Japan Institute Unveils Grilled Meat of Fully Cultured Eels

June 24, 2019

Tokyo- A Japanese government-linked institute has unveiled "kabayaki" grilled meat from eels artificially raised from fertilized eggs.


The Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency showed the grilled eel to the media Friday, ahead of the midsummer Day of the Ox in July, when demand for kabayaki eel dishes spikes.


Full-cycle culture of eels from eggs is raising expectations as natural stocks of the fish have slumped. But it is difficult to raise eels from fertilized eggs, because much remains unknown about the biology of eels.


Recently, the agency succeeded in raising glass eels from fertilized eggs that had been taken from adult eels. The glass eels were sent to eel farms in Kagoshima Prefecture and elsewhere and grown into adults.


The fully cultured eels taste as good as ordinary eels that are cultured from glass eels, an agency official said.


But it takes about 700 days to culture eels from eggs to adults, 1.4 times the period needed under the conventional culture method.


In addition, an artificially hatched fry costs some 5,000 yen, 10 times the prices of natural ones, as mass production is difficult.


It is estimated that "unaju" grilled eel on rice served in a box, a popular dish, will be be priced higher than 10,000 yen if fully cultured eels are used.


"We want to shorten the period to raise eels in order to lower costs," said Mitsuru Ototake, director-general of the agency's National Research Institute of Aquaculture. Jiji Press