https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvI0kGGGbpc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvI0kGGGbpc
Wild freshwater eels are at risk of extinction due to overfishing but their meat can now be cultivated from cells
The first lab-grown freshwater eel meat has been produced, potentially solving a diner’s dilemma. Rampant overfishing has caused eel populations to plummet and prices to soar, but the cultivated eel could provide the delicacy guilt-free.
The eel meat was produced by Forsea Foods in Israel from embryonic cells of a freshwater eel. The company collaborated with a Japanese chef to create unagi kabayaki, marinated grilled eel over rice, and unagi nigiri, a type of sushi.
The company aims to scale up its operation and have the cultivated eel on sale in about two years. Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, last year backed the development of a cultivated meat industry. The restaurant price in Japan is about $250 a kilogram, and Forsea Foods expects the price of the cultivated eel to match that of the wild-caught eel.
Overfishing and pollution have contributed to eel populations crashing around the world and led to illegal trafficking of the species worth billions of dollars. Consumption of eel in Japan has fallen by 80% since 2000, said Roee Nir, the chief executive of Forsea Foods: “This is a high-priced fish and there is no one to supply it.”
“It has a very unique flavour and texture – it’s very tender and fatty but also has a unique umami flavour and we’re working to capture this,” said Nir. The current prototype will undergo further improvements before going on sale, he said.
Chef Katsumi Kusumoto, who runs the vegan restaurant Saido in Tokyo, said. “Unagi is an enduring favourite in Japan. But its timeless appeal is impacted by a growing awareness of the need to take a more sustainable approach.”
Forsea Foods’ strategy is to target species at risk of extinction in the wild that also command high prices in restaurants and shops, with eel meeting both criteria. The very complex life cycle of eels, involving long migrations from rivers to the ocean and several distinct life stages, means it is not possible to farm them like some fish.
The cultivated eel was produced using organoids, tiny bundles of tissue originally developed for use in medical research. The organoids are made of embryonic stem cells taken from fertilised eel eggs. These cells can develop into any kind of tissue and, as they grow, they self-organise into the structure of real meat. The final product also contains some plant-based ingredients.
Other approaches to cultivated meat require greater use of expensive growth factor chemicals and scaffolds for cells to grow on, Nir said. The technique is particularly suited to fish and seafood, whose meat is fairly uniform unlike, for example, marbled beef, he said. Like other cultivated meat, the product is not produced using antibiotics or hormones.
Forsea Foods is the only company known to be producing cultivated meat using this technology. The company has raised $5.2m (£4.1m) in investment, with more expected to be announced soon.
Seren Kell, at thinktank Good Food Institute Europe, said: “The pioneering use of organoids could provide companies with the ability to tap into animal cells’ inherent self-organising properties, effectively outsourcing the difficult task of developing cultivated meat and seafood onto nature itself.”
“Cultivated seafood pioneers are developing healthy and sustainable alternatives to an ever-growing range of local delicacies, giving people the food they love without contributing to problems such as overfishing and the destruction of precious marine habitats,” she said. The GFI provided research funding to Forsea from 2021-23.
In the US, Wildtype is growing salmon and BlueNalu tuna, Steakholder Foods in Israel has produced cultivated grouper fish, while Shiok Meats in Singapore is targeting shrimp, lobster and crab, and Cell4Food in the Azores is working on cultivated octopus.
Earlier this week, Aleph Farms in Israel became the first company in the world to get regulatory health approval for cultivated beef. Two US companies, Good Meat and Upside foods, already have approval for cultivated chicken. Good Meat was the first to sell cultivated meat to the public, in Singapore in 2020.
Cultivated meat is expected to have a much lower environmental footprint than meat from livestock. Scientists have said that avoiding conventional meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet.
〔記者蔡宗勳/嘉義報導〕台灣鰻苗捕撈期已在2月底結束,全台約捕獲1300公斤,比上季的1850公斤更低,入池量更只有300公斤,已經完全喪失外銷的先機,「鰻魚王國」的光環黯然失色,業者普遍看衰前景,強調台灣鰻魚產業明顯轉型,不再是外銷導向,改供應內銷市場為主。
根據台大漁推會節錄自「日本養殖新聞」的台、日、中、韓四國至3月1日的鰻苗捕撈狀況,台灣為1300公斤、日本3500公斤、中國7800公斤,韓國捕撈期才要開始尚無數量;入池量則是台灣300公斤、日本7800公斤、中國1200公斤、韓國3100公斤,目前總入池量1萬2400公斤,台灣比重2.4%,但隨著日、中、韓入池量逐漸增加,台灣的占比將愈來愈低。
台灣區鰻蝦生產合作社聯合社理事主席唐慶宗指出,本季的鰻魚苗捕撈又比上季減少達550公斤,量少價昂,加上絕大多數鰻苗銷售被日本捷足先登,價格過高養殖風險太大,台灣鰻魚養殖業者根本下不了手,尤其是現在外銷價格低迷,鰻苗每尾岸邊價只要高於60元就有血本無歸的風險,除非降到4、50元,大家才有養殖意願。
另根據財政部關務署進出口貨物統計,台灣成鰻出口日本外銷量近年從2021年起依序為1581公噸、1718公噸與1015公噸,去年已明顯萎縮,加上目前在池養殖量銳減,今年估算將跌至1000公噸以下,甚至是腰斬的窘況。
鰻魚養殖業者表示,鰻魚產業在台灣因成本與需求環境日益惡化情況下,因為外銷日本幾無競爭力,也不符合成本效益,被迫要轉型,多數漁民只會放養內銷需求的量,改養大規格來搶攻國內市場,閒置的鰻魚池則改養其它有競爭的魚種。
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目前各地在迎向暗夜大潮期間的漁況,並未傳來相關訊息。以關東利根川兩岸為首,東海濱名湖、四國高知、德島縣、九州鹿兒島、宮崎縣等地都沒有消息。利根川兩岸的消息「這一週的捕撈量,合計不到二位數,甚至遠遠不及10公斤,狀況很糟糕。」
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