A luxury resort in India, faced with a near-term future with no human guests has turned to fish farming to keep its finances afloat, growing pearl spot fish that are a key ingredient in numbers of Middle Eastern dishes.
The Aveda Resort and Spa in Kumarakom has been shut since March by the pandemic, and does not expect to be allowed to re-open soon. But it does have a very large swimming pool holding 7.5 million litres of water. Aveda’s general manage told a UAE news site that “We have had zero revenue, so in June, we put around 16,000 two-month-old pearl spot fish in the pool.”
The fish take about eight months to mature; the hotel expects to harvest about four tonnes of fish in November and export them to Middle East customer. It acknowledges that it can’t make enough to replace lost revenue, but hopes to be able to cover basic bills—and to find nearby land where it can continue using its newfound skills when customers return.
