WHILE salmon has dominated Scottish aquaculture for the past 30 years, interest in the farming of other species continues to grow. Brown trout has been farmed for many years for the restocking market, but there is increasing interest in farming marinespecies. These provide diversification from the production of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout, allowing some of the smaller companies to remain within the aquaculture sector and the larger companies to broaden their production base. As the marine sector expands, the employment provided and the contribution to the total production of the Scottish aquaculture industry is expected to increase. The production of cod in particular is set to soar. Long regarded as a difficult species to farm, cod is now being produced in Scotland on a "commercial scale. According to figures published by the Fisheries Research Services, 14 Scottish companies, operating 20 sites, produced 8 tonnes in 2004. This was expected to rise to 355.5 tonnes last year.
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