Croatian enterprise to increase production of European flat oysters
A team of researchers from the University of Dubrovnik and two Croatian entrepreneurs are planning to increase the country's production of European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis).
Flat oysters are considered a delicacy but the local production is limited to only 1000 tonnes which are cultivated in Mali Ston, a village in Croatia on the Peljesac Peninsula, by a unique method of production.
Only a few tonnes are exported to countries such as France, Italy and Spain, the rest being delivered to local restaurants opened for tourists.
With the help of EU funds, the University of Dubrovnik and two local entrepreneurs, Ivan Zovko and Dominik Mihaljevic, are planning now to boost production five times in less than four years.
That can open new export markets in Japan or some other countries, considering the fact that flat oysters are rare due to the infections from the parasite Bonamia ostrea. Still, Croatia doesn't have any documented cases of Bonamia ostrea and there are large parts of the coast that can be used to build oyster hatcheries, mentions Seafood Source magazine.
"We cannot produce enough, though with Croatia’s large coastline there is a lot of room for boosting production. The biggest problem is that we still collect spat from the wild, so we are limited how much we can produce. Due to the limited supply of oyster from the wild, export was never an option for the local oyster farmers. With the hatchery, we can increase the production five times in as little as three to four years. Our goal is to market the product to restaurants and bars until we establish ourself as a premiere oyster producer on the Japanese and world markets", declared Ivan Zovko.
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