Kindai University on Oct. 26 announced that it has succeeded in complete farming of Japanese eels, in what it describes as the world’s first feat of its kind by a university.
Complete farming involves artificially breeding a second generation using an egg and sperm of eels raised from eggs. The Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency in 2010 became the world’s first body to achieve the feat, and Kindai University is apparently the first university to follow suit.
According to the university, it collected fertilized eggs from farmed parent eels at an experimental site of its Aquaculture Research Institute in the town of Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, on July 5, and succeeded in hatching some the following day. Researchers also confirmed additional hatches on Aug. 3 and 24. As of Oct. 18, a total of some 600 eel larvae were growing.
Kindai University has so far developed farming technology for bluefin tuna and red sea bream. Shukei Masuma, head of the Aquaculture Research Institute, told a press conference in Tokyo, “We’d like to try our hand at developing our own unique technology in breeding fish larvae and contribute to improving the overall level of farming technology.”
In general eel farming, natural young eels, called glass eels, are imported and grown into mature eels. However, the catch of glass eels has plunged to some one-tenth of that in the 1980s, creating the need for urgent efforts to conserve resources.
In putting complete farming to practical use, the cost issue poses a challenge. According to the Fisheries Agency, it cost 3,026 yen (approx. $20) to artificially breed one young fish as of fiscal 2020. While this is a sharp drop from the 27,750 yen (about $185) it cost in fiscal 2016, natural young fish remain cheaper, at 180 to 600 yen each (approx. $1.20 to $4). This significant price difference makes it difficult for completely artificially bred fish to make it onto dinner tables.
The Fisheries Agency in 2021 laid out a goal of bringing about complete farming of Japanese eels and other major cultured fish by 2050, in a bid to achieve a sustainable farming system that would not burden natural resources.