Candidate Species
Contact Person: Dipl. Biol. Ralf Fisch, Prof. Dr. Bela H. Buck
Fig. 1: Juvenile cods in the recirculating systems of the AWI.
Cod, codfish (Gadus morhua)
Together with pollack, cod (see Fig. 1) is one of the most famous representatives of the Gadidae, the family comprising cods (Gadiformes) and haddocks. Cod belongs to the top ten species constituting the commercial North-Atlantic fisheries. Its main area of circulation comprises temperate waters of the European coasts from the Bay of Biscay to the Barents Sea, including the waters of Bear Island; the North American coasts from Cape Hatteras to Ungava Bay; the eastern and western coasts of Greenland and lastly the Icelandic waters. Only a few species occur in the North Pacific. Cods are oceanodromous and benthopelagic, occurring in depths between 0-600 m and thus in various habitats from shoreline to continental shelf.
Feeding on invertebrates and fish, including juvenile cod, cods are omnivorous and can theoretically grow out to 2m in total length and 40kg-100kg in weight . During the day, the animals form shoals and can travel long distances to their spawning grounds, using their baleens for navigation.
Fig. 2: Development of the Atlantic Cod Fisheries since 1950.
The cod fishery is highly commercial and has been important since centuries. The fish is usually caught via bottom trawl- and longline fishery.
Cod is sold fresh, dried, salted, smoked or frozen and eaten steamed, fried boiled, broiled, baked or as cured cod or stockfish. In former times, stockfish has been very important within mass nourishments of soldiers and ship’s crews as well as aliment of the poor. The national “fish and chips” meal of the British usually contains cod. However, the natural cod-stocks are heavily overfished and have declined drastically during the past 35 years. Landings of the European cod fisheries (especially Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua) have been decreasing since the 1970ies, from almost 2,4 million t in 1975 to less than 1 million t in 2004 (FAO 2006).
Since 1996, cod is on the IUCN red list of endangered species, holding the level 'Vulnerable' (VU A1bd), which means cod is not 'Critically Endangered' or 'Endangered' but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.
Due to the rising global demand for food fish and the serious decline in cod landings/natural stocks, its cultivation in modern aquaculture facilities will become inescapable in the future if we still want to consume this species. Along with salmon, cod might become one of the most important aquaculture candidates. However, the recent development in cod aquaculture is rather slow. For more than 100 years now there have been various attempts in culturing cod. One major problem is the development of an appropriate diet (high protein, low fat, larvae require living zooplankton) for cultivated cod. Further obstacles are introduced diseases and the light dependent development of sex- and colour in the species, which are difficult to control. Nevertheless, cod aquaculture might be beneficial, especially as its current market price (2006) exceeds that of cultivated salmon.
References:
FAO (2006). Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit. Aquaculture production: values 1984-2004. /FISHSTAT Plus - Universal software for fishery statistical time series/. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.