Commercial Fish Pond Operator
(Austria)
Water against fungus attack 
If you happen to eat trout in a stylish Austrian restaurant or on a plane, the raw material has likely come from Styria, from fish-farmer Franz Kulmer. Some forty years ago, Mr Kulmer Senior founded a trout breeding farm. Today, 80 tons of fish annually leave the ponds and are delivered to such renowned customers as Sacher Hotel, Hilton Hotel, the upmarket Viennese restaurant and caterer Do&Co and to 52 international airline companies.
Despite the abundant clear springwater in this region, the Kulmers’ young fish were again and again infested with fungus. Franz Kulmer:“Water is our basic element. This is why we are quite open-minded towards new technologies in this field. In January 1998, we first installed a well-revitaliser in one section of the inflow for small fish. The water runs almost through the whole fish-breeding area. During spawning time, in January, the fish undergo an immense hormonal change, which makes river trout especially susceptible to fungal attack.”
At that time some 30 percent of the stock had already been infested with the disease. Franz Kulmer says, “The fungus infestation disappeared in no time – without adding pharmaceutical products, which cannot actually stop the infestation.”
Another consequence of the revitalisation in the Kulmer ponds is that the concrete floors, previously always covered in mud and algae, are now so clean and clear – that they look as if they have been sandblasted. | 