The wild beach between Bijela and Kamenar thirty years ago was an oasis of freedom for Nikola Malović and his girlfriend at the time.
"Today, that girl is my wife, full of memories of the time when, as a student, I took out kilograms of vongole from that shallow and sold them to fish restaurants in Herceg Novi," says the writer from Boka Kotorska.
Nikola also remembers that once the coast and the water of the wild beach were rich in shells.
"30 years ago, you could find seashells on the rocks and fingerlings in the rocks, oysters on the rocks, clams and clams in the sand, snails and snails, small petal shells, the occasional kunjka, palastura, and fan. , and from the more exotic snails, the petr's ear, the net top, the spindle... Today there is not a single shell. Only here and there some small scumbag, some lonely slob..."
Anyone who has visited Boka at least once in the last thirty years has witnessed the changes that Malović is talking about. It is especially noticeable that the pontoons in the bay, once full of shells, due to the sharpness of which, in fear of cuts, bathers carefully exited the water, almost no longer have shell decorations.
"The coastal zone is a zone where, by nature, everything is teeming with life. Now it is a cemetery above which there are umbrellas and sunbeds," said Malović in an interview.
When asked how much life there is in the coastal area today, he directly accuses the local administration, the Marine Corps and the tenants of the beaches...
"Because they are a substrate of inadequate chemical composition, which in recent years they have been pouring in pharaonic quantities (in order to collect the land stolen from the sea) - they have literally put thousands and thousands of coastal restrictions in the grave. In the past, a child in Kotor, for example, received a serious reprimand if he threw, be careful, a stone into the sea! Why? The rationale was that, in the long run, the sea is being buried! What the biggest hotelier in Bijela has done represents the kind of shamelessness that the eye of Bokel has never seen. He "buried" everything alive under the sea. Today, the view of the littoral zone is sad. There are no shells in the sand, there are no shells on the rocks. Here and there a fish passes by, here and there the eye sees a sea urchin".
Nine contracts for shellfish farming in 2021.
In 2021, Morsko dobro concluded nine contracts for the installation of fishing houses for the needs of mariculture farms. The same number of contracts was concluded last year and in 2019, while fewer contracts were concluded in 2018, 2017 and 2016.
Mussels and oysters are two types of shellfish grown in marine aquaculture in Montenegro. These are shells of high commercial value and exceptional nutritional characteristics. The mussel can be seen on pontoons and other solid objects in the tidal zone, where it naturally grows to a depth of 10 to 15 meters. In Montenegro, it is cultivated according to the system of floating parks.
"These are buoys on supporting lines, where clams are grown for about a year and a half. It's a breeding cycle, from the beginning, from the acceptance of young clams to consumption," he explains Milica Mandic from the Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Montenegro.
Mandić is the manager of the "Food4Health" project, through which the Institute will grow organic oysters, microalgae and mussels in the laboratory.
According to data from the Bureau of Statistics (Monstat), in 2016, 179 tons of mussels and 13 tons of oysters were grown. Until last year, the price of mussels jumped slightly from 1,3 to 1,5 euros, and Monstat records a higher production of this type of mussels - in 2018, 228 tons of mussels were produced, and 223 tons a year later.
The price of oysters has not changed since 2016, and this type of shell is sold for eight euros per kilogram. In the last five years, the quantity of produced oysters has been constant and, according to Monstat data, amounts to 17 tons per year. The Institute of Marine Biology says that the production capacity is much higher.
"Oyster production is at a very low level compared to potential," says Mandićeva.
The "Food4Health" project supports the production of shellfish under natural conditions. Along with the establishment of the hatchery, microalgae, which oysters feed on, will also be grown in the Institute. The plan is to grow mussels organically, as well as their branding, because of the quality that the Bokeš mussel has, which, Mandićeva says, has not been recorded in the literature, even at the world level.
"Shells were our main goal, to raise that sector from the bottom where it was for years and in relation to how it was treated by the competent institutions. It's healthy seafood, and both oysters and clams are a source of protein. In the middle of the tourist season, the demand is huge, and the production is not enough to satisfy even the domestic market, let alone to talk about exports. And this is what the state certainly does not recognize. If he recognized it, we would expand with shellfish farms," says Mandićeva.
