Sales of Farmed, Feminized Eels Spreading in Japan

Tokyo, Nov. 27 (Jiji Press)--Sales of cultivated feminized eels are beginning to spread in Japan, as the Aichi Fisheries Research Institute in central Japan and others have successfully developed a method to feminize eels.

While over 90 pct of glass eels under cultivation become male, the method can nurture nearly all of them to become female by providing special feed. Female eels grow to twice the weight of males.

"An era in which consumers can choose to eat male or female eels is just around the corner," Hiroyuki Inaba of the Aichi institute said at an event in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, on Nov. 18.

Inaba and others established the eel-feminizing method, which provides glass eels with feed containing soy isoflavone, which has a structure similar to female hormones, for a certain period. They obtained a patent for the method in 2021.

Although the method requires longer cultivation periods, female eels grow to weigh 400-500 grams each. Data show that their meat contains more "umami" and has softer textures.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]