Farmed cod volume should rise sharply in a few years There is no doubt that the UK cod fishery is in serious difficulty, and the debate continues long and hard over whether the current closure measures instigated by the EU will be sufficient to save stocks from total collapse. It was thus encouraging to see farmed cod appear for the first time in the newly released Annual Production Survey for 2000 of salmon, trout, and other fish species. Total production may have been small at 16 tonnes, but the message is loud and clear ­ farmed cod has passed the R&D stage and is now starting in commercial production. According to Seafish, the UK market for cod is around 170,000 tonnes per year, 7% of which derives from the North and Irish Seas, with the remainder coming from Iceland, the Faroes, Norway and Russia. The UK's first commercial cod farm is on the Scottish Isle of Ghiga, where Aquascot aims to produce 20t this year, 60t in 2002, rising to around 1000t within a few years. Further sites are earmarked to enable the company to increase production to around 5,000t per year and two new cod hatcheries are being built to ensure this production target is achievable. Marks and Spencer has been involved with cod since trials began a decade ago, and receives all current production. A spokesman for Aquascot explained that all the major multiples were interested in taking farmed cod, but until production increased, there would not be enough to go round. {{MEAT }}

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