Near the Institute of Marine Biology, there has been an experimental shellfish farm for more than 20 years, and various types of scientific research in the field of marine aquaculture have been carried out there.
Support for natural cultivation
In natural breeding, young individuals are planted in special nets and waited for them to grow. In that process, adds Mandićeva, no food or chemicals are added...
"Now, what God wants for you next year, if there will be an abnormal storm, if there will be an attack by predatory fish species, and they will eat everything in one or two nights. These are big risks in production, and the worst thing is that the state does not understand what potential we have here, that it should be at the level it deserves," she says, adding that the goal of the "Food4Health" project is to, to the greatest extent possible, promotes the opportunities that shellfish production provides.
The "Food4Health" project has been implemented for almost two years. New aquaculture laboratories have already been built, with a total area of about 260 square meters. According to Mandićeva, they will use shells from Boka to grow fry.
"Natural, autochthonous. We will find the ones that look the best," she adds.
In the laboratories of the Institute of Marine Biology, artificial breeding of oysters will take place - from adults to juveniles. In addition, different types of algae will be grown in the laboratories, which the shells feed on in different life cycles. When they reach a certain size, the production of shells continues in a natural environment, where growers from the Boka area, with the scientific and professional help of the Institute, will grow the oysters to edible size.
To start breeding, says Mandićeva, you will not need more than a hundred adults. The Institute expects that in the first cycle they could have over 200.000 individuals that they will transfer to breeding facilities in the natural environment.
"That is one of the main goals of the project, we will get an excellent multifunctional laboratory, where we will raise the scientific areas of marine aquaculture to a level that we have never had in the Institute, and on the other hand, everything we do, we will directly apply in the business sector and shellfish farming in the natural environment", says Mandićeva and adds that in this way they provide support to small and medium-sized enterprises in aquaculture.
"What do we achieve with that? We will significantly increase the total amount of oysters in the bay, which have been caught abnormally, due to the huge price, two euros a piece. Natural populations are very small due to overfishing. Our growers would be more competitive on the domestic market through increased cultivation, and they could also export, at least to the regional market," she explains.
Mussels from Boka as a brand
In addition to the laboratory production of oysters, the Institute also plans to protect the geographical origin of the mussel.
"We analyzed the nutritional values of mussels and found that they contain huge amounts of protein, even over 50, which surprised us all, so we repeated the analyzes to see if this is really the case, because such a quantity of protein has never been reported, not only for the Adriatic , but also at the world level. That was the basis for us to propose the branding of mussels from Boka", says Mandićeva.
The quality of the Boka mussel, she adds, can be attributed to the specifics of Boka.
"Boka is such that there are a lot of underwater sources, sources of fresh water, nutrients that are washed from the land..."
All this means an obligation for the authorities to devote themselves additionally to the protection of that area.
"That's right. A lot of things affect the quality, and the biggest anthropogenic impact is everything that man makes and does in the sea, which is most negative for marine life," says Mandićeva.
The laboratory opens up new possibilities
For all that is planned, the Institute has not yet acquired all the necessary equipment, but they expect that cultivation should begin in February.
"It is a question of specific equipment for growing, here in Montenegro, a similar type of equipment is found in companies that make swimming pool equipment, but that is not what is applicable to us. We need all that, but much more sensitively. Oysters are very sensitive organisms, no bacteria must enter the laboratory during artificial cultivation. We are forced to look for equipment outside of Montenegro. We have sent the request to Italy, Croatia, we are negotiating with an American company, the prices are very high, now we are looking to make sure that it is of high quality, and that we have the means to cover it".
In addition to the fact that the market should receive quantities of oysters that growers cannot achieve under natural conditions, to give new value to mussels, the project of the "Food4Health" Institute is also of great importance for science.
