The Norwegian government decided to set up a cod breeding programme in August 2001 and the practical part of the project was given to Nofi ma. Dur- ing the fi rst half of 2002, the strategy for establishing the breeding centre was developed. The new centre was built in collaboration with the Tromsø Aquacul- ture Research Station, based at Kårvik on Ringvassøy.
Opening
In the spring of 2003, an offer was made to Troms Marin Yngel to buy their newly built cod hatchery at Kraknes on Kvaløya, as the facility would be well suited as a breeding centre. After relatively modest rebuilding, the Norwe- gian Cod Breeding Centre was offi cially opened on 19th August 2005 by Svein Ludvigsen, Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs.
Production at the centre takes place in two steps. Fry production is carried out in a land facility at Kraknes, outside Tromsø, where seawater is pumped into the tanks, while further growth takes place in cages at the Kårvik sea site. At Kraknes, the parent cod are stripped of eggs and milt, and the cod fry are hatched and grown until they are ready to be transferred to sea. The number of tanks, tank size, water circulation sys- tem and water treatment are all scaled
for production of 200 family groups. When the cod are ready to be trans- ferred to sea, they are moved to the marine farm in Røsneshamn, on Ring- vassøy, outside Kvaløya, where they are kept until they are sexually mature. The best individuals are then transported back to the land facility at Kraknes, to be used as broodstock for future genera- tions.
The marine farm has equipment to measure, weigh, mark and vaccinate the cod. It consists of 12 steel cages and has an integrated service raft. The cages have nets with extra strong twine to re- duce the danger of escape. The cages also have shade nets to prevent the cod from getting sunburnt and are fi tted with a Lift-up system for removal of dead fi sh and wastes.
Research scientist, Oyvind Hansen explained that the main focus of the centre is to improve farmed cod perform- ance through a family selection breeding programme, which has met with some success.
He said: ‘Through selection, we have been able to improve growth rates by 15-20% in each generation, so our F3 fi sh are now showing around 40-50% better growth than the original wild cod.’ ‘Of course we also need to be mindful of disease resistance,’ he added, before explaining that, while 80% of effort goes
www.fishfarmer-magazine.com 15
Our F3 fish are showing 40% better growth than the original stock
Fish Farmer September/October 2011
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