Portoroz Slovenia - Fresh fish from the fish farm

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Dr. Irena Fonda shows us her fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia

Fish from Portoroz Slovenia

We have already told you about our visit to Piran, where we are fresh fish directly from the fisherman enjoyed. I still dream of this dinner today. I had no idea how good Stockfish can taste until then. Or that sea bass has an almost spicy taste. In any case, that made us curious. Therefore, we broke ours the next day Stay in the Lifeclass hotels in Portoroz Slovenia on a trip to the Fonda Fish Farm near the Portoroz Salt Pans.

 

 

 

Excited, the perch are waiting for food in the fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia
Excited, the perch are waiting for food in the fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia

 

Visiting the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia

There Dr. welcomes us Irena Fonda, the owner and manager of the Fonda fish farm in the Bay of Portoroz. The blonde woman comes from a family in which the sea has always played a major role. “My father and brother ran a diving company that was available for operations in the sea. They offered diving for tourists as well as commissioned work for underwater archaeologists, ”says Dr. Fonda. "I studied marine biology myself and worked with my father and brother for years."

 

Nets on the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia
Nets on the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia

 

Fish farming in a sustainable way

She leads us past the storage sheds of her fish farm to a boat that takes us out to the fish nets where the sea bass are kept. “As a marine biologist, I dreamed of breeding fish in a sustainable way,” she says. “But the traditional fishermen and fishmongers weren't interested in it. Although the trend in the food industry is to prefer fresh regional products, this development has not yet reached the fish industry. We faced a problem with that. ”She laughs. "We first had to create our own market."

 

Mussel farming on the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia
Mussel farming on the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia

 

fish feeding

Meanwhile, we are out in the bay off Portoroz Slovenia, where the fish in the nets frolick excitedly when they hear the engine of our electric boat. They know what's coming: their feeding. Every time our skipper distributes a handful of fish food over the net, the water begins to bubble. Then the sea bass strive for the best appetizers.

 

In these trunks mussels grow up in Portoroz Slovenia
In these trunks mussels grow up in Portoroz Slovenia

 

Fish farming in the natural ecosystem

Irena Fonda tells us that her dream was to build a natural ecosystem in the bay of Portoroz Slovenia, where she and her family can breed sea bass under optimal conditions. Originally it was planned to create a reef, which should serve as a habitat for the fish. Initially, fish farming was resorted to nets where the perch was kept.

To the surprise of the fish farmers, it was discovered that over time they formed themselves into a reef-like structure and offered perfect conditions for the breeding of sea bass. The nets only need to be cleaned at regular intervals. Unlike conventional fish farms, this is not done on the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia with pesticides, but rather takes the nets out of the sea and cleans them by hand. Thus, no toxins get into the food chain, and the perch grow up under natural conditions. This type of fish farming requires a higher manpower and costs more.

 

This is how they look just before the harvest in Portoroz Slovenia
This is how they look like just before the harvest

 

Fresh fish from the fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia

“We had an excellent product, but nobody really appreciated it,” laughs Irena Fonda. "We first had to convince the dealers that our fish are better than the ones they usually sell." However, they did not want to hear about it, since the prices for these fish were higher than what an average customer was willing to pay. “That's why we started with educational work,” says Dr. Fonda continues.

How do you enthuse consumers?

“We invited the press, who were enthusiastic about our way of farming fish. They reported about it, and soon the first tourists came who wanted to find out more about our fish farm. We hadn't even planned to offer tours of our farm," she says. “But we quickly realized that visitors to our farm were spreading the word about our sustainably farmed fish around the world.

 

 

It wasn't long before customers asked the fishmongers about the perch from the Fonda fish farm in Portoroz Slovenia. They recognized that our fish were actually different from those they obtained from traditional fish farms. We did our part and make sure that our fish are delivered fresh to the markets or directly to the restaurants. Fonda sea bass is marked and given a seal of approval, so that every customer can be sure to receive products from our farm. It took a few years, but now the name of the Fonda fish is well known among fish connoisseurs in Slovenia and Austria. ”

 

dr Irena Fonda shows us more products
Dr. Irena Fonda shows us more products from Portoroz Slovenia
After the tour there's fresh sea bass
After the tour in Portoroz Slovenia's fresh sea bass

 

How well they taste, we have even in the evening before in the port of Piran. If you ask the same question as we do, the name Fonda really has something to do with the Hollywood actor dynasty. The family of Henry, Jane and Peter Fonda comes from Piran. They are relatives of fish farmers from Portoroz Slovenia.

 

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Travel Arrangements

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Arrival to Portoroz Slovenia

Arrival by plane, bus or train*. You can reach Portoroz from Munich in five to six hours by car (depending on traffic). It takes about four to four and a half hours from Salzburg and about five hours from Vienna. The nearest airport is Ljubljana.

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Hotels in Portoroz Slovenia :

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Portoroz Slovenia fish farm
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Discover more travel tips for trips to savor on our blog TravelWorldOnline.

Source: own research on site. We thank you for the invitation Slovenia.info and Portoroz Lifeclass hotels, Our opinion remains our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Video: © Copyright Petar Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline

Portoroz Slovenia - Fresh fish from the fish farm

Monika Fuchs

Monika Fuchs and Petar Fuchs are the authors and publishers of the Food and Slow Travel blog  TravelWorldOnline. They have been publishing this blog since 2005. TravelWorldOnline has been online since 2001. Their topics are trips to Savor, wine tourism worldwide and slow travel. During her studies Monika Fuchs spent some time in North America, where she - partly together with Petar Fuchs - traveled to the USA and Canada and spent a research year in British Columbia. This intensified her thirst for knowledge, which she satisfied for 6 years as an adventure guide for Rotel Tours and then for 11 years as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen around the world. She was constantly expanding her travel regions, but curiosity still gnawed at her: "What's beyond the horizon? What else is there to discover in this city? Which people are interesting here? What do they eat in this region?" As a freelance travel journalist (her articles have appeared in DIE ZEIT, 360° Canada, 360° USA, etc.), she is now looking for answers to these questions as a travel writer and travel blogger in many countries around the world. Petar Fuchs produces the videos on this blog as well as on YouTube. Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline is among Germany's top 50 bloggers in 2021. Find more Information about Monika and Petar Fuchs here.

2 thoughts too "Portoroz Slovenia - Fresh fish from the fish farm"

  1. Dear Irena,

    I am a friend of Herwig Ertl and would like your company on

    Sunday 26. August 2018 at 11.00 clock with max. 30 persons
    Sunday 16. September 2018um 11.00 clock with max. Visit 30 people.

    Ask for info if that is possible as well as the price for the tour + tasting.

    Greetings from Austria sends
    Karin Meindlhumer

    1. Dear Mrs. Meindlhumer,

      Thank you for your message. I am pleased that you liked our report on the fish farm in Portoroz, Slovenia. However, we are a travel magazine and report about it. For organization and tasting, please contact the fish farm directly. Irena Fonda can be reached here:
      Tel: 00386 41 502 616
      Email: irena@fonda.si

      Sincerely yours,
      Monika

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