"For the first time, we have a laboratory in which we have salt water, we have pools for growing marine organisms, with the equipment we will acquire, we will have the conditions, not only for growing oysters, but also for growing other types of shells that are endangered, shells that need repopulation, to let's restore the environment for those species... We can do the most different types of research on fish - which species are endangered, which are on the verge of extinction, we can do reproduction and repopulation of certain species... There is a huge range of research that we can do when we create such a laboratory. In essence, we can do anything we want, we could put every type of marine organism in that part of the breeding cycle and further use stimulation to influence the obtaining of data, how best to breed that organism, what technologies we should apply compared to the ones we use today…”
Two younger colleagues are currently employed in the laboratory, one recently received her doctorate, the other a master's degree.
"We definitely need at least two more young people who will be involved in the work of the laboratory, it is all-day work with living organisms, you have to be there 24 hours".
The "Food4Health" project is implemented within the framework of the IPA Interreg call for thematic cross-border cooperation projects for Italy, Albania and Montenegro. The project is in line with and contributes to meeting the objectives of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR). Among other things, and as defined by the Action Plan of this macro-regional Strategy, some of the EUSAIR priorities concern the creation of business opportunities and the opening of new jobs in the field of fisheries and aquaculture, efficient use of resources in fisheries, promotion of production and consumption of food from the sea. that is, the creation of the so-called healthy eating habits.
The Institute implements the project in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry and the Ministries of Agriculture of Albania and Italy, as well as three other scientific and research institutions from Italy and Albania.
The project budget for the Institute is 576.372,73 euros, and the total budget for all partners is 4.964.651,20 euros.
The Institute, that is, UCG, received financial support for the project from the former Ministry of Science, now the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, in the amount of 92.000 euros. The "Food4Health" project will last until the end of 2022.
"Milorad Pavic, almost no one knows, was a member of the Herzegovinian Association of Shellfish Lovers 'Cypraea' from the mid-90s of the 20th century, and had membership card no. 62", Nikola Malović wrote in an author's text.
The association of shellfish lovers was founded in 1993 and is still active today.
"We are active, of course, and alive. We supply Herzegovinian classical bookstore 'So', where our members work, with books about shells, and in this way we spread malacological culture. The motive for the establishment of the Association was admiration for the wonderful cocooned world. Our member was Milorad Pavić, a famous writer, and today there is a list of names that look critically at the times in which we are immersed," says Malović...
Anyone who wants is welcome to the Institute to see and "copy" the process
The institute has limited capacities when it comes to production. The building was extended for the purposes of forming a hatchery and laboratory, but in dimensions that were allowed by conservation conditions, considering that it is a protected cultural property.
"So the sizes of our rooms are limited and depending on that, we can set up limited sizes of breeding pools and that limits our production as well," says Mandić. For the Institute, she adds, that is quite enough, and their laboratories are open to anyone who is interested in seeing how production takes place.
"And to copy that same system and make it," says Mandićeva.
The shell is valuable both as food and as waste
Both oysters and mussels have exceptional nutritional value; meat is rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins (A, B, B2, C, D) and minerals. Of the microelements that these shellfish are rich in, the most important are zinc, selenium, potassium and iodine, which have exceptional benefits for the health of consumers if shellfish are consumed even occasionally.
Not only edible shellfish are valuable. The Institute of Marine Biology, in cooperation with the Institute of Nuclear Sciences "Vinča", analyzed shells, that is, aquaculture waste.
"Where we determined that from the shells of shells, not only mussels, but mussels proved to be the best, powder is obtained, which in polluted soil has an exceptional potential for extraction, i.e. resorption of heavy metals and heavy pollutants from that soil, so that it can be widely used for remediation of polluted land, which is an exceptional potential that we do not use, and which should definitely be taken into account for future development projects", says Mandićeva.
In addition, according to her, supplying the market with young oysters can be a job for someone.
In the shellfish population, there are rules for when they can be sold - mussels must not be on the market if they are less than five centimeters, and oysters less than six centimeters.
"When you do something like what we do, you can sell a young one from just one centimeter, and that would certainly be an exceptional business for all breeders who lack young, and our breeders absolutely lack it," explains Mandićeva.
Shells were our main goal, to raise that sector from the bottom where it was for years and in relation to how it was treated by the competent institutions. It's healthy seafood, and both oysters and clams are a source of protein. In the middle of the tourist season, the demand is huge, and the production is not enough to satisfy even the domestic market, let alone export," says Milica Mandić.
Bonus video:
