SOLE FARMING: There or thereabouts!

Abstract

After years of uncertainty, it is a pleasure to report that sole is now being commercially farmed in significant quantities in Europe! Even though production levels are modest compared with other well-established species and there is still a considerable amount to be done to underpin the further development of the industry, a significant increase in production did provide positive cause for optimism at the latest Workshop on the Cultivation of Soles. The fifth Workshop in a series which began in 2002 was held from 5-7 April 2011 and was again hosted by CCMAR, University of the Algarve, Faro, Portugal where we were able to benefit from their excellent facilities and organizational support. An account of the previous Workshop was published in this journal (vol. 34/1). Despite the recent severe financial pressures, the level of interest in this Workshop was high with 75 registered participants. As the countries with the greatest involvement in the field Spain & Portugal contributed a large majority (86%) of these. The rest were from Norway, The Netherlands, Italy, UK and France, another country where significant production facilities are being developed. About a third of the participants were from industry, reflecting the present high level of commercial interest. This included almost all current producers, as well as many actively contemplating entering the field, and those involved in support industries such as feed and pharmaceutical companies. As previously, the Workshop sought to review the current status of the industry and, through discussions informed by presentations of current research, to identify viable options for alleviating current constraints. Thus, about one third of the Workshop was dedicated to formal presentations, the remainder to open discussion. The presentations provided clear evidence of the quality and diversity of research that is being undertaken in support of this embryonic industry. Encouragingly, a large proportion of the presentations were delivered by young post-graduate students or postdocs, providing tangible evidence of a new generation of innovative scientists entering the field!.