Icon: enlarge
Fishermen with carp at the Groß Schauener See in Brandenburg
Photo:
Patrick Pleul / dpa
Sausages with potato salad, fondue or goose: the list of traditional Christmas dinners is long.
In many regions of Germany carp is one of them.
And the demand for the fish has apparently increased this year.
For example, carp pond farmers in Bavaria's Upper Palatinate have already sold all of their fish to the trade.
"The demand is even stronger this year," said the Vice President of the State Fisheries Association, Alfred Stier.
“People think differently.
You can't go out to eat and instead have to cook for yourself. ”In Lower Saxony, too, pond owners are happy about good business.
Because of the closed restaurants, carp pond farmers are currently losing an important sales channel.
The pond owners in Franconia are facing major problems because they only sell to the catering industry, said Martin Oberle, head of carp pond management at the Bavarian State Agency for Agriculture in Höchststadt.
Good sales with direct marketers
On the other hand, the corona crisis has no negative impact on sales in Lower Saxony, said Christina Hiegel from the Chamber of Agriculture in Hanover.
The direct marketers in particular were currently selling a lot of carp.
"That is a ray of hope, people want to treat themselves to something good."
This is also confirmed by the Ahlhorn pond management, one of the largest carp farms in Lower Saxony.
“All hell is going on here.
Because the gastronomy is closed, private individuals come to us, ”said Fischwirtschaftsmeister Friedrich von Heydebrand.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 4600 tons of carp were bred across Germany in 2019, with Bavaria and Saxony leading by a large margin.
After the rainbow trout, the common carp is still the most important fish from aquaculture in Germany.
The amount generated has been at a similar level since 2015.
In Bavaria, however, the yield this year will be slightly below average, said Oberle.
Otters and cormorants have decimated populations in some places.
"It's a tough bread," confirmed Stier, who himself owns a fish farm in the Upper Palatinate.
"It's more of a passion than making a lot of money with it."
In Brandenburg and Saxony, carp pond farmers also had to deal with heat and drought this year.
Nevertheless, there will be enough carp in Brandenburg on the festive days, said Lars Dettmann, managing director of the State Fisheries Association.
One is optimistic that the meager result of only 450 tons from the previous year will be exceeded.
The Saxon State Fisheries Association, on the other hand, reckons with carp a slightly below average amount of 1500 to 1700 tons.
Icon: The mirror
apr / dpa