I finally got around to watching the last episode (fish) of Britain’s Really Disgusting Food last night. I’m not keen on the show. In my opinion Alex Riley ruins what could have been an interesting look at what we eat with stupid juvenile pranks, but I do have an interest in food so I suffered through it.

The fish episode quickly settled on the theme of morally disgusting food and started banging home the message that scientists believe that by 2048 we’ll have totally depleted our natural fish stocks and our national institution of ‘cod and chips’ will be a thing of the past. Due to Riley’s silly reporting my wife wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not and asked if I thought it was true.

The answer being that whilst it might well be true, I don’t believe it will happen. Instead I believe that the law of supply and demand will ensure that fish stocks last considerably longer. Using my favourite fish, cod, as an example lets consider what I believe will happen. Firstly demand for cod is strong and likely to remain so for as long as the price is affordable. The supply on the other hand is dwindling, reduced by the fishing quotas aimed at reducing the level of overfishing and overfishing itself.

The law of supply and demand therefore suggests the price of cod will rise. Now a strong demand, limited supply and rising price should immediately get any entrepreneurs attention. It suggests there is a profitable business opportunity for anyone who can increase the supply. So sat there watching the program a business idea came to me: cod farming.

Now I know we farm salmon, so why not cod? Sure it might not be economically viable at the moment, but as the price of wild cod rises it would no doubt become more financially attractive with the bonus that it should make anyone interested in sustainable business ideas fell like they’re helping to sustain the species.

A quick look on Google today suggests that it’s definitely a feasible business idea, an article published by the North Atlantic Fisheries College titled The Atlantic Cod: The Potential For Farming In Shetland takes a good look at the entire business, explaining that some cod is already farmed.

Photo by: Joost J. Bakker

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