Jonah van Beijnen

Jelle Busscher, founder of Streekvis © Streekvis The Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in northern Europe. It was first scientifically described in the genus Salmo and it somewhat resembles a small, but beautifully speckled, Atlantic salmon. In a small village near the river Rhine, in an area well known for its fruit orchards, we meetJelle Busscher.

It’s a windy morning in the small coastal town of Hirtshals in the north of Demark. In an industrial area near the port, where tourists are waiting to catch the ferry to Norway, stands a large indiscriminate set of buildings that contains the first recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) salmon farm that has managed to generate positive financial results: Danish Salmon. The birthplace of RAS?

China’s agricultural lands are already exploited to near-maximum levels with very little room for expansion or intensification for either crops or livestock. Similarly, its coastal waters have very limited space for the expansion of seafood production. However, it’s once-traditional aquaculture industry is experiencing a remarkable two-pronged revolution.