The councillor participated in a panel discussion focused on intensive farming of carnivorous species, an event promoted by Compassion in World Farming and Foodrise with the backing of MEP Emma Fourreau. Calp would have been the only local authority present throughout the entire day. In the session, Bittner shared the floor with Fourreau herself, with French MP Anne Stambach-Terrenoir and with researcher Marine Cusa, linked to Oceana and the Technical University of Denmark.
The scope of the expansion
The expansion of the aquaculture facility, approved by the regional authority, increases production capacity fourteen-fold from when the farm began operations. The project envisages 45 floating cages capable of generating up to 3,000 tonnes of fish per year. The environmental monitoring report from the facility itself, for 2024, records the entry of nearly 4,800 tonnes of feed over twelve months, 23 of which included medicinal treatments.
Economic impact and complaints
The University of Alicante calculates that the deterioration of the marine ecosystem could cost Calp's economy between €83 and €911 million over a decade. Bittner also denounced that environmental monitoring of the farm is carried out by and at the cost of the company that operates it. A group of volunteers reportedly descended to 40 metres alongside the cages and recorded organic matter in suspension whose origin is still being analysed.
Demands to the European Parliament
Calp Town Hall called for the future European Ocean Law, scheduled for December, to require independent environmental audits and give municipalities decision-making power over their own waters. The councillor also suggested that Calp serve as a pilot project for local monitoring of the seabed.
The objections submitted by the council against the regional authority's decision authorizing the expansion remain pending resolution through administrative litigation.
