Organic Farmed Cod
Part of our Fish for Tomorrow range
There is a dilemma for fish-lovers. The choice seems to be between further depleting wild fish stocks, or the environmental and potential health damage from intensively farmed fish such as salmon.
However, now there is an alternative for those who like their cod. A pioneering fish farm in Shetland, Johnson Seafarms, is now starting to produce limited volumes of organic farmed cod, using the latest innovations in feeding and management systems, and Graig Farm has access to some of the first production.
View of the cod farm, Scotland
The Atlantic Cod(Gadus morhua)
Characterisitcs
Cod are easily distinguished from most other marine fish by their three rounded dorsal fins and two anal fins that are mirror images of the second and third dorsals. They also have a prominent barbel ("whisker") on the chin.
Atlantic cod occasionally reach lengths in excess of 5 to 6 feet. Off shore cod tend to be larger than inshore ones, the former frequently reaching sizes of 25 pounds and 40 to 42 inches in length while the latter usually weigh 6 to 12 pounds and measure 27 to 34 inches in length.
Diet
Cod are omnivorous, feeding on a variety of fishes, crabs, and clams, other cod and the incidental plant. (Extremely strange fare has been found in some cod stomachs, including a boot!) Typically, younger cod forage on crustaceans and then eat more fish as they grow – anything that fits into their mouth is eaten.
"Drying and smoking the abundant fish from the seas off the North of Scotland was an important preservation process before refrigeration and rail transport. For long storage, excess landings were salted and dried on flat pebbles on beaches and hung up and air-dried on rows of hooks outside the houses until quite hard. This was especially true of the Shetlands where it was a staple of the winter and Spring diet."
Traditional Foods of Britain
Laura Mason & Catherine Brown - 1999
Why Farm Cod?
Threat from over-fishing
Cod is now widely acknowledged to be an endangered species, in the North Sea, the Baltic and the North Atlantic. With wild cod stocks in terminal decline, sustainably farmed cod, with its emphasis on sustainable feed supplies and natural production methods, is the only sustainable hope for relieving pressure on its over fished wild cousin.
Indigenous
Our farmed Cod is reared in their natural habitat. The eggs are also native to the locality in Scotland.
Non-Migratory
Cod is a non-migratory, naturally shoaling fish. It likes the company of fellow cod which puts it at ease in an aquaculture environment
Hardiness
Cod is a hardy fish more suited to a farmed environment than most other species.
The Cod Farm
"THE FECUNDITY OF COD. .... Every year, upwards of 10,000 vessels, of all nations, are employed in this trade (cod fishing), and bring into the commercial world more than 40,000,000 of salted and dried cod. If we add to this immense number, the havoc made among the legions of cod by the larger scaly tribes of the great deep, .... it becomes a miracle to find that such mighty multitudes of them are still in existence ... Yet it ceases to excite our wonder when we remember that the female can every year give birth to more than 9,000,000 at a time."
Beeton's Book of Household Management, Isabella Beeton - 1861
What is Organic Farmed Cod?
Feed
Organic cod feed uses only off-cuts of fish caught for human consumption. The parts of the fish that we don’t eat (heads, tails, etc) are turned into fish meal. No fish are caught for the purpose of feeding our cod. This means that the feed comes entirely from sustainable resources.
Farmed organic Cod swimming
Welfare
Organic cod are reared in huge open water enclosures, renowned for its purity, and not packed into small cages. Rigorous rules apply on stocking density. At any given time the cod stocks represent no more than 2 per cent of the water volume in the farm cages, far lower than industry standards require. Cod is a non-migratory species – unlike salmon – so from a welfare point of view the farming methods don’t prohibit the fishes' natural instincts. Welfare advice is applied from organic bodies and the RSPCA.
Natural Growth
The fish grow at a natural pace resulting in an extremely high quality natural product. (The use of high protein feeds to enhance fish growth is strictly prohibited with our cod).
No Chemicals
The system prohibits the use of any chemicals or medication. No colorants or dyes are used.
Parasite Prevention
Wild cod suffer from parasite problems (the thin black lines in the flesh are actually worms which are caused by the fish foraging for feed on the ocean floor and other such behaviour from which parasites can be transmitted). Our cod are reared in huge open water sea cages which taper at the bottom, preventing access to the ocean floor, and thereby making them free of parasites. And since the cod are also lice-free, there is no need for preventative treatments – a contentious issue in other areas of aquaculture.
Environmental Impact
Cleanliness at the farm sites is paramount. They are closely monitored by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. To monitor environmental pollution, annual hyperbaric surveys beneath the farm cages are conducted and daily reports are produced on water quality, temperature and other factors. No polluting anti-fouling agents are allowed on any of the nets in the cages. Instead, the nets are removed on a regular basis and cleaned.
Controversy
Somewhat inaccurate press coverage has suggested that farmed cod should not be classed as organic. The crux of the concern is the use of artificial lighting to delay sexual maturation. This has the backing of the RSPCA and is justified on welfare grounds. Wild fish may not become mature for several years, the exact timing will depend on the available food resources and general state of health of the fish. Fish farming ensures a higher level of nutrition than would be available in the wild, and so the lighting is used to prevent maturity occurring too early in the life of the fish. Onset of maturity is believed to be a very stressful period, hence the RSPCA view on animal welfare.
The view of Graig Farm is that the use of lighting is not ideal, and research should be carried to find alternative systems of management. However, fish farming is by its nature not a natural phenomenon, and a parallel would be artificial heat lamps used in the rearing of young chickens. In our view, whilst not perfect, the organic farmed cod is vastly superior to any non-organic system from the point of view of animal welfare, environmental impact and effect on human health. There must continue to be a programme of continuous improvement in the system and the standards as advances are made in the management of organic fish farming.
The Range
We offer an extensive range of cuts :
 | Whole fish Weight around 3.5 - 4 kg; gutted. |
 | Whole fillets (skin on) Weight around 1 kg. (skin on) |
 | Fillet steaks (skin on) |
This unique product is part of the Graig Farm range of sustainably produced fish.
Basket
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