Indoor fish farmer:

“We want to push imported salmon out of Austria”

(Bild: Dominik Erlinger)

Nine out of ten fish consumed in Austria do not come from Austria: the self-sufficiency rate is seven percent. In a converted old weaving mill in the north of Upper Austria, they want to change that: At the foot of the Bohemian Forest, Austria's largest indoor aquaculture facility to date has been created. Company founder Michael Plöckinger gave Krone+ a tour of the high-tech recirculation system.

The path to the largest indoor aquaculture facility in Ulrichsberg leads through an inconspicuous sales and processing room. Plöckinger explains that he came up with the idea for the facility a few years ago after watching documentaries about industrial fishing and the huge salmon farms in Norwegian fjords with their terrifying consequences. He disinfects his hands, wipes his shoes on a disinfectant mat and puts on an apron as we enter the breeding halls. "We found the idea of aquaponics interesting and wanted to start something similar."