Thursday 28th April 2011 - Right up North

Yet another early start.  Breakfasted and checked out by 7.50am.  A two hour drive through Silkeborg right up to the North coast to a little town called Hanstholm and a visit to Royal Danish Aquaculture.

A slower drive than I’ve been used to so far, single carriageway roads.  Never the less after just over two hours we reached Hanstholm.  Sharon told me to drop her in the centre.  We drove up and down for a while and discussed what actually constituted a ‘centre’, then we spotted a conglomeration of about 5 shops, that was it.  They said they would probably make their way to the beach afterwards so I would meet them there.

So I drove a bit further towards the coast amongst a few factory type buildings which were obviously to do with some kind fishy business and then I spotted it, Royal Danish Aquaculture.  Not much sign of life at the front door so I peered round the side, a large roller door was opend with a couple of guys involved in some eel grading and one chap who looked in charge.  I waved nervously and the boss came over, it was Lars Lyn my contact.  After general introductions I again explained about the reason for my visit and the generosity of the Churchill Trust.

Lars wasted no time in ushering me into the main rearing units.  As we chatted about the various operations being carried out I was struck by the shear scale of it all, just the size and complexity of the pumps and pipe work systems alone were overwhelming.

I was lucky to walk straight into a grading session.  Juvenile eels of one year of age were being air-lifted into a three tiered grading device with fixed metal bars set to varying widths apart.  Each tier represented a different grade, or size of eels with the metal bars getting further apart with each tier.  So the smaller eels dropped through on the first one, the middle sized on the second and the largest on the very last tier.

At the end of the grader were three metal bins about two thirds of a cubic meter in volume.  They were filled with eels, a different size in each one and oxygen bubbling up from below.  Just then a forklift truck zoomed in and lifted the end tub with the smallest eels in, “They are for re-stocking, going to Germany,” said Lars.

We moved on to see halls of smaller juvenile tanks but no glass eels, these were weaned at another site.  Then Lars showed me his filtration plant, again on an immense scale, they produce 900 tons per year!!!  The drum filters were huge as were the bubbling fluidised bed bio filters and the degassing tanks.  With the cascading water and spray bars on drum filters it was really trying to hold a conversation.

After passing some massive grow out tanks, approximately 100 cubic meters in volume holding up to 150,000 eels weighing up to 300g, we retired to his office for coffee.  Lars was very pessimistic about the eel industry.  There had been good supplies of elvers this year and last so farms were buying them like crazy. With the ban on selling to the Far East, Lars felt that there would be a glut of European farmed eels in the next couple of years, causing a price crash with many people going out of business.

I asked about re-stocking but he said they were prevented from doing this on any scale and in any case, “Who is going to pay for them?” Lars was quite bitter about the stance of Green Peace and WWF (World Wildlife Fund, not the World Wrestling Federation…. although they may have a view on eels).  He was quite bitter about how these conservation organisations portrayed his business and mentioned that they did not believe in stocking.  I must admit I have some sympathies with his views, I think it is astonishing that these organisations discount re-stocking.

One thing is for certain, if the eel is to be saved the only thing that will save it is if we use all the possible resources that we have in the right combination.  Neither the fish passes or the water quality or the fishing bans will do it in isolation.  What seems obvious to me is that when a stock is at such perilous levels then it vital that the first life stages, the most vulnerable, have the highest survival possible.  In the case of the eel, stocking is a great short term measure because it is scientifically proven to increase silver eel escapement.  Habitats and water quality are long term aspirations needed for sustainability in the future.

Anyway we touched on eel breeding and  Lars again wished that the academic institutions would include the industry a bit more as they have the practical knowledge. 

It was time to pick up my family and leave Lars to his business.  I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him as I drove away, it seemed everything was against him and yet all they were doing was producing a product that obviously was required by the market.

Well the kids and Sharon were just a few hundred yards away.  They were sat on a block of concrete beneath a huge wind turbine beside an oily smelly, rusty container at the back of a fish processing factory…… not quite the beach they had anticipated!  They were frozen and glad to jump into the car.

So we set off south for Silkeborg where I had promised the kids we would stop to see the park and aquarium I visited yesterday with Michael Pedersen of the DTU.

After a good two hour drive we arrived and had a quick drink before visiting the park.  The PA system announced that the otter was about to be fed so we congregated around the pool next to the aquarium.  A young lady from DTU Aqua proceeded to throw in a couple of dead ducklings, I couldn’t believe the speed that the otter approached, retrieved, tore apart and digested the duckling.  She then threw in a couple of live salmon smolts and the swiftness with which the otter tracked them down was pretty awesome, although this probably would have been frowned upon in the UK by the PC police.

After a thoroughly entertaining 15 minutes my wife took the kids off to the play park while I went down to the basement room of the aquarium to see the eel display.  The whole basement was a tribute to this species and the displays were excellent.  I read every board and took many photographs.  There was a large central tank with some big eels in, again beautifully set up.  It was a thoroughly professional set up, I’ve always wanted to have something similar at my hatchery for a visitor centre, something that inspires youngsters and gives visitors  a little taste of the wonders of nature.

It was nearly time for the park to close so I tracked down Sharon and the kids by the paddling pool.  Sharon took one last photo of me by the eel tank and then we headed down south for the long drive to Copenhagen for our last nights stay.

After three hours of singing, Nintendos and in desperation, Danish Radio, we finally arrived wearily at our hotel at about 7pm.  A quick trip to the supermarket for some food for tea and then the kids were settled into bed.  I spent the next couple of hours, as I have done each night, downloading my pictures, typing up my notes and updating my blog.

We all retired to bed earlier than usual, shattered from 8 hours on the road and glad in the knowledge that we could have a lazy morning, it would be our last day.  We were flying out tomorrow evening, no more meetings and no more farms to visit, I must admit to feeling slightly relieved and very satisfied.