2010, in the first project of its kind in southern Europe. It is informed that the planning is set to be developed in Getaria, backed by the Sea and Food Industry Research Foundation (AZTI-Tecnalia) and with the technological support of a Norwegian company.
There are already two marine fish farms used to be operational in the Basque Country, in Getaria and Igeldo, which were involved in turbot breeding exclusively. But the company sources said that the business has not been profitable since the major Galician firms entered. For this reason, executives were forced to close the Igeldo plant, which produced 280 tonnes annually, and another two facilities they owned in Asturias and Cantabria.
It is told that the seafood group invested EUR 140 million to install 3,200 pools of 10 metres in diameter each, and create 350 jobs at peak operational capacity. The plant will produce 7,000 annual tonnes of turbot in its initial phase, although it aims to eventually reach 12,000 tonnes of annual output. In any case, the Basque fish farms must not only compete with the Galicia firms, but also with the coastal water temperature of the Basque Country.
