Kinki University Fisheries Research Institute has succeeded in completely cultivating Japanese eel for the first time.The Fisheries Research Center (currently the National Fisheries Research and Education Organization) succeeded in raising larvae from parent fish grown from artificial seedlings in 2010, but this is the first time a university has done this. As of the 26th, the larval rearing period has reached 112 days.
According to Kindai University, the Fisheries Research Institute began research on Japanese eel seedling production in 1976 at the Shirahama Experimental Station in Shirahama Town, Wakayama Prefecture, and succeeded in collecting and hatching eggs in 1984 and 1998, but it was not until the larvae ate food. It did not reach.
Therefore, in 2019, research resumed using a method successfully carried out by the Fisheries Research Center at the Urakami Experimental Station in Nachikatsuura Town, Wakayama Prefecture, and they succeeded in artificially hatching the fish.Hormones involved in egg formation were administered to artificially hatched females starting in September 2022, and fertilized eggs were obtained in July 9, which hatched into larvae.The load has been confirmed since then. It metamorphoses into a young glass eel in about three to six months, and then grows to a normal edible size in about a year.
Eel is an essential ingredient in the Japanese diet, and 99% of the total shipments come from aquaculture using natural glass eel.However, the amount of glass eel caught has decreased significantly, and securing the seeds and seedlings necessary for aquaculture has become a major problem.
The biggest challenge in complete eel farming is said to be growing fertilized eggs into glass eels.Research conducted by the Fisheries Research Center succeeded in achieving complete aquaculture, but cost issues remained.The Fisheries Research Institute will continue its research, focusing on raising glass eels that can be used as seedlings for aquaculture, including solving cost issues.
