Germans eat around 14 kilograms of fish per capita every year, a third of which is freshwater fish. Most of this is imported. All in all, local fishermen, breeders and anglers net around 36,000 tons of fish every year – around half of which is used in aquaculture operations.
60 tons come from the ponds of the Benecke family near Bad Bevensen, east of the Lüneburg Heath. Daughter Katharina flicks a shovel full of feed into the pond with almost ready-to-slaughter brown trout with a flick of the wrist. The granules hit the surface of the water, and it immediately splashes and splashes. What is chasing the food in the water is an absolute niche product: the organic brown trout.
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