Patroling in a tuna farm.

Murter Eco-patrols barely sat on Saturday, April 28, 2018, because they visited the Tuna farm! The kids were excited to spend a day in nature, hang out, move away from the school, and see and learn something new.

And it was like that. We left Murter at 9 and we arrived at the Zadar port of Gaženica where the Pelagos net farm is located. Our hosts welcomed us with the desire to show us and clarify how they work. We first saw a refrigerator where the small bluefish keeps eating. Little children were cold, but this did not prevent them from exploring the other plant where small bluefish are processed, marinated or salted and stored. The fish handled by the valuable hand of a worker is kept in chests of sand in the salamur, then it travels to Albania and Italy, where it finally becomes the ultimate product. For the first time, the children met with such a facility and they were very interested, though they were not the happiest for the smell of the farm.

After the land section, we boarded for Pelagos II and ready to sail to the island of Balabra, where the hunting lodge is located. The children were delighted with the Syrian ship that delivered in the harbour huge amounts of salt needed for the production of salty anchovies, and we immediately investigated where it was supplied, why it was imported, how it was sterilized, etc. It seems that our pallets do not have enough capacity to make them produce enough for everything, so this – may be it “smells” on the niche and new jobs. Certainly, by the company director, Nenad Horvat, we learned all about the way of hunting in the southern part of the Adriatic, the ways of transport, the bad weather, the ICCAT and the regulations that have to be met, feeding the tuna, cleaning the cage, emergency response, etc. In a short conversation, Mr Nenad has been trying to sum up the whole scientific, nutritional and business aspect of tuna breeding, and we are extremely grateful to him!
Of course, we had our duty – patrol! We had to find out if there was any chance that the tuna area would have a negative impact on the environment and the inhabitants of the surrounding islands. With a great deal of precaution, constant monitoring, and manual handling, the negative environmental impact is reduced to a minimum. Also, another control point was noted by Murter in the presentation on the expansion of the Pelagos net farm cages, and we believe that there will be no problems in the future either.

Once again, the patrol kids raised their awareness of environmental activities, educated, socialized, and carried out their patrol duties.

We thank all employees of the Pelagos Net Farms who have participated in a great organization!
By to the next patrol!