Pisciculture de la Commanderie 7
The history of Belgian fish farming begins here!
Belgium’s oldest fish farm is still in operation, fed by the “Voer” spring which gave its name to the village “Voeren”, or for French-speaking purists, the “Foron” which gave its name to the village “Fouron”.
It is the largest spring in Flanders, with a flow rate of 4,000 liters per minute.
Its constant temperature and high calcium content make this source a major quality for fish farming.
It flows through the grounds of the Commanderie castle via ponds and moats, then leaves the estate to become the Voer river, until it joins the Meuse 12 kilometers further on, near Eijsden.
Farming is still done by hand, as it was over a century ago. Some fish-farming companies can produce rainbow trout in less than 8 months, whereas in France it takes almost twice as long, and nearly 30 months for fario trout.
We raise most of our fish ourselves, but it’s not uncommon to call on other artisan fish farmers who are just as fanatical as we are, in order to top up our stocks. Reproduction and rearing are not an exact science, and the number of predators is increasing (kingfishers, cormorants, herons, etc.).
Handcrafted breeding that respects time
Breeding, rearing and fattening
Fertilization is still done the old-fashioned way: we mix eggs and sperm from our breeding stock with a quill pen. We also buy embryonated eggs to guarantee genetic biodiversity.
It takes around 40 days for the eggs to hatch, then the fry remain in the “lab” for a few months before being put into our ponds. This “lab” was last refurbished in 1925.
The majority of fish raised are rainbow and brown trout.
- The quality of a fish is defined by three major factors: water, food and time.
- Water: there's nothing better than spring water, which guarantees a constant temperature, ideal for trout rearing and their well-being. The second advantage is its purity, free from certain pollutants that can be found in our waterways.
- Food: we've switched to organic food, which guarantees an absence of GMOs and pesticides (notably the E324 created by Monsanto). The yield is lower with organic, but the quality higher.
- Time: you have to give quality time.
Discover also the berg fishery
Berg7 Fishing is located 1 km from the Commanderie7 fish farm and includes 6 fishing ponds supplied by a spring with a flow rate of 1,500 liters per minute.
