President of Békés County Council Zoltán Farkas and State Secretary for Rural Development Zsolt V. Németh signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday in Békéscsaba regarding the development of a model project for the promotion of fish consumption in Hungary, and the increasing of productivity and the quality of processing.

"The objective of the model project entitled 'Healthy Fish for our Children! – Establishing the Foundations of Fish Processing in Biharugra' is to increase productivity and establish the fish processing industry around one of Hungary's largest lake systems", Zoltán Farkas told Hungarian news agency MTI in relation to the project. "An additional goal is to increase employment in the region", he added.

"To serve the demands of the target market, primarily children and public catering, the development of a formed, de-boned, breaded and pre-fried product range is required, and locally bred carp, bighead carp and grass carp are especially suited to serve as basic ingredients", he said.

Photo: Békés County Council

"The realisation of the project would increase employment, would introduce Hungarian fish into the public catering system, and would correspond integrally with the country's strategic plans and the County's objective to become one of the engines of the Hungarian food economy", the region's Member of Parliament added.

As a result of the project, the current number of fish industry workers could increase from the current number of 15 to around 100-150, in addition to which the complex development of the Biharugra lake system would also be realised.

The Biharugra Fish Farm is found in Békés County in the direct vicinity of the Romanian border, and the area is one of the country's largest circular-embankment fishing lake systems, spreading across some 2000 hectares. Fish caught here are of excellent quality, because the lake-beds are rich in minerals, and this produces highly flavoured fish meat with high protein levels and low levels of fat of favourable composition with high essential amino acid content. However, without a suitable processing plant, the fish produced are currently sold live on both domestic and foreign markets. These products are extremely popular abroad because of their excellent quality, and the majority of stocks are exported.

The yearly consumption of fish in Hungary is 4.5 kilograms per person per year, which is extremely low compared to the 24 kilogram EU average. Although statistics show that domestic fish consumption is increasing slowly year-by-year, this is achieved almost exclusively from imported products. The essential reason for this is that the level of processing of fish bred in Hungary is extremely low.

"An agreement relating to HUF 5 million has been signed with the Ministry of Rural Development for the elaboration of the study, which is expected to be completed by spring 2013, after which the products may be introduced into the public catering system as early as the second half of the following year", announced Zoltán Farkas.

(MTI)