Completely Farm-Bred Unagi, a World First

JoshuaInNippon writes "Japanese scientists at the National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency have reported that they successfully completed an artificial cultivation cycle for unagi, or eel — a world first. Unagi is a traditional delicacy in Japan, and can commonly be found in baked form at sushi restaurants. The fish has long been caught either matured, or still young and then fattened on farms. Sadly, as a result, natural stocks of unagi have plummeted in recent years. However, the research news indicates a future method to completely farm breed the tasty creature in mass quantity. Good news for sushi lovers, Japanese businesses, and wild eel alike."

Re:Dirty Jobs

[Anonymous Coward]

That was probably the slime eel/hagfish episode.

Re:Maybe, maybe not

[ushering05401]

The AC is probably referring to the infections that the farmed salmon have transmitted to nearby wild populations. I don't know if transmission is via escape or simple proximity, but there has been some noise about the issue.

Just like with the meat industrial complex animals, the farmed salmon require high doses of meds because of the unnatural and crowded living environment, and this has resulted in some aggressive infections for which the wild population is unprepared.

Bottomfeeder

[Anonymous Coward]

Answer: stop eating fish. Sorry.

Partly, but not completely. I highly recommend the book "Bottomfeeder" that covers this topic quite well:

http://www.tarasgrescoe.com/excerpt.html

The author recommends the following kinds if you want to eat sustainably:

• Artic char; barramundi
• Halibut, Pacific
• Herring
• Jellyfish (often used in salads and appetizers in restaurants)
• Mackerel
• Mullet
• Oysters, mussels
• Pickerel
• Pollock (usually found in fish sticks and fast-food sandwiches)
• Sablefish
• Sardines
• Squid (aka, calamari)
• Trout
• Whiting, blue

There are also many ones that he recommends with provisos (e.g., shrimp, when farmed, are often treated with chemicals and shrimp farms are seriously messing many of the world's poorest countries (e.g., Thailand); farmed shrimp from Mexico though are actually one of the most responsibly produced).

In general though a lot of the fish stocks are close to collapse in many parts of the world.

Highly recommend you check out the book, and at only ~300 pages, it's quick, informative read.

Re:Maybe, maybe not

[NoMaster]

Or the genetic impacts on wild salmon (naturally selected for overall fitness) of interbreeding with escaped farmed salmon (human selected for fast growth rates). It's actually a fairly nasty problem for wild stocks, and is being extensively [wiley.com] researched [oxfordjournals.org].

Re:right

[drsquare]

I'm betting your right. vegans always ignore the fact the food chain naturally includes meat eaters, and that meat has 10x the energy of veg meaning you'd have to clear a lot more land to feed the world just on veg.

Actually meat requires more land. For a start, you need to grow the food to feed to the animals. They're cutting down rainforests just to meet demand for beef.

Re:The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture ...

[cerberusss]

Parent refers to the following 2007 news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7029685.stm [bbc.co.uk]. Quote from the article:

Japan's Agriculture Ministry has reprimanded six civil servants who spent hours at work editing articles on Wikipedia - mainly about robots. [...] "The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam," ministry official Tsutomu Shimomura told the Associated Press news agency.