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Organic Farmed Sea Bass & Sea Bream

Part of our Fish For Tomorrow Range

The Fishery Site
Organic Sea Bass & Bream Farming
The Sea Bass & Bream Range
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The Site

Off the coast of France, near Marseille, is a 2 hectare fish farm, which produces organic Sea Bass and Sea Bream.

Fish Farm site

The site is well protected from storms, while ensuring a constant renewal of the waters by strong undercurrents. The production zone is free of all industrial, agricultural and urban activity; and so the production is virtually unexposed to pollutants.

"Remarkable flavour, looks like a wild fish, smells of the sea and tastes fantastic".
comments of the Judges at 2006 Organic Food Awards on Graig Farm's Organic Sea Bass

The Farming

Organic farming of Sea Bass and Bream is similar to organic salmon or trout farming, and operates on the same principles. Amongst other things, this includes :

Feed

The feed is purely natural. No land-animal products or by-products are used in the feed, which is composed of :

Fish meal made from sustainable sources - wild-fish, managed by quotas to preserve natural resources; their quality is also controlled and certified organic. This French organic requirement differs from the UK organic feed controls, where bi-products of the fish industry are exclusively used as fish meal.
Certified organic cereals and plants, which are guaranteed to be free of any genetically modified organisms.
Vitamins and minerals .

The fish are fed between 1 to 4 times per day, depending on season and size.

Production Methods

Catching fish

Low production densities.
Coastal waters rated “Grade A”, the highest rating given, by the French government.
Fish are regrouped according to size to optimise growth.
The fish live in the open Mediterranean Sea, their natural environment. The quality of the sea water is daily checked and controlled. An environmental impact study was conducted on the site, and is used as a reference for regulatory purposes.

Organic Certification and Inspection

The site is inspected and approved by an independent, third-party, certification organization (Qualite France).

The implementation of organic standards is controlled at all stages of production. The certification controller helps us guarantee total traceability for the consumer.

Every one of the fish is labeled with an individual identification number, one that allows the consumer to trace, via the internet, the origin of and information about each fish purchased. Netting sea bass and bream

Agriculture Biologique logo

Organic certification is by “Agriculture Biologique” (AB), which was the first certified-organic label to be recognized by the European Union.

Fish Growth Rates

The fish grow slowly, as nature intended. To grow from 2 grams (juvenile) to 400 grams (average selling size) a fish requires 16 to 30 months for the European Sea-bass, and 14 to 28 months for the Sea-bream.

Just as in the wild, some fish tend to grow more quickly than others; that is why they are separated according to size.

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The Range

The European Sea Bass

The Sea Bream

Sea Bream

(Dicentrarchus labrax)
Class : Actinoptérygiens
Order : Perciformes
Family : Serranidé

Habit
This coastal-dwelling fish likes to swim along rocky coastlines.

Colour and Texture of the Meat
White meat with a very fine texture. Highest reputation in Western Europe.

Sale Size and Weight
It can grow to over 1.2 kg, but our fish are in the range 400 to 550g. Sold whole, but gutted, as well as filleted.

(Sparus aurata)
Class : Actinoptérygiens
Order : Perciformes
Family : Sparidés

Habit
The natural habitat of this fish is also situated along the coast, in up to 60 meters water depth. In the majority of cases, this fish is found in waters with sandy bottoms, surrounded by large rocks covered in algae and shellfish.

Colour and Texture of the Meat
White meat with a very fine texture.
Highest reputation in Western Europe .

Sale Size and Weight
It can grow to over 1.2 kg, but like the bass, our fish are in the range 400 to 550g. Sold whole, and filleted.