In many European countries, including The Netherlands, pikeperch is farmed in [recirculation systems] or people are starting the this type of facility.
The benefit of farming pikeperch in recirculation systems is that several possible negative impacts on the environment are effectively limited. Farmed fish cannot escape and spread disease and the waste water is filtered and re-used.
There are still a few points to improve with the farming of pikeperch. Pikeperch are sensible to stress. The mortality during the pikeperch farming is sometimes high and there are occurences of deformed and damaged fins. The causes of which are often unknown. More research on the optimal circumstances for farming pikeperch is needed. As with most farmed fish, the stunning and killing of the fish is not happening in a humane way yet.
In The Netherlands there is, as part of the Duurzaam Snoekbaarscollectief (Sustainable Pikeperch Collective) research done on points of improvement in the area of water quality, preventing diseases, and humane stunning and killing methods.
Pikeperch are predatory fish and the feed of the fish still has a high content of fish meal and fish oil. There is more than 2 kg of wild fish needed for growing 1 kg of pikeperch. The feed is often not sustainable yet because it consists of ingredients that are not produced or caught sustainably.