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Brazil
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The difficulty in Brazil with cobia farming was that it was not well recognised as a high-quality food fish in some regions, particularly in the South. However, this scenario is changing, and first farmed cobia productions have been well accepted by local consumers, restaurants and fresh fish markets. The increasing demand for high quality fresh food fish and seafood, combined with the lack of local fish production, has driven up the price of farmed cobia. Currently, the emerging cobia production in Southern Brazil is being sold for US$18-20/kg for whole gutted fish. With an increasing demand for fresh fish, an increasing production of cobia is expected and for that reason, this promising market has attracted the interest of medium and large entrepreneurs for cobia cage culture. One issue holding these farmers back at present is the lack of high quality commercial diets for marine fish. This continues to be the biggest obstacle to development of cobia aquaculture in Brazil. In Brazil, there are several promising marine fish species with great aquaculture potential. In the last seven years there has been a strong interest from the government through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture to promote marine fish culture starting with key species such as cobia. This native species was chosen for several reasons including fast growth rates, good flesh quality, and well-developed husbandry protocol that could easily be adapted to local culture conditions. Therefore, research programs, partnerships and regional hatcheries were created to promote marine fish culture. Wild cobia is mainly captured on the northeast coast of Brazil, where it is appreciated by consumers in many restaurants. The high water temperatures in this region throughout the year allow a cer-
38 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | May-June 2015