A Marine Harvest salmon-smokehouse disused since 2014 has been turned into a land-based trout facility by French officials and aquaculture enthusiasts focused on jobs.
The site revitalization at Poullaouen in Brittainy, France, has apparently already come to employ 185 jobs in three years, but a planned land-based trout farm could employ a half-dozen more. Local officials are reportedly keen to have the trout farm, Le Telegramme has reported.
The director of the Breton Aquaculturalists Cooperative, Dominique Charles, reportedly said the plan was still in its infancy and that it was too early to tell what form it would take or what the annual tonnage of trout would be.
“What is certain is that we are working in collaboration with state services on a fish-farm scheme that will be in perfect harmony with the environment and that less than a dozen jobs are envisaged,” Charles was quoted as saying.
The trout farm idea comes from the Breton Aquaculturalists cooperative in Plouigneau. A young, local mayor and local officials are extending the planning time by a year to include a feasibility study.
Some EUR 4 million in public money is understood to have made available to secure area jobs at the site.
