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Aquarium fish dominance waning

Former financial bulwark fails under global pressures

By Victor Velek
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
April 23rd, 2008 issue

Invariably, when you talk of fish in the Czech Republic, the conversation turns to carp. Centuries of cultivation and tradition have made the country Europe’s largest exporter of this pond-breeding fish.
But obscured by the murk of the carp’s dominance is a little-known fact: The Czech Republic is the world’s fourth-largest producer and exporter of freshwater ornamental and aquarium fish — the quiet, colorful companions of offices and university dorms.
Exports of aquarium fish netted more than 400 million Kč ($26 million) last year, an amount equal to the country’s carp exports, according to the Czech Statistical Office. And many in the industry say that number is understated.
“I don’t know how it was calculated but that data is clearly wrong,” said Petr Dvořák, president of the Czech Union of Aquarium Fish Breeders (UA ČR - AKVA CZ). He estimated annual pet fish exports to be worth 2 billion Kč.
“There is a long tradition of the fish keeping hobby,” said Jakub Suchánek of Exot Hobby, a business based in south Bohemia focusing on aquarium fish exports and fish food production.
“Under communism, pet animal breeding, including aquarium fish, was one of a few ways to get extra money on your own,” Suchánek said. “Aquarists were able to buy a car or a family holiday just by indulging in their hobby.”
According to Dvořák, the fall of communism set off a boom in aquarium fish traders, mainly because of attractive prices and steady demand in Austria and Germany.
There are still many small fish breeders, especially in border regions, who escape export statistics and sometimes also taxation by conducting cross-border sales by themselves, Suchánek said.
“Over the past three to five years, however, the number of full-time professionals has been on the decline,” Dvořák said. “A lot of those who made fish breeding their only source of livelihood have turned back into hobbyists.”
The main reasons are the strengthening crown, rising energy prices and prosperity brought by the growing economy.
“At least over the past three years, even large companies have had troubled times,” said Vladimír Chvál, head of Akvárium Bach, one of the country’s largest aquarium fish exporters.
Fish prices in Germany and Austria have increased 8 percent, while the crown has gained 25 percent against the euro and production costs have spiraled upward, Chvál added.
Cheap imports from Southeast Asia are another danger looming over the industry.
Unlike Czech fish, Asian aquatic pets are reared in large storage ponds and sometimes taken from the wild. Together with cheap labor and an agreeable climate, fish from Singapore and Vietnam are tough competition, according to Czech breeders.
“Only rising fuel prices, which have pushed transportation costs up, are keeping Czech breeders in the business,” Suchánek said.
Although Czech fish are in demand as they are already adapted to living in aquariums, the low Asian prices can still top this quality advantage. Aware of these problems, some companies have even set up their own breeding facilities in Asia, Dvořák said.
All the companies and aquarists surveyed by The Prague Post agreed that the Czech aquarium fish industry in general and exports in particular are on the brink of decline, or at least stagnation.
“The export spree is definitively about to end,” Chvál predicted, pointing to the case of the former East Germany, where hundreds of large breeders went bankrupt with the growing economy. “It’s impossible to breed fish in an advanced economy and sell them at global prices.”

Victor Velek can be reached at vvelek@praguepost.com


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