Kyrgyzstan farm boosting its product range with canned trout

Kyrgyzstan-based trout farm growing fish of up to 10 kilos has been continuously developing its product range and is now going to diversify into trout canning.

The farm grows trout in cages with running melt, glacial and therefore cold water. The water temperature does not rise above 10 degrees С even in summer. Another advantage is that a whole cascade of hydroelectric power stations works two kilometers from the cages upstream. Water falls from a great height and spins up powerful hydro turbines thus being enriched with extra oxygen and disinfected. Trout is fed up to five times a day, mostly with European feeds.

At present, the farm's cages hold 250 tons of trout, but their stocking capacity is twice as much. Next year the farmers are going to build a hatchery for Atlantic salmon and trout.

The harvest is delivered fresh (never frozen) for processing in the country’s capital Bishkek. The modern workshop produces a wide range of products including nearly 10 deli items. Fish chips and snacks, salted trout, hot and cold smoked on alder, beech or oak.

Old practices of deli production are gradually replaced by modern technologies. For instance, new smoking cabinets made in Europe helped the processors cut the smoking time to 2.5 hours.

In autumn this year, the farmers plan to commission a new processing line for trout canning. The owner of the farm brood over ambitious plans to enter global markets. They have already made trial shipments of fresh trout to Europe.

Kyrgyzstan is a small country in Central Asia, it is landlocked with mountainous terrain.