As Alaska cod fishermen struggle with frequent winter storms and dismal prices for their product, Canadian company Cooke Aquaculture is teaming up with the Canadian government to produce farmed cod on the Atlantic coast, in Newfoundland.

Cooke will spend a total of $8.5 million Canadian ($6.7 million U.S.) over the next four years on a demonstration farm to produce Atlantic cod, with $1.5 million of that coming from the provincial government.

The U.S. government conducted a two-year study in 2004 and 2005 to essentially demonstrate the same thing, the viability of cod farming, in Maine, although on a much smaller scale. Conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the study was intended to help jump-start cod farming on the northern East Coast in response to the collapse of the wild capture fishery and Norway's extensive cod-farming efforts.

The NMFS study reported that cod farming development in Norway was well under way with more than 15 million juveniles produced in 2005 and 200,000 metric tons in harvests predicted by 2013 in Norway alone. The 2009 Pacific cod harvest for the Central Gulf of Alaska is set at 41,807 metric tons.

NMFS reported that Atlantic cod are a good candidate for aquaculture, being relatively straightforward to rear in the hatchery and with good growth rates in farmed conditions. In fact, they noted, the propagation of Atlantic cod has been under development since the late 1800s, but was not able to compete with the wild capture fishery.

The finfish aquaculture industry in Maine has undergone a major consolidation in the last few years, according to NMFS. Since December 2005, most of the salmon farming infrastructure in Maine has been owned and operated by Cooke Aquaculture.

The full 55-page NMFS report, which is filled with technical data about techniques used in the cod farming research, as well as summaries of outcomes, can be found at www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mb/sk/pdf/Report_18.pdf.

Shrimp fishermen from South Carolina are headed to Alaska next week to learn how to combat competition from farmed product, something Alaska salmon fishermen learned the hard way when prices crashed in the early 1990s.

Six shrimp fishermen from South Carolina will come to Alaska to take part in the unique exchange with Alaska fishermen, biologists and fisheries business experts. The March 18-22 event in Juneau and Petersburg is aimed at showing South Carolina fishermen how Alaska's fisheries work, and sharing with them strategies to improve their bottom line.

"Shrimpers all over the country have felt the same financial strain from cheaper shrimp imports that fishermen here in Alaska have felt from farmed salmon coming into the country," said Glenn Haight, fisheries business specialist with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, which is helping organize the exchange.

The fisheries exchange includes a tour of Alaska commercial fishing operations and participation in a range of workshops on topics including direct marketing, fisheries cooperatives, and building leadership skills, among others. Fishermen will learn about state and federal programs that help fishermen improve their business practices, and will meet with state fishery officials.

Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at realist468@gmail.com.