Canadian Atlantic cod (''

Gadus morhua The Atlantic cod (: cod; ''Gadus morhua'') is a fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as ''cod'' or ''codling''.Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, along the borders of both

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Heavy fishing in the late 1800s and early 1900s, led to a massive decline in the cod population. Today, the cod are grown in onshore, temperature-controlled, seawater tanks as eggs and eventually taken to sea cages when sufficiently mature. The majority of these artificial environments are located in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

and

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

in Canada. It takes about six months for the fish to hatch and 2-3 years until they are marketable at an average weight of .

Raising Atlantic cod

Almost all Atlantic cod are now produced through

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

, the rearing of aquatic animals for food. The raising of Atlantic cod starts with the selection of the best female stock breed. These fish are selected from previously grown market fish, located in offshore sea cages. They are selected based on weight; typically, heavier fish are able to produce more eggs. The female fish are bred in onshore tank facilities and can produce 450,000 eggs per kilogram of body weight. After separating the females, the eggs are incubated in a temperature controlled tank for about 14 days until hatching. The

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

(baby cod) are then transferred to larval tanks. During this stage the larvae are fed yolk from a yolk sack for 3 to 4 days. Once the larvae have grown large enough, they are fed ground

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

. After a duration of 35 to 40 days of feeding on plankton, the larvae undergo

metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...

and are now fully considered fish. After metamorphosis, the fish are removed from the larval tanks and put into circular onshore tanks. They remain in this stage for 6 months or until they reach in length. At this stage,

microchips An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

are sometimes inserted into the fish to monitor growth and collect information. The fish are then taken to sea cage sites via industrial trucks and

barges A barge is typically a flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and marine water environments. The first modern barges were pull ...

. In these sea cages the cod continue to grow, reaching market weight () in around 24 to 36 months.

Facilities and equipment

In commercial aquaculture, there are two main areas of farming: onshore facilities and offshore sea cages. In onshore facilities, there are a number of storage tanks that are key to the early development of cod and many other cold water fish. These livestock storage include incubators (where eggs are fertilized and allowed to hatch), larval tanks (slightly larger tanks where the larvae are grown), circular tanks (last stage before fish leave the onshore facility, where metamorphosis occurs), and storage tanks where the fish can be temporarily stored as they are transported from truck, to boat, to sea site. Before the fish are taken to sea cage sites, some companies insert microchips into the fish to monitor population and patterns in the fish to improve the raising for future generations. The microchips are removed once fish are ready for market. After being transported to the ocean via private company or government ships, the fish are gently poured into a sea cage.

Labor

In both onshore and offshore facilities, cod require daily maintenance. In onshore facilities, an estimated team of 4 or 5 laborers are required for daily tasks, which include feeding planktonic animals, regulating tank temperatures, monitoring the health of the fish, removing any sick fish, and general maintenance to the water facilities.

Inputs

Cod are fed yolk, followed by

ic animals (ground plankton) in the larval stage, and finally a pellet feed after leaving the onshore facility. The pellets fed to Atlantic cod are mostly grain based, which are made of

fish oil Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. Fish oils contain the omega−3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), precursors of certain eicosanoids that are known to reduce inflammation in the bod ...

, bone meal, vitamins and minerals. ;Nutritional information Once market size is reached, Atlantic cod fish offer a bounty of nutrients including a surplus amount of complete proteins,

omega-3 fatty acid Omega−3 fatty acids, also called omega−3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their ...

s, iron and

B vitamin B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vit ...

s. Atlantic cod, when compared to other meat, have a much lower level of saturated fat, while still holding a high protein level. In comparison, 98g of chicken provides about 18g of protein (under 40%). ;Benefits to Canada Atlantic cod farming gives a direct 8000 full-time jobs in Canada and this number is growing. More jobs are becoming available due to increase in demand for fish. In 1986, Canadian Aquaculture production was valued at 35 million, by 2006 it was valued at 912 million and this pace is still growing as illustrated in figure 1. The jobs being created by this industry are also 90% located in rural, Aboriginal or small coastal cities. Just one example of this is in B.C, Kitasoo First Nation community, where aquaculture helped reduce unemployment to zero from 80 percent. Also an analysis by Indian and Northern Affairs determined that 61 First Nations could support salmon farms, 130 could develop trout farms and 123 would have access to clam, mussel and oyster farming. ;Constraints After the near extinction of natural Atlantic cod in the wild, strict laws were made to prevent fishing of any sort. This led to aquaculture. However, the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity that takes, cultures, processes, preserves, stores, transports, markets or sells fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including recreational, sub ...

in Canada is severely limited and regulated. 73 pieces of federal and provincial legislation regulates what is exactly allowed.

Environmental sustainability

Aquaculture (fish farming) is used for all Atlantic cod production, so that the environment and natural (wild) fish species are essentially unaffected. Fish are sold without further processing, so little to none of the animal is wasted. The only environmental concern from Atlantic cod is excess nutrients produced in their feces. If left unfiltered in natural environments, these feces could lead to

denitrification Denitrification is a microbially facilitated process where nitrate (NO3−) is reduced and ultimately produces molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products. Facultative anaerobic bacteria perform denitr ...

. However, in almost all commercial fish farms, feces are utilized (via vacuum) as liquid fertilizer, to be used for farm activities. Other beneficial environment factors are: factories are not required for further processing and feed source has minimal requirements from environment. Finally aquaculture developments need in-depth environmental review which includes Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), to prevent harm from ocean habitats. Organic Atlantic cod is also available as an alternative product. These fish are prohibited from antibiotics, herbicides, GMOs, parasiticides and practices that minimize negative effects on the environment.

Footnotes

References

# # # # # # # # {{cite web , title=Fish, cod, Pacific, raw Nutrition Facts & Calories , website=SELF Nutrition Data , url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4045/2 , ref={{sfnref , SELF Nutrition Data , access-date=March 13, 2020 Fish farming Agriculture in Canada