Bioaqua Trout Farm - Al Assi River, Hermel - Bekaa valley, Lebanon.

For over 50 years, Owned by Kanso family, Bioaqua Trout Farm has been the leader of trout farming on the bank of Al-Assi river, in Hermel area north-east of Lebanon.

Triploid Rainbow Trout is the main fish Bioaqua is culturing.

Mr. Haidar Kanso

Bioaqua possess their own hatchery not only to stock their ponds and raceways but also to supply other farmers with premium fingerlings, fertilized eggs are imported from reputable suppliers in Europe and North America. 

Mr. Kanso at the hatchery checking the trout eggs.

In a highly hygienic and sterile slaughterhouse, Bioaqua prepare their products before delivery for both local markets and for export, Bioaqua ship their fresh products to United Arab Emirates, Syria and Jordan.    

Bioaqua also supply their customers with excellent trout fillets.

Early morning trout feeding frenzy in Bioaqua Trout farm. 

Gilt Head Sea Bream, Sparus Aurata.

The Gilt-Head Sea bream "Sparus aurata" is common in the Mediterranean Sea, present along the Eastern Atlantic coasts from Great Britain to Senegal, and rare in the Black Sea. 

It commonly reaches about 35 centimeters (1.15 ft) in length, but may reach 70 centimeters (2.3 ft) and weigh up to about 17 kilograms (37 lb).

Traditionally, gilt-head sea bream were cultured extensively in coastal lagoons and saltwater ponds, until intensive rearing systems were developed during the 1980's. The Italian 'vallicoltura' or the Egyptian 'hosha' are extensive fish rearing systems that act like natural fish traps, taking advantage of the natural trophic migration of juveniles from the sea into coastal lagoons. Gilthead seabream are very suitable species for extensive aquaculture in the Mediterranean, due to their good market price, high survival rate and feeding habits (which are relatively low in the food chain).

Gilt-Head Sea Bream Fingerlings. 

Artificial breeding was successfully achieved in Italy in 1981-82 and large-scale production of gilthead seabream juveniles was definitively achieved in 1988-1989 in Spain, Italy and Greece. The hatchery production and farming of this fish is one of the success stories of the aquaculture business. This species very quickly demonstrated a high adaptability to intensive rearing conditions, both in ponds and cages, and its annual production increased regularly until 2000, when it reached a peak of over 87 000 tonnes.

Inside fish cage.

Usually every hatchery has its own broodstock unit, where breeders of various age groups, from 1 year-old males to 5-year old females, are kept under long-term stocking conditions. Breeders can come either from a farm or from the wild. 

Main producer countries

Most production occurs in the Mediterranean, with Greece (49 percent) being by far the largest producer in 2002. Turkey (15 percent), Spain (14 percent) and Italy (6 percent) are also major Mediterranean producers. In addition, considerable production occurs in Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Malta, Morocco, Portugal and Tunisia. There is also gilt-head sea bream production in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea. Kuwait and Oman are minor producers.

Gilthead seabream is an esteemed food fish, but catches of wild fish have been relatively modest, between 6,100 and 9,600 tonnes in 2000–2009, primarily from the Mediterranean.
Known in Lebanon as Ajaj أجاج, in Egypt as Denis دينيس, in France as Dorade Royal, in Italy as Carina, in Malta as Dorata, in Greece as φαγκρί, in Spain as Dorada and in Turkey as Çipura.

Sea bass Fish Farm on the Adriatic coastline.

On the bay of Piran - Adriatic sea, Fonda sea bass Fish Farm organize guided visits which are conducted in Slovenian, Italian and English.

Slovenia's Adriatic coastline stretches approximately 43 km (27 mi) from Italy to Croatia. 

Managing director Mrs. Irena Fonda.

A tour and degustation at Fonda fish farm for groups up to 50 people. 

An “open door policy”, allowing an important visibility of their farming process to visitors and tourists.

The European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a primarily ocean-going fish that sometimes enters brackish and fresh water. It is also known as the sea dace. Highly regarded as a table fish, it is often marketed as Mediterranean seabass, loup de mer, robalo, lubina, spigola, branzino, or bronzino.

China visit - Inland fish farm video.

On my way from Wuhan city to Shanghai on bullet train, 15 June 2015, a mega inland fish farm, I only captured half of it.

Aquaculture raceway system for growing shrimp and tilapia.

In July 2011, Dr. David Brune and some of his students at Missouri University’s Bradford Research Farm began building a greenhouse/raceway system for growing marine shrimp year-round in Missouri. Before joining the staff at Missouri University, Brune worked at Clemson University in South Carolina, where he developed a, partitioned aquaculture system for growing shrimp and tilapia. He has designed a similar system for central Missouri. It’s on one-fifteenth of an acre, and he thinks it will produce around 2,500 pounds of shrimp in the next six months. He wants to prove it’s possible to use sustainable technology to farm shrimp profitably in Missouri.

European Seabass - Dicentrarchus labrax

The European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), is a primarily marine fish that sometimes enters brackish water and found rarely in rivers for very short periods. It is also known as the sea dace. Highly regarded as a table fish, it is often marketed as Mediterranean seabass, loup de mer, robalo, lubina, spigola, branzino, branzini, bronzino, bronzini, Karouss قاروص in Egypt, and Braq براق in Lebanon. 

European seabass were historically cultured in coastal lagoons and tidal reservoirs before the race to develop the mass-production of juveniles started in the late 1960's. Fish culture was initially associated with salt production in coastal evaporation pans and marshes. The salt was harvested during the high evaporation season of summer and autumn, and fish were cultured during winter and spring. The supply for this culture came from trapping schools of fish that lived in these estuarine areas.

During the late 1960's, France and Italy competed to develop reliable mass-production techniques for juvenile seabass and, by the late 1970s, these techniques were well enough developed in most Mediterranean countries to provide hundreds of thousands of larvae. The European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) was the first marine non-salmonid species to be commercially cultured in Europe and at present is the most important commercial fish widely cultured in Mediterranean areas. Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Croatia and Egypt are the biggest producers.

Its habitats include estuaries, lagoons, coastal waters, and rivers. It is found in the waters in and around Europe, including the eastern Atlantic Ocean (from Norway to Senegal), the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea.

Global production of seabass reached 162,172 tonnes in 2012, primarily from aquaculture (153,182 tonnes).