THE STATUS OF SPOTTED WOLFFISH Anarhichas minor AS AN EXPERIMENTAL SPECIES FOR MARINE U.S. AQUACULTURE

Spotted wolffish, Anarhichas minor, though classified as an experimental species for US aquaculture, is being cultured elsewhere; commercial production exists in Norway and active and collaborative R&D is occurring between Sweden, Norway, Iceland. and Canada through WolfNet, a network coordinated from Nord University, Bodo, Norway. The life cycle of spotted wolffish has been completed in captivity. The relative ease of culturing spotted wolffish is due, in part, to its lack of a prolonged larval phase (5-6 mm eggs from which large larvae hatch with no requirement for live feed), low susceptibility to disease, wide tolerance of salinities, and high tolerance to stocking density, as well as its adaptability to various grow out tanks and systems (e.g., shallow raceways, circular tanks, sea cages, recirculating systems). Nutritional requirements of spotted wolffish, generally, are well established and there are a variety of available feeds. Unlike most commercialized fishes, spotted wolffish has a lengthy incubation phase (900 degree days) requiring eggs to be monitored carefully to prevent fungal and bacterial infections. To reach market size of 1-3 kg fish, it takes roughly 3 years. Currently, there are no captive spotted wolffish aquaculture programs in the US, thus commercializing spotted wolffish would require the appropriate infrastructure for rearing a cold water marine species and the long-term (5+ years) investment to jumpstart a program or business. The lack of a directed fishery in the northwest Atlantic results in a high value niche market to satisfy consumer demand for spotted wolffish. Currently this demand is supplied by imports only, most of which originate from Iceland (wild harvests) or Norway (farmed fish). If production costs can be kept low, which seems likely given its good growth in recirc systems and under high densities, spotted wolffish is a promising marine species to commercialize in the US.