Knowledge and experience basis for cod farming

Summary

Nofima has summarized relevant knowledge and experience with cod farming to provide recommendations for future development. The historical review shows that the 1970s research on cod reproductive biology made juvenile production and farming possible. Despite the challenges still related to cod juvenile production, cod farming was promoted as a solution to negative socioeconomic effects of natural fluctuations in wild cod populations. Optimism, driven by government instruments, led to a growth in aquaculture production of cod. Lack of biological knowledge led to weak economic results. In addition, low prices due to increased cod quotas and financial crisis led to the collapse of the cod farming industry. The cod breeding program started to support the development of a cod farming industry has continued. Now the fourth generation of selected cod shows significantly increased growth rates. Further progress is expected with continued selective breeding. The review of the market for farmed cod shows that prices depended on the seasonal fluctuations in supply of wild cod. Neither the biological or market conditions for future profitable cod farming can be clarified without the new breeding material being tested on an industrial scale. The bottleneck for such clarification will be the financing of cod farming on an industrial scale. A sketch of strategy to provide documentation of whether the production and market conditions for farming of cod is profitable or nor, is presented.