The government has approved the rules for the establishment of aquaculture facilities in the Gulf of Riga, where it is planned to breed up to 10,000 tons of trout per year. It is planned that this will replace imported fish with local fish and will stimulate the establishment of new fish processing plants. However, scientists are against it. The coasts of Roja and Mersrags have been chosen as the most suitable areas for aquaculture. The area of the area in Roja is 3.69 square kilometers, and in Mersrags – 1.97 square kilometers, LETA reports with reference to Latvijas Avīze. The president of the Latvian Fishing Industry Union and co-owner of SIA Karavela Jānis Endele evaluates the project positively and is glad that there are enterprising people who can bring knowledge about marine aquaculture to Latvia and attract the necessary funding for the project. "The main advantage of this project is that we will be able to replace imported fish with local fish – we will buy fresh produce in supermarkets, and the money will stay in Latvia," he says, adding that this will also allow the creation of new enterprises that will process fish. Endele notes that marine aquaculture projects are widespread in the Baltic region countries – Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Entrepreneurs who want to grow trout in the Gulf of Riga have extensive experience in exporting fish products, which is important, since Latvia will probably also export trout in the future. At the same time, environmental organizations are concerned about the planned construction of aquaculture farms in the Gulf of Riga, considering the project a serious threat to the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea and a violation of international environmental commitments. Experts from leading scientific institutions of Latvia, government agencies and environmental organizations have stated that aquaculture facilities of this scale will lead to a significant increase in pollution in the Gulf of Riga and will worsen the general condition of the sea.
