EU funds help: They breed African sharptooth catfish in a former brownfield

Here, catfish are nursed from spawn to the final product, boneless fish fillets. They are known under the Sumeček ze Stračova brand (i.e. Catfish from Stračov). The idea of breeding and processing catfish was born in 2018. “We were considering which fish to focus on. We originally thought of trout, which is very popular in restaurants. However, trout need cold water up to 14 degrees, and for that we would have to cool the water intensively. And suddenly we thought of catfish. It was actually a coincidence," Luděk Homoláč describes the past. He chairs the board of the Agricultural Public Limited Corporation (ZAS) Mžany, and was at the origin of the entire project.

There was a brownfield in the village of Stračov, where cattle had not been raised since 2009 and the premises were dilapidated. "I dreamed that this area would one day breathe with something interesting, a new idea, that we would bring it back to life. And that's how the catfish appeared," Luděk Homoláč recalls.

FISH FOR SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS
In Stračov, they produce annually 20,000 kilograms of catfish that go to school canteens, primary and nursery schools, hospitals, or retirement homes. The catfish are sold in the Hradec Králové and Pardubice Regions, but the company also has a customer who supplies school canteens all over the country.

The African sharptooth catfish are reared in Stračov in a so-called aquaculture system. "It is a closed circuit of recirculating water, which means that the water in the system spins, circulates, and daily we add to the system one to two percent of water that is pumped from underground wells. The water is naturally purified by biological microorganisms. We regularly carry out water analyses to check the quality. Thanks to this, our breeding achieves high quality. The fish are kept in large tanks of nine to twelve cubic meters in size," Luděk Homoláč explains.

Three projects with the support of EU funds, concerning the rearing of African catfish, cost in total approximately CZK 20 million. For this amount, a processing plant was built on a greenfield. For the completely new building, they purchased all the equipment needed to process fish, such as stainless steel tables, a vacuum sealer, a cooling system for the storage of fillets, and portable boxes that they use to distribute their products. "The project covered the purchase of recirculating aquaculture system technologies such as tanks, cleaning segments, heat pumps, power generator, electrical security, accumulation tanks and more," Luděk Homoláč lists.

ZAS Mžany received a grant covering almost 50 percent of the project cost from EU funds. "The EU support helped us a lot with the whole project. Without it, everything would be extremely complicated and we would certainly not be at the level we are now," Luděk Homoláč points out. Farmers highly appreciate the experience gained from the University of South Bohemia - Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, as well as from the agriculture-focused Mendel University in Brno. "We are also reaching out to secondary food and agricultural schools, that is a priority for us and a challenge for the next years. We also raise awareness in public catering and have published a cookbook with catfish recipes,” he adds.

REGIONAL AWARD
Working around fish is not easy, but Luděk Homoláč is pleased that they have a stable team. The company has more than sixty employees, about five percent of whom work with fish. "They are mostly enthusiasts who have a life with fish in their blood. Then we have experienced workers who go to markets in Hradec Králové and Pardubice to sell. We went through a difficult period of covid when the schools were closed and the canteens did not cook. Now the electricity price is constantly rising but we need it for all activities, in winter we need to heat water for example, so it is necessary to constantly look for ways to save. Fortunately, we are doing well and the result is several awards that our catfish have won. In the Regional Food competition, our product received the Award of the Governor of the Hradec Králové Region and we also hold the national Klasa quality label. Yet it is not easy, it is a commitment and for us simply a challenge for the next years," adds Luděk Homoláč, chairman of the board of ZAS Mžany.
 
"The EU support helped us a lot with the whole project. Without it, everything would be extremely complicated and we would certainly not be at the level we are now," Luděk Homoláč, ZAS Mžany
 
EU FUNDS BREATHED LIFE INTO A BROWNFIELD. Farmers from Mžany in the east of Bohemia work not only in the fields or in stables, but they also came up with the innovative idea of breeding a very tasty fish in this country - African sharptooth catfish. With the support of EU funds, they rebuilt a neglected building into a modern operation where they rear and process these fish. According to Luďek Homoláč (bottom middle), they leave nothing to chance and they also promote the consumption of tasty catfish. They have published a cookbook with fish recipes.

Photo: Deník daily/Jiří Macek + ZAS Mžany archive