Fish farmers in Wallonia work together on local chain

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue for Belgian consumers when buying food. Under the influence of climate concerns and the current pandemic, the interest in local food is strongly increasing. And it is precisely on this aspect that the Walloon fish and aquaculture sector wants to capitalise by strongly expanding local production in the coming years.

Wallonia is rich in waterways, while Flanders has a lot of knowledge and research on aquaculture. Moreover, aquaculture fits in with the EU objectives of 'blue growth'. The current 40 Walloon fish farmers produce about 320 tonnes of salmonids annually. Early November 2021, the whole chain came together for the first time to discuss the establishment of a 100% Walloon chain. The objective is to replace the import by the production from own soil and to have the processing take place locally. The aim is to achieve an annual production of 2,000 tonnes by 2025, i.e. a six-fold increase in four years. The Flemish customers were also well represented at these talks in order to inform the Walloon sector about their quantitative needs for 100% locally farmed fish, the packaging requirements and the forms of processing fish.

The average annual fish consumption in Belgium amounts to 24 kg per person. This makes fish the 2nd most important source of protein in Belgium.

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