Page 35 - Rižnar, Igor, and Klemen Kavčič (ed.). 2017. Connecting Higher Education Institutions with Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 35
The Co-Creation of Competitive Knowledge
The completely unique climatic conditions in the Bay of Piran are due
to a mild Mediterranean climate and the marine ecosystem. In winter,
the temperature of the sea drops to between 6°C to 8°C, with the result
that in some winter months, the fish do not eat, and thus get physically
‘cleaned.’ For this reason, the growth of the fish is slower. Piran’s bay
has natural protection from the northern and southern wind because
it is flanked by Cape Savudrija and Piran’s Punta. A constant flow of
sea water is provided by the form of the Gulf coast; primarily of the
Savudrija’s coast, where the bottom of the bay reaches 15m in-depth.
In order to have enough space and a continuous flow of water for the
sea bass, the fish farm was built in the middle of the sea instead in the
offshore basins. The fish farm net cages extend to a depth of 11 m and
have a diameter of 8 m to 12 m. These standard rates, which are set by
the members of the Fonda family, represent improved aquaculture con-
ditions. In each net cage, there are usually twenty thousand fry, which
means that they have a relatively large amount of space for their devel-
opment, as it could be possible to keep many more juveniles in a cage of
this size.
Better living conditions for the fish mean higher costs as they have
to take boat trips to the farm every day: ‘Economically speaking, ev-
erything we are doing is wrong; we have fish in the cage too long, give
them too good or too expensive food, do not use chemicals in the cage
maintenance, have a volume of fish ten times less than is usual in fish
farms. But this is the price you have to pay if you want the best fish in
the world and fish that feel good with us,’ dr. Irena Fonda believes.
When the fry are delivered to the farm, they are seven months old
and weigh an average of 6g. Feed for the fish is made from verified high-
quality components. This means that the feed contains many cereals
and marine organisms. Feeding of the fish is only performed manually
and in moderation, in order to have fish without accumulated excess
fat. Fish farm cages are not coated to prevent the growth for marine
organisms because such chemical agents are harmful to the environ-
ment. For this reason, cages are replaced or cleaned at least four times
a year, which represents dangerous and gruelling extra manual work
that requires a lot of energy. The fish are nursed in this way for four to
five years and gain weight on average from 300g to 500g. Some of them
achieve weights up to 3kg.
At the present time, fish is offered that fall into Fonda’s ‘selection
category,’ which are reared for 8 years. The result of careful cultivation
33
The completely unique climatic conditions in the Bay of Piran are due
to a mild Mediterranean climate and the marine ecosystem. In winter,
the temperature of the sea drops to between 6°C to 8°C, with the result
that in some winter months, the fish do not eat, and thus get physically
‘cleaned.’ For this reason, the growth of the fish is slower. Piran’s bay
has natural protection from the northern and southern wind because
it is flanked by Cape Savudrija and Piran’s Punta. A constant flow of
sea water is provided by the form of the Gulf coast; primarily of the
Savudrija’s coast, where the bottom of the bay reaches 15m in-depth.
In order to have enough space and a continuous flow of water for the
sea bass, the fish farm was built in the middle of the sea instead in the
offshore basins. The fish farm net cages extend to a depth of 11 m and
have a diameter of 8 m to 12 m. These standard rates, which are set by
the members of the Fonda family, represent improved aquaculture con-
ditions. In each net cage, there are usually twenty thousand fry, which
means that they have a relatively large amount of space for their devel-
opment, as it could be possible to keep many more juveniles in a cage of
this size.
Better living conditions for the fish mean higher costs as they have
to take boat trips to the farm every day: ‘Economically speaking, ev-
erything we are doing is wrong; we have fish in the cage too long, give
them too good or too expensive food, do not use chemicals in the cage
maintenance, have a volume of fish ten times less than is usual in fish
farms. But this is the price you have to pay if you want the best fish in
the world and fish that feel good with us,’ dr. Irena Fonda believes.
When the fry are delivered to the farm, they are seven months old
and weigh an average of 6g. Feed for the fish is made from verified high-
quality components. This means that the feed contains many cereals
and marine organisms. Feeding of the fish is only performed manually
and in moderation, in order to have fish without accumulated excess
fat. Fish farm cages are not coated to prevent the growth for marine
organisms because such chemical agents are harmful to the environ-
ment. For this reason, cages are replaced or cleaned at least four times
a year, which represents dangerous and gruelling extra manual work
that requires a lot of energy. The fish are nursed in this way for four to
five years and gain weight on average from 300g to 500g. Some of them
achieve weights up to 3kg.
At the present time, fish is offered that fall into Fonda’s ‘selection
category,’ which are reared for 8 years. The result of careful cultivation
33
