Genomics, aquaculture projects explore future of growing cod

A four-year, $18.2 million genomics research project on cod aquaculture will begin in January, being led in part by researchers at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrews and working with Cooke Aquaculture as an industry partner. Cod aquaculture has shown promise in recent years, with pilot projects raising cod in the waters off Eastport and Letete to begin the harvesting of fish this month.

The research project will identify and select elite broodstock through the application of selective breeding and genomics. "This project will establish cod breeding programs in New Brunswick and Newfoundland to ensure fast growing, healthy, high-quality cod," says Cod Project co-lead Dr. Jane Symonds of the Huntsman.

The project will use selective breeding methods and not any genetic modification, although genomics will be used to examine existing DNA markers linked to certain traits such as fast growth and disease resistance. Product quality and yield, sexual maturation and stress tolerance are other qualities that will be considered.

Symonds notes that a great deal of work has been done on early rearing of cod to ensure good survival rates and on broodstock development. Further work is needed on improving growth rates and maintaining the health of cod in the marine environment. In order to make cod farming economically competitive, an efficient system has to be developed.

The Canadian government will be contributing $6.45 million toward the project, and the remainder of the funding will be provided by a range of regional innovation and research partners, including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' St. Andrews Biological Station, Memorial University of Newfoundland's Ocean Sciences Centre and Cooke Aquaculture. The Atlantic Cod Genomics and Broodstock Development is led by researchers at Huntsman and The Atlantic Genome Centre in partnership with Genome Atlantic. Genome Atlantic was established in 2000 to finance and manage a regional program of technology infrastructure and research and development projects in genomics and proteomics in Atlantic Canada. Industry partners include Cooke Aquaculture, Northern Cod Ventures Ltd. of Newfoundland and Great Bay Aquaculture of New Hampshire.

Cooke Aquaculture is already farming salmon in Passamaquoddy Bay at a site near Letete. The first harvest of cod from that site is expected within the next couple of weeks. Cooke also has a cod nursery near Digby, N.S., that was converted from a freshwater hatchery.

Nell Halse, director of communications for Cooke Aquaculture, says the genome project will help the company develop "a sophisticated broodstock program." The farming of alternative species also will create buffer zones between salmon farms and between the mainland and the islands, she points out.

"The idea is to develop cod farming in the Maritimes," says Halse, adding, "There may be opportunities to develop in Maine as well." She believes that cod farming is economically feasible, noting the market demand for cod. Cod farming will allow for the controlling of the quality of the product so that a consistent quality and supply can be provided.
Halse observes that Cooke Aquaculture already has the seafood distribution system to expand into cod aquaculture. "There are a lot of customers interested in cod," she says. "We will have trouble meeting the demand."

Other cod aquaculture projects
Along with the genomics project in Atlantic Canada, a cod farming project is also moving forward in Maine, as the first cod raised in net pens in Maine are about to be harvested in waters off Eastport. The University of Maine's Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research in Franklin has been conducting a pilot project to grow cod, using the Stolt Sea Farm site at Johnson's Cove in Eastport. The fingerlings from the center's hatchery were placed in the waters off Eastport in April 2004 and about 13,000 fish are now about to be harvested. Nick Brown of the center says the nursery stage for the cod at the Franklin hatchery was successful.
The grow-out period for cod and salmon, 16 to 18 months, is similar. However, cod are not subject to a number of diseases that have resulted in large losses for salmon growers. Cod also have a greater tolerance for cold and warm water temperatures.

Once the fish are harvested and survival rates and weights are determined, along with the costs for growing the fish, the center will prepare an economic model for raising cod in Maine, according to Brown. That model should be prepared in the spring. A taste comparison between wild and farmed cod will also be conducted.
"It's essential for the future of cod farming to get breeding programs going," he notes, adding that the center probably will be establishing one also.

Although the University of Maine's project with Stolt Sea Farm is finding success, an effort to raise juvenile cod in cages off Grand Manan ended two years ago because of uncertainty whether government agencies would allow the fish to be moved to cages used by salmon farming companies for grow-out, according to Chris Duffy of GreatBay Aquaculture of Portsmouth, N.H., one of the partners in the project. The Grand Harbour Cod Company was raising fingerlings in 2003 at a nursery site at Ingall's Head and planning to transfer the fish to salmon farms so they could be grown to market size. However, government regulations to control the spread of diseases discourage the moving of fish from one cage site to another.

Duffy believes that cod farming is feasible and notes that now salmon companies have cages at their sites to grow the cod to market size. GreatBay is growing cod with Cooke Aquaculture and also working with the University of New Hampshire on using offshore cages.

In addition to efforts to develop cod-farming in Maine and New Brunswick, wild-caught cod have been raised in net pens in Newfoundland on a relative small scale for the past 10 years, with production levels estimated at 150 tonnes. However, those efforts have now ceased because of the moratorium on cod harvesting. Full-cycle cod farming from egg to plate is being developed in the province, with a cod hatchery, capable of raising 6 to 10 million juvenile cod per year, having been completed in 2004.