An experiment for the full cultivation of eels was begun this summer by a government research agency working in cooperation with private companies, in a bid to tackle the high cost that has hindered the farming of eels throughout the process of hatching eggs, raising juvenile eels to adults and getting them to spawn.
Through this test, the Yokohama-based Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency and two fish farming companies aim to collect data linked to the stable growth of the fish, find ways to reduce the cost, and make the full cultivation of eels commercially viable.
The price of eel has risen dramatically, partly due to poor catches of wild juvenile eels, known as glass eels. Juvenile eels caught from last autumn to this spring are about three times more expensive than in the same period of previous years -- some sold for 600 yen per eel.
The agency succeeded in the full cultivation of eels for the first time in the world in 2010, when it was known as the Fisheries Research Agency. However, less than 10 percent of eggs hatch during artificial cultivation, and methods for raising a large number of young eels have yet to be established. It still costs more than 5,000 yen to obtain one young eel through farming.
On July 17, the agency's National Research Institute of Aquaculture sent 300 artificially hatched young eels to two fish farming companies in Kagoshima Prefecture that are participating in the test.
Each young eel was as small as a toothpick. The two companies will raise them for six to 12 months to a weight of about 250 grams, which is the typical size for shipping. The companies are keeping various records -- such as how much feed the young eels consume and changes in their weight -- to collect useful data for the stable growth of eels.
"We should make the most of various knowledge and findings to secure a stable supply of eels. We also want to reduce the cost to make the [full cultivation of eels] commercially viable," an agency official said.
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