Why These 10 Expensive Foods Are Disappearing | So Expensive Food | Insider Business

this purple flower produces the world's most expensive spice saffron while it can sell for ten thousand dollars per kilogram climate change is making it even more expensive because of lower than usual rainfall over the last few years production here in Kashmir has dropped significantly and Fields that once yielded this delicate spice have become sites for new housing construction climate change is threatening the production of all kinds of foods from cloves in India to eels in Japan and Spain here a 10 expensive and vulnerable foods and why climate change is making them so much more expensive eel is among the most expensive fish in Japan with baby eels selling for as high as 35 000 a kilogram overfishing pollution changes to Oceanic currents and a decline in habitat have all contributed to this prized fish slowly disappearing placing it on the iucn red list of threatened species but this hasn't stalled the demand 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 has had a huge effect on price foreign [Music] 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 breathe the eels in captivity so farmers depend on the catch of young eels to make a profit foreign raising this many eels requires constant attention Michio has been working as an eel Farmer for almost 40 years questions 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 oil [Music] thank you foreign [Music] 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 serugaya 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 so [Music] 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 you'll have to be constantly monitored while it's cooking to achieve even grilling Chef Steve then Grill each eel three times dipping it into sauce between each grilling [Music] kabayaki presented in a lacquer box with rice is called unaju 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] in Japan eels are eaten year round the 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 o um and [Music] um [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 eels aren't the only pricey seafood at risk of overfishing hugu is a deadly pufferfish delicacy served across Japan the Japanese eat 10 000 tons of this fish every year in high season it can cost you 265 dollars per kilo overfishing has drastically reduced its population despite fishing regulations certain types of puffer fish are almost completely extinct there are over 120 species of pufferfish 22 different kinds are approved by the Japanese government for use in restaurants but one is more prized and more poisonous than the others Torah fuku or tiger puffer fish while torofugu is often found at high-end restaurants where it served as a perfectly thinly sliced Sashimi deep fried and even used to make hot sake called hirizake Yamada has been serving pufferfish for over a hundred years bear Fugu is caught in southern Japan and airlifted alive to their Tokyo restaurants sourcing the fish can be tricky in HEI damari Market the fugu is auctioned off using a bag and hidden hand signals each potential buyer puts their hand in the bag and makes their bid secretly for a successful bidder is chosen when selling such a dangerous food safety is Paramount 2018 when a supermarket accidentally sold five packets of the fish that hadn't had the poisonous liver removed the town used its missile alert system to warn residents the tetradotoxin found in Fugu is more toxic than Cyanide and each year about 20 people are poisoned from badly prepared fish it takes a lot of skill and training to prepare the fish safely and know which parts are poisonous since [Music] all [Music] better one the poisonous Parts can vary by species and hybrid species are appearing now that are even harder to tell apart one of the hardest things to distinguish between can be the female fugu's ovaries which are extremely toxic and the male's testicles which were delicacy the Japanese government tightly control who can prepare Fugu and chefs need to take an extensive exam before they're legally allowed to serve the fish this rigorous regulation means that while the fish can be lethal far more people die from eating oysters than Fugu each year [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] all of the skill and training that goes into preparing this fish increases its price the fish is killed seconds before preparation and while the process looks gruesome as the muscles continue to spasm the fish is technically brain dead [Music] foreign [Music] this method of killing the fish means that the meat stays fresh for longer and at yamadaya the fugu is aged for 24 hours before it's served so what does it actually taste like [Music] how transparent it is I didn't particularly expect it to have such a chewy texture it really is much chewier than I expected but it's really very subtle taste it's just really fresh sort of clean taste and really really nice there's another reason tiger Fugu is getting more expensive overfishing tiger puffer fish is near threatened and in 2005 the Japanese government limited its fishing quotas and seasons and another popular edible species across Japan the Chinese pufferfish has declined in population by 99.9 over the last 45 years farmed versions of these fish are much cheaper and many more affordable chain Fugu restaurants are starting to appear but the farmed version is difficult to raise and Japanese consumers say it just doesn't taste as good wild fugu's high price guarantees that it's safely prepared by an expert chef and when you're dealing with a potentially deadly fish that price is reassuringly expensive [Music] cashews are another food with a toxic side without intensive precise processing these nuts wouldn't be edible at all harvested just once a year they grow in select tropical climates and the change in climate is making them even more vulnerable increased rainfall and humidity have greatly affected their quality combine that with soaring demand and prices have gone up in 2017 the world ate 770 000 metric tons of cashews they're one of the most popular and valuable nuts in the world worth over six billion dollars today cashews grow in tropical locations like India Vietnam Ivory Coast and here in Sri Lanka the trees are a member of the same family as Poison Ivy and like poison ivy cashew plants contain a toxin called yurushial it's found in the plant itself and the brown oil inside a nutshell it can cause Burns itches and blisters which is why unprocessed cashews are considered dangerous to eat or touch it's also why they require more rigorous processing than other nuts each fruit grows just one shelled nut called a drupe which workers separate by hand the nuts must then dry Under the Sun to help draw out some of the Shell's caustic liquid it's difficult and dangerous step is splitting open the nut since toxic oil still coats the droops cashews are brittle so factories used to do this step manually to ensure machines wouldn't break the nuts but doing this by hand has frequently raised issues within the industry ngos have called out some factories for overworking employees and putting workers at risk of burning themselves if they can't afford to buy gloves for protection today machines are Advanced enough to crack the Shell's clean weed keeping the majority of nuts intact and helping minimize risks to workers how do you foreign splits open the shells the next two crucial stages totally depend on workers who have to do them by hand the nuts are roasted to ensure again that the toxic liquid inside is destroyed the next stage is particularly tedious as it relies entirely on handiwork workers must peel off the husk or the dry outer covering that surrounds each nut because it's high in tannins and could irritate your throat removing it is a skill one masters with practice experienced workers deskin only about two and a half kilograms of cashews each night this step is not only difficult but also has the biggest impact on price is cashews are graded by several features like color weight and condition large hole nuts are most valuable s because cashews can only be harvested once a year Growers like laharu save a portion of the nuts in stock so that they can continue making a profit in the months ahead but it comes at a steep cost just stocking the nuts caused laharu more than 65 thousand dollars each year [Music] foreign [Music] this causes prices to fluctuate a bit year-round in December laharu supply has decreased so prices typically increase but it also depends on each country's supply chain while Sri Lanka processes and sells many of its own cashews domestically other countries export much of what they grow it's likely that many of the cashews you buy in the U.S or Europe were grown in Africa processed in Vietnam or India and finally exported to the Western Market Africa produces half of the world's supply of cashews Ivory Coast for example produced about 730 000 metric tons of raw cashews in 2019. but it exported over 90 percent of that this is because Ivory Coast and other African countries still don't have a robust processing industry Ivory Coast plans to expand domestic processing by 2024 but without it cashews are significantly less valuable in 2018 the export price of cashews processed in India and exported to Europe was 250 percent higher than the price paid to Ivory Coast farmers Vietnam on the other hand was one of the first countries to invest in automation making it a key location for processing cash use today Vietnam is the largest cashew exporter in the world in just the first three months of 2021 the country exported over 108 000 tons of cashews automation has also lessened the need to hire workers which is a reason many factories in India and Sri Lanka still process manually um foreign [Music] by hand or machine processing cashews is no easy task in the world's climate crisis could make it even harder a 2013 report on the climate's impact on cashews shows unseasonal rains and heavy Dew can impact the quality and quantity of the nuts just this year laharu's Harvest came late because of it foreign s continue to be popular healthy eating Trends are key to driving demand along with the versatility of the cashew itself another reason the nut remains so valuable whether used as a snack cooking paste or an alternative to milk or butter cashews have many applications around the world researchers predict the market will grow to 7 billion dollars by 2025. and although cashews are currently cheaper than they've been in recent years demand is likely to drive prices higher in the future [Music] another food struggling to meet high demand is Salon cinnamon this Elite variety of cinnamon is native to the island country of Sri Lanka in a region of the world that has been experiencing extreme droughts Salem cinnamon is named after the old British name for Sri Lanka and it is often considered real cinnamon it is made from the dried inner bark of a tree called cinnamon verum growing these trees is an investment Farmers must wait four years after a tree is planted before they can begin harvesting at Harvest workers break down the branches early in the morning when the bark is still moist again must continuously care for the trees throughout the year otherwise the branches won't be suitable for making cinnamon at all foreign the rigorous nature of this job has only just begun now peelers must do the delicate and essential work of stripping the inner bark of each branch by hand foreign [Music] foreign this is the most labor-intensive part of the process and it's not as easy as simply shaving the outside of the bark as you would the skin from a potato to produce the most valuable cinnamon the bark must be made extremely thin the thinner the quills are the more costly they will be your wampura has spent 40 years mastering the skill soon after the bark is removed each piece dries Under the Sun and curls up within a few minutes after drying the small pieces are stuffed inside A straight piece of bark forming one 42 inch quill by the end of a long day workers will have only produced about three pounds of quills those then need to dry for three to four days before they're packed into Bales and sent off to a separate facility that's where they'll be graded and officially priced based on their width PD Romanus and Sons buys bales of cinnamon from various peelers at its facility quills are grated over 10 scales the most valuable quills are classified as Alba it takes a pillar four times longer to produce one kilogram of Alba than to produce the same quantity of lower grades [Music] the leftover smaller cuts are turned into ground cinnamon and make up the cheapest form but even the most valuable quills are often confused with a more widely accessible and cheaper variety of cinnamon um [Music] cassia comes from another kind of cinnamon tree called cinnamon cassia and it doesn't require as much time or effort to make cassia bark is hard and sturdy so quills are made as one curled piece of bark without the fillings single and cinnamon on the other hand is tender and soft and needs those inner layers to prevent the quill from breaking me is very fragrant and brown whereas real cinnamon is paler with a milder flavor cassia also contains on average higher levels of kumarin an organic compound that can cause liver damage if consumed in large amounts this is why researchers say Ceylon cinnamon is ultimately the healthier option but if you're buying cinnamon in the U.S it can be hard to tell the difference between them part of the confusion between the two comes from the use of the label cinnamon in the U.S it is legal to label both Ceylon and Cassius cinnamon as cinnamon while in the UK and other countries cassia must be labeled cassia and cannot be classified simply as cinnamon regardless of what it's called in the U.S consumers worldwide prefer the real thing in 2018 Ceylon accounted for more Global cinnamon Revenue than any other variety but even as demand is expected to grow through 2025 climate change poses a serious threat to Cinnamon Production in recent years Sri Lanka has experienced droughts over several months and these long periods of dry weather can kill cinnamon trees which need marshy wet soil to survive there's also a shortage of cinnamon peelers another threat to production that's likely to drive up prices this industry relies on experienced peelers who can practice the difficult work of making these quills over many years [Music] [Music] foreign stands out and it's made rarer by a severe lack of rainfall heavy droughts have caused saffron production to drop significantly as much as 70 percent in high supplying areas like Kashmir where real saffron can cost you over ten thousand dollars a kilogram [Music] being sought out for thousands of years as a spice dye and medicine and you need over 150 flowers to make just one gram saffron is the red stigma of the crocus sativus each crocus has three small stigmas that have to be picked carefully by hand this minuscule Harvest means that the amount you get from each flower is roughly 0.06 grams no machine can do the delicate work required to harvest these thin threads and it can take 40 hours of hard manual labor to produce just one kilogram of high quality saffron growing the plants isn't exactly easy either they're actually called corns but they're like a bulb basically like a you know a flower bowl um so the more flowers per bulb you can get and the bigger the flowers really and that all depends on how you look after it how you grow it the climate so for example if it rains just before Harvest we get bigger flowers if it's very dry just before harvest the flowers are smaller so you look after the crop during the year by hand and you um pick the flowers by hand and you process the flowers by hand once the crop starts flowering Harvesters have to work fast to make sure they can pick it all in time almost all of the saffron planted can flower within one week of the year and to maintain the quality the flowers are best picked first thing in the morning quality is key when growing such a precise crop and the taste of the saffron depends on the rainfall temperature and soil Kashmir is famed for producing some of the highest quality saffron in the world [Music] in all over the world and that small strand of saffron that you harvest as a result of all of this work well to get the highest grades you might need to throw half of it away the most expensive highest grade saffron is generally made up of just the very tips of the stigma in Iran wherever 90 of the world saffron is produced there are four grades the lowest grade is the bunch that's the entire strand that's pulled from the flower from the dark red tips to the Yellow base in higher grades the yellow strand is removed leaving only a long strand of pure red that means a kilo of saffron could be made up of 450 000 strands and to get that many strands you need 150 000 flowers and those flowers take up a lot of growing space cumin for example can yield 600 kilos per acre nutmeg gets you around 350 kilograms in the same space use that land for saffron instead and you get a 1.8 kilogram Harvest despite the incredible amount of work and space this crop takes up demand for the Spice is increasing and over 200 metric tons of saffron threads harvested worldwide each year that's the result of about 30 billion flowers demand for the threads is so high that many adulterate or produce fake saffron threads that look real at first glance could actually be made of corn silks coconut fibers or even horse hair synthetic colorings are also used to dye the lower grade stigmas and sell them as high grade saffron in late 2019 a fake saffron crime ring was uncovered in the UK which led to a two-year International investigation and back in 2010 Spain exported 190 000 kilos of saffron with 50 million dollars but the country's total production amounted to only 1 500 kilos at the time a local Farmers Union reported that up to 90 of Spanish saffron exports were fraudulent the industry has attempted to crack down on these fake and mislabeled products but the problem still persists and the market for fake saffron is closing many real saffron farmers down so what does real saffron actually taste like I've been asked that one by a lot of people over the years it's uh it's so difficult to describe which is I think part of its Fascination for people and why it ended up you know as an expensive product because it is it just adds something it's a Bittersweet flavor it's an earthy flavor trying to replicate it's very difficult and we've you know people have tried to do that I know while saffron is just as popular as ever it's been sought after throughout history in Greek mythology Zeus sometimes slept on a bed of saffron and Cleopatra was said to bathe in Saffron and milk using the dying properties of the spice as an ancient fake tap every culture seems to have its own myth about the spice's powers and in the 14th century saffron's popