The following statement was issued today by John Efford, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

During this past summer and fall, my department has been involved with a project to study all aspects of cod farming, from harvesting and growing to processing and marketing. This project, funded under the Aquaculture Component of the Economic Renewal Agreement, was a joint effort of the FFAW, harvesters and the federal and provincial governments.

The objective of this program was to evaluate the commercial viability of small scale, cost-effective cod farming enterprises operated by harvesters. I am pleased to announce that we are well on our way to achieving our objective.

As Honourable Members are aware, cod farming is based on the commercial harvest of cod. Cod harvested from traps are transferred into aquaculture cages and fed their traditional diet of caplin, herring or mackerel. After a three or four month period of regular feeding, farmed cod double their weight. Since the cod moratorium was announced in 1992, cod have not been available for farming. With the opening of a limited cod fishery in fishing areas 3PS and 4R this year, cod were once again available, although in small quantities.

In this particular project, eight licenced aquaculture sites were selected to establish small scale cod farms. Of these, four were located in Trinity Bay, two in Placentia Bay and one each in Norris Point and Noddy Bay on the West Coast. Approximately 67,000 lbs of trap cod were obtained from the commercial trap fishery and distributed among the eight farms. These cod were very small and would not fetch a good price on the market had they been sold at the time they were taken from the traps. I should also point out that the farms in Trinity Bay received cod transported by tanker truck from Placentia Bay, successfully proving that this can be done with very little cod mortality.

There were also other very successful results from the growout phase of the project. Not only did the cod more than double their weight from July to mid-November, but the cod were of extremely good quality. Furthermore, feed costs were reduced by using locally caught species in fresh form, and in frozen form when out of season. An added bonus is that some of this feed was male capelin which in the past would have been discarded.

To be successful, cod farming must also be marketed at the highest possible price when demand is highest, so that the harvester can be assured of a profit. The cod farmer must be better off financially than if the fish were sold during the traditional trap season when markets are depressed and prices are lower.

To determine if this will be the case, test marketing is being conducted. Eighty per cent of the farmed cod has been shipped to United States companies, with the remainder being marketed locally.

Reaction from both local processors and the U.S. companies has been extremely favourable, and prices discussed are encouraging.

While the final results of this marketing effort are not yet available, all indications are that the price for this farmed cod will be 50 to 100 per cent higher than what harvesters would have received had they sold the cod in June or July straight from the cod trap. By harvesting trap cod in early summer, growing it for three or four months, feeding it locally caught species, and selling at a time when the quality product fetches higher prices, a harvester can potentially receive three to four times the price of cod sold from the trap.

I am confident that with the success obtained by the eight harvesters involved in this project and the anticipated reopening of the cod fishery in 3PS and 4R, there will be a dramatic increase in cod growout in 1998 and beyond. My aquaculture staff will provide all necessary information and technical assistance to harvesters to become involved in an activity that will lead to increased prosperity for harvesters and their families.