On November 1, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Open Joint Stock Company "Rybkhoz Novinki" (Postavy District) has increased its pond fish sales by a third in 2011, the company's director, Alexander Likhomnov, told a BELTA correspondent. This year, the fish farm sells about 7 tonnes of fish per day, while in 2010 it was about 5 tonnes. According to Alexander Likhomnov, consumer demand was driven by two factors. Firstly, fish has become competitive in price compared to meat, and secondly, advertising encouraging people to remember fish as a necessary ingredient for healthy eating has played its positive role. "People have learned to eat and cook fish," the source said. He also added that specialized fairs "Fish of Belarus" provide great assistance to fish farms in selling fish to the public. The enterprise is an active participant in them and considers it advisable to hold them until the end of November. For 9 months of this year, the fish farm caught and sold 70 tonnes of silver carp and 60 tonnes of white amur, while for the whole of 2010, about 100 tonnes of this valuable fish were sold. Based on the year-end results, the enterprise expects to increase the volume of grown commercial fish by 10% and make a profit from cultivation and sales. In 2010, the enterprise grew 1305 tonnes of fish, including 1015 tonnes of commercial fish. "Rybkhoz Novinki" is the northernmost fish farm in Belarus, with a total area of 967 hectares, including 775 hectares of fattening ponds. By the total area of ponds, "Novinki" is among the top ten fish farms in the republic. In terms of economic performance over the last five years, the joint-stock company has been among the top three fish farming enterprises in Belarus. The fish farm has a modern incubation workshop built as part of the program for the development of the fish farming industry for 2006-2010. The incubation workshop is designed to produce and grow 15 million larvae. Many fish farming organizations in the country purchase planting material. -0-

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