DIOBAS add that they can produce cod even on the most unproductive terrain any distance from the sea without quotas and approximately one third below current market price. The benefits to the environment are obvious, they say, particularly when considering the reduced transport costs and the chance to rest and restock our oceans.
Acccording to DIOBAS, the Research Team have managed to push the boundaries beyond established research with a completely new solution to the rapid depletion of our ocean fish stocks. "This innovation will revolutionise the way we harvest Cod and indeed many other endangered saltwater species such as Bluefin Tuna, and can even rear the endangered freshwater Sturgeon. It is no exaggeration to say that this Freshwater Research Programme is of significant international importance both financially and environmentally," says DIOBAS.
To date, all research, both government and privately funded, has concentrated on studying the various ocean species in their own environment with limited success.
Rearing pens have proved unsatisfactory both in terms of disease vulnerability and practicality. Diobas say that they approached this challenge in a different way and decided to take Cod out from the vagaries of a saltwater environment and rear them in a controlled freshwater habitat thus eliminating all the problems. This was a radical decision that has proved extremely difficult to accomplish.
"At times it seemed that the problems associated with this new approach were frankly impossible to solve but the rewards were too great for us to give up on the Programme" commented Jean Marriot, Managing Director.
"We had to design many new components including, revolutionary Particle Fractionators, with controlled natural daylight sequences, and even tide movements manipulated as part of the controlled environment. The end result is strong healthy fish, free from disease and the usual parasites that plague attempts to rear these fish in salt water pens. Our approach has been completely different to any other form of research and we are convinced that one day many other species will be reared in the same way".
It is not the intention of DIOBAS to supply Cod for the marketplace but purely to provide the means for others to do so. Within a fully automated and controlled freshwater environment, these fish thrive with a growth rate three times faster than in the wild.
Further Reading
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- | You can view our report, Cod Farms Fit for the 21st Century, by clicking here. |
