Photo/Illutration Adult eels raised from artificial incubation (Provided by Kindai University)

A university in Japan announced a major breakthrough in the complete farming of highly endangered Japanese eels, claiming a world first by an academic institution.

Kindai University in Osaka Prefecture said it achieved full-cycle aquaculture of Japanese eels after raising larvae from eggs spawned by artificially incubated adults.

The institution said it aims to create a stable setting so it can raise eels for commercial use. They are a prized delicacy in Japan and said to restore vigor sapped by the relentless heat that bears down each summer.

Japan relies on aquaculture for at least 99 percent of eels distributed in the country.

Natural larvae called glass eels are used for eel farming, but catches have drastically decreased in recent years.

Japan first started researching full-cycle aquaculture of Japanese eels about 60 years ago.

In 1973, Hokkaido University achieved a world first when it managed to artificially incubate a Japanese eel.

And in 2010, the Fisheries Research Center, now the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA), became the world’s first entity to achieve complete farming.

Kindai University’s Aquaculture Research Institute in Wakayama Prefecture got interested in complete aquaculture in 1976 but suspended its research in 1998 after failing to produce results.

However, the university resumed its research operations in March 2019 after Hideki Tanaka, a former FRA member, joined the school as a professor.

In October last year, researchers collected sperm from male eels raised from eggs, which they used for artificial insemination this past July after successfully collecting eggs from female adults.

Complete farming was achieved when second-generation larvae hatched from fertilized eggs.

“We want to use our unique technology to take full-cycle farming technology to a new level,” said Shukei Masuma, president of the Aquaculture Research Institute.

Although a private institution has also succeeded in developing full-cycle aquaculture technology in Japan, none has yet to achieve commercialization due to cost issues and breeding difficulties.

“Although it is not at a commercially viable level yet, we hope to bring all our resources at Kindai University to put it into practical use,” Tanaka said.

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