The production of caviar in the XXI century is certainly different to the methods used during caviar’s glamorous history. Breeding fish in captivity demands many natural resources to resemble the natural environment of fish. However, using technology, these requirements can be reduced almost entirely without compromising the welfare
Fresh, clean running water is vital for aquaculture. However, in the current state of water scarcity, the use of water for industrial activity must be as delicate as the current technology allows it in order to reduce the environmental impact.
Through the cultivation of denitrifying bacteria in our biofilters, over 95% of the waters employed in our farming centre are purified and returned to the pools, reducing by over 20 times the centre’s overall water demand.
Furthermore, the waters that leave our centre are treated before being released to comply with the strictest quality standard, which is constantly supervised. They are clear waters, odourless and tasteless, free of antibiotics and other drugs, but also rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK), natural fertilisers that are useful for our gardens, orchards, and the nearby agricultural crops.
The final waste of aquaculture is sewage sludge that consists of feces and uneaten food.
It is common in aquaculture that sewage is contaminated by the use of antibiotics and other drugs. At Kenoz we follow a drug-free policy, which allows us to accumulate sewage, and after a process of drying through natural evaporation, it is used to fertilise our gardens and orchards.
In the aquatic environment, oxygen availability is low compared to the atmosphere, and fish quickly consume it. Without a clean, abundant, and constant supply of oxygen, farming would not be possible.
In aquaculture the use of liquid oxygen is very common. However, its production requires a huge amount of energy, and its use is complex and dangerous due to its cryogenic temperatures and highly oxidizing nature.
Therefore, at Kenoz we decided to disregard the use of liquid oxygen, injecting the air that surrounds us instead. Through a system of state-of-the-art ventilators, the smallest air bubbles are pumped in the water, which are conducted to achieve two purposes: oxygenating the waters and propelling a huge volume of water that circulates through our tanks without the need to connect additional pumps.
These combined technologies allow the centre to save energy; if the refusal to use liquid oxygen is also taken into account, Kenoz consumes less than 5% of the energy used by a traditional recirculation system of aquaculture.
