The Lower Saxony-based feeding systems specialist WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp GmbH and Damm Aquakultur GmbH & Co. KG from Niedenstein, Hesse, are cooperating in the field of shrimp and fish farming. In a declaration dated 8 November 2024, the partners agreed to further develop the areas of husbandry, feeding, water treatment and rearing technology for marine animals together in the future, thereby accelerating the strategic and technical development of shrimp and fish farming.
The partners complement each other very well for the co-operation: Damm Aquakultur operates a state-of-the-art and leading shrimp breeding facility in Germany with a system design developed in-house and innovative technologies. The shrimps are reared under controlled conditions and using sustainable resources. Damm Aquakultur Technologien produces fresh shrimps of high quality and completely free of medication. The company attaches great importance to animal welfare, environmental protection and transparency along the entire regional supply chain. For its part, WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp GmbH can already look back on various aquaculture projects.
‘The entrepreneurial roots in the agricultural sector are an important foundation of both companies,’ says Managing Director Sven Damm. ‘From this, we developed Damm Aquaculture in 2018 as a branch of the business with the aim of sustainable shrimp farming,’ adds Sven Damm. Together, the partners want to further promote aquaculture in Germany and offer interested producers innovative, economically sustainable production facilities and marketing concepts, including as a franchise sys- tem. ‘It is essential for us to set a high ecological standard and to attach great importance to factors such as energy efficiency, water consumption, CO2 footprint and, last but not least, species-appropriate animal husbandry,’ summarises Sven Damm.
‘WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp GmbH, founded in 1934, also grew through the continuous development of its agricultural technologies and business areas,’ explains WEDA Managing Director Volker Schönig. Today, the components are used in various areas such as pig farming and insect production as well as fish and shrimp farming. At the end of the day, the safety, feeding accuracy and hygiene of the systems are crucial for customers. True to this maxim, WEDA has already successfully equipped several fish farming systems worldwide in recent years.
The WEDA systems ensure that the amount of work and feed wastage in the facilities is minimised, ultimately reducing costs. For Damm Aquaculture, it is also essential that the high-quality feed is dosed out to the animals as efficiently and loss-free as possible. There is a further application advantage, as the WEDA computer systems are intuitive and easy to operate. The programmes are also easily scalable in terms of size and internationally: all screen and function assignments of the operating panels can be easily adapted depending on the responsibility and national language.
It is precisely against this background that Volker Schönig sees solid growth potential for the partnership: ‘This cooperation also closes a technological circle for us, because we are continuing to push the transfer of our systems to other areas of animal feeding. By pooling our expertise with experienced providers such as Damm Aquakultur, we can achieve many synergies for the benefit of users from other segments.’