Huge Demand for this Trout

Known as the ''Organic Water Products Production Project'' and started by six partners, this project aims to produce certificated organic farmed fish and they will soon begin marketing their products.

RİZE – In its first stage the Project aims to produce around 500 tons of organic trout and they have already received expressions of interest from 7 other coutries, and many firms within this country all eager to buy the fish.

With the aim of rearing organic trout in Rize, the Rize regional Director of Agriculture, Şafak Bulut, started the project in 2003.  Firstly research was carried out into nitrates in the water in the region, both over and underground sources. Finally, after three years of monitoring the water, and ensuring no chemicals from agricultural practise polluted the sources, in 2006 the 'Organic Water Products Production Project' was established and became the first such project in Turkey.

From this year the project's work rearing organic trout has ended and it now becomes a commercial operation.  In October 2009 6 trout breeders gained organic certification for their entrepreneurial operations, and another one is currently awaiting certification.

The project proved for the first time that it is possible to produce organic trout feeding with only organic fish food. The entrepreneurs mentioned above hope to bring their first products to market within the next 1 – 2 months.

In Rize there are a total of 44 firms which between them produce around 2,500 tons of farmed trout each year. The first stage of the Project will be to produce around 500 tons of organic trout in one year.

AN IMPORTANT PROJECT COMES TO RİZE

Bulut explains that after years of work finally a project which comprises the best of practise with the production of organic water products, has come to Rize: “I started this project with the aim of establishing organic fish farming in Rize to meet the demand for such organic fish. My project has 5 separate strands. These are: to establish a place for organic fish production; to actually produce organic fish; to bring together all organic water products under one roof; to manage the production of water products and set up a packaging plant all of which should contribute to creating a viable tourist attraction.”

The first stage of the project, to produce organic fish food, is happening for the first time in Turkey and Bulut explains: “Production of organic fish food and of organic water products is only happening in a very few places in the world. In our country we were the first, and so far are the only, people to try this. We have had an important success.  For the country, and for Rize, we have developed a really important project.  And great interest has been shown in this project from abroad. In some countries scientific articles have been published about our project.”

The second strand of the project, to produce organic trout, has begun with 6 producers having gained the necessary certification, and Bulut says:

''All of the activity within this project, is being overseen by an Italian certification company who have world rights to the necessary certification.”

“From the temperature of the water to the size of the fish every detail is being recorded. We are taking this work very seriously.  Mature fish are sent to a laboratory abroad for analysis to check if they contain any inorganic elements. If all goes well with this analysis, as soon as we get the all clear, we shall begin marketing. In fact our first products should soon be on sale.”

Bulut points out that the project is of great importance for Rize and says ''In recent weeks we took part in an organic products fair in Izmir at which our stand attracted lots of interest. We lost count of the number of individuals and companies that visited our stand, both from this country and from other countries abroad, and all were keen to get information on our products. We have export requests from 7 different countries. At the same time lots of firms and markets in our country are also showing interest. We value all of these requests. It seems as if we won't have problems with our marketing.  And we can even sell our organic trout at a better price than normal farmed trout.”

Şafak Bulut added that his project team had also received an invitation from Bulgaria to go and help set up a similar project there.

ORGANİC TROUT – A WHOLE DIFFERENT TASTE

Mustafa Memoğlu runs a certificated organic trout farm in the Ayder highlands and says that the water in that region is clean and ideal for rearing trout, he goes on: ''We have only ever fed our fish with organic food. The Regional Director of Agriculture developed this project, which is the first of its kind in Turkey, and produces organic trout.”

 This project is still in development but they will shortly send their first fish for analysis abroad and then start marketing, as Memoğlu says: ''Fish produced organically really does have a very different flavour. We need to really push this aspect in our marketing, and this is not something we are good at. The public do not yet have an awareness of the benefits of organic products and this is something we need to change.”

Memoğlu recently took part in the organic food fair in Izmir to introduce his organic trout to the market and said there was great interest in his products: ''We were overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to place orders.  So I don’t think we will have any problems marketing. I think it will be easier to sell our fish in big cities.  We will struggle to sell at point of production due to lack of consumer knowledge.”