Grand Opening of Hatchery in Nin

On 22 September 2015, Cromaris’s new hatchery worth 17 million EUR was ceremonially opened in Nin. The hatchery represents both the largest investment in the Croatian fishing industry this year and the continuation of a powerful investment cycle with which Cromaris, a company that operates as part of the Adris Group, has invested 74 million EUR since 2009.   With its production of 6,000 tonnes, Cromaris is among the ten largest producers of sea bream and sea bass in Europe, generating more than 70% of its profit on markets within the European Union. Production was quintupled within the span of just a few years, with the ambitious plan of producing 10,000 tonnes of high-quality white fish by 2018. The newly-constructed hatchery is sure to contribute to further development as it will significantly reduce production costs, shorten the breeding cycle and improve the quality of the fry. As part of this investment spurt, the fish pregrowth facility in Mala Lamjana will be modernised, while investments will also be made into the pools for the supplementary feeding of the fry arriving from the hatchery in Nin.   The new hatchery was ceremonially opened by Ante Vlahović, MSc, Chairman of the Board of the Adris Group and Lana Vidović, an employee of Cromaris who began her career as an intern recruited as part of the project ˝Budućnost u Adrisu˝ (˝A Future in Adris˝), which aims to employ young, highly-educated people.   The entire facility is highly automatized. With a total area of 9,153 square metres, the new hatchery is organised in the manner that all breeding units are separate and have their own filtration systems, which allows for movement conditions that are ideal for the size and breed of fish planned. About 30 million units of fry, weighing between 5 and 7 grams, will be bred in the pools of the new hatchery. The breeding technology used in the hatchery is based on the careful selection and conditioning of the broodstock, which will be held in 15 new broodstock pools and thus, with time, allow for the extension of the hatching season. The breeding will be conducted in conditions that are completely controlled during the entire breeding process: from the broodstock and breeding of fry and juveniles to the breeding of livestock fish. In addition to a focus on the regular production of fry, an experimental station for the research of new breeding varieties has been built in the new hatchery.   With the opening of the hatchery in Nin – one of the most state-of-the-art facilities for hatching sea bass and sea bream – Cromaris will additionally strengthen its competitive advantage on the European and global market of high-quality white fish.