Cod Farmers Bet Tech Tames Finicky Fish in Fjords

Investors put millions into new attempts to raise fish in Norway

By Michael Roston, Newser User

Posted Oct 27, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – As consumption of farmed fish reaches an all-time high, Norwegian entrepreneurs hope you'll soon pick farm-raised cod over salmon for dinner, the Wall Street Journal reports. Wild cod stocks are overfished, and the fickle ocean species is difficult to breed on farms. But improved aquaculture techniques have persuaded investors to plug millions into new efforts along Norway’s well-suited coast.

Critics say cod farming will create too much pollution and argue that farmed fish get diseases that could threaten wild cod if they escape their watery confinement. But one aquaculture firm, Codfarmers, thinks Norway's deep fjords and improved technologies can address the problems. And it’s received $100 million from JPMorgan Chase and other investors who are betting plans to get you to eat more cod will work.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

A dock worker carries large cod waiting to be bought at Grimsby Fish Docks in northern England, January 21, 2008. (Getty Images)

A piece of cod is shown at Billingsgate Fish Market in London. (Getty Images)

Buyers inspect cod waiting to be bought at Grimsby Fish Docks in northern England on Jan. 21, 2008. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Salmon used to be the party fish. Now it's become an everyday fish. We want to make cod the party fish. - Harald Dahl, founder of
Norway's Codfarmers ASA

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Dead Fish Blanket Norwegian Beach— Then Disappear

Herring appear on New Year's Eve then vanish

(NEWSER) - First more dead blackbirds in Arkansas, now dead herring in Norway. Tens of thousands of fish blanketed the beach in Kvaenes, a town located north of the Arctic Circle, on New Year's Eve, reports the AP . A marine researcher speculates that they were forced ashore in a bid to escape predators, or died in a big Christmas Day storm. And just as locals began to debate how they would remove the approximately 20 tons of dead fish before the creatures began to decay, they disappeared. The researcher says the herring likely just washed back into the North Sea. (Is it deja vu all over again? ) More»

Why I Finally Love Farmed Fish

Former skeptic Josh Ozersky sees benefits to the earth

(NEWSER) - Not even a fish-loving foodie can justify the environmental cost of wild-caught salmon . "If I could, I would only eat wild," writes Josh Ozersky for Time. "But I can't in good conscience." Sure, farmed salmon's "taste is duller, the flesh flabbier, the finish forgettable." But "with wild populations getting wiped out by overfishing" and 90% of ocean life forms predicted to collapse by 2048, there is no other choice. More»

'Makeovers' Spell Doom for Oceans' Ugliest Fish

Even the once-shunned are now overfished

(NEWSER) - Don't like the sound of slimefish fillets? How about some orange roughy instead? Efforts to "rebrand" ugly, unpopular types of fish to make them more palatable to consumers have been successful—too successful, the Washington Post reports. Many species once considered "trash fish" have become dangerously depleted as fishermen run out of popular fish and strategize to make others more marketable, says a new report on the ocean's fish. More»

Climate Change May Tank World's Fish Stocks

Scientists predict huge upheaval to marine populations

(NEWSER) - The world's supplies of fish face major upheaval, scientists warn, as climate change forces species from shrimp to herring away from warming waters toward the poles. The BBC reports that in 40 years, American fishermen may see a 50% reduction in the population of Atlantic cod. "The impact of climate change on marine biodiversity and fisheries is going to be huge," said the study's lead author. More»

Pacific Salmon Face Uncertain Tides

Oceanic changes doomed '08 crop, but scientists can't agree on what caused them

(NEWSER) - West Coast fisheries has seen a 90% drop in salmon spawn since 2004, and while many blame rivers degraded by dams and diversions, some experts believe the problem has been pushed out to sea, reports Salon. Wind direction and water temperature have changed, bringing less food to the ocean’s surface for fish to feed on; whether climate change is to blame remains unclear. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Cod Farmers Bet Tech Tames Finicky Fish in Fjords