Why Japanese Eel Is So Expensive | So Expensive

this is the most expensive fish in japan in january 2018 a kilogram of these baby eels cost around 35 000. that's more than bluefin tuna and almost as much as the price of gold at the time but catching these eels is just the beginning it can take a year of work until they're large enough to be sold so what makes these eels so popular and why are they so expensive people in japan have eaten eel for thousands of years restaurants like this can sell 40 to 50 tons of eel each year japanese eel or anguilla japonica can be found across east asia but overfishing and changing habitats have caused a huge decline in eel populations since 1980 the global catch of eel has declined by more than 75 percent which unlike other types of fishing the majority of eels are raised not caught as adults young eels called glass eels are caught in the wild and raised on farms like this no farms have been able to efficiently breed the eels in captivity so farmers depend on the catch of young eels to make a profit raising this many eels requires constant attention michio has been working as an eel farmer for almost 40 years okay after the cost of the eels themselves feeding them is the most expensive part two to three times a day workers feed eels this it's a mixture of fish meal wheat soybean meal and fish [Music] me [Music] [Music] after six to 12 months of work eels are big enough to be sold workers unload the eels and sort them by size to determine where they'll be sold experienced workers can quickly tell the difference just by feel some of these eels will end up at restaurants like cerugaya which has been serving eel for over 150 years that high demand is part of the reason young eels are so expensive the final dish is called kabayaki it may look simple but preparing it takes years to master my accuracy workers prepare eel live to maintain freshness but this makes handling much more difficult workers remove the bones and cut eels to the proper size for the skewers yield has to be constantly monitored while it's cooking to achieve even grilling chef steam then grill each eel three times dipping it into sauce between each grilling [Music] egg kabayaki presented in a lacquer box with rice is called unanju it can cost up to 91 dollars depending on the price of adult eel if prices are too high restaurants struggle to make a profit [Music] foreign in japan eels are eaten year-round but consumption peaks in the summer and it's become a big part of some local economies but the high demand has caused concern in 2014 japanese eels were classified as endangered and because of low domestic catch the majority of eels eaten in japan are imported from china and taiwan syria [Music] there have been efforts to improve the eel population like regulating fishing releasing adult eels back into the water and researching how to hatch eels in farms but the future of japanese eels remains unclear and the price is likely to increase with demand

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 312,209

Rating: 4.8678765 out of 5

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, eel, japanese eel, japan, food, expensive, so expensive, seafood, seafood industry

Id: k4URGc_3FrE

Length: 6min 32sec (392 seconds)

Published: Sat May 22 2021