THE STATUS OF ATLANTIC COD Gadus morhua AS A COMMERCIALLY READY SPECIES FOR U.S. MARINE AQUACULTURE

Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, has a long history of culture in the Atlantic. First as a candidate for stock enhancement in the 1880's through the early 1970's, and then as a commercially cultured species in the late 1990's to the present time. Norway, Canada and the USA all were active in both the early enhancement activities and in the more recent commercialization of the species, Scotland would also be added to the list. Many millions of dollars, public and private, have gone into these efforts that was once seen, just a decade ago as a species to rival salmon as a cold water aquaculture species. Hundreds of thousands of metric tons of production where expected. Significant breeding programs in Iceland, Norway, Canada and the USA have made significant advances, but the growth of the industry substantially crashed after the downward turn in the market in 2008. This was not the only problem that slowed the commercialization process - fish health, deformities and market pressures from cheaper species easily substituted, such as Pacific cod, prevented companies from meeting their financial targets. The breeding programs have developed selected legacy broodstock and the only country that has rebooted cod production is Norway, currently projected to produce about 3,000 metric tons in 2018. Technically, the hatchery production of Atlantic cod is well proven, the key diseases that impacted the earlier year's production are known, including VNN, Listonella anguillarum, Vibrio harveyi and Francisella. Nutritional requirements are well known and the level of deformity that was once at or above 50% of production has been greatly reduced. Due to the breadth of the market, the knowledge gained from the early pioneers, it may be once again time to relook at the species as a cold water candidate for commercial aquaculture, as they are doing in Norway.