Sushi Lovers Can Rest Easy!
Boyé Lafayette De Mente
With the planet’s oceans becoming more and more polluted and “the fish in the sea” dwindling at a shocking rate because of over-fishing, a Japanese fishing consortium has teamed up with four Japanese universities to e cultivate bluefin tuna from eggs.
As the world’s most voracious devourers of bluefin tuna the Japanese have a vested interest in ensuring a steady supply of this amazing sea creature.
Maruha Group Inc., a major fishing consortium, began a research program in 1987 to cultivate tuna from eggs, but gave up after 10 years because progress was so slow.
Then scientists at Kinki University got into the act, and were able to develop techniques that made it possible for them to cultivate tuna from eggs to maturity on a commercial scale. The university spun off a start-up company called A-Marine Kindai to utilize the technology.
Spurred by this success, the Maruha consortium established a relationship with four other universities to scale up the technology for the mass cultivation of tuna in ocean fish preserves and in land-based water facilities.
The new Maruha project was inaugurated with 100 million bluefin tuna eggs. They will be raised until they weigh from 120 to 150 pounds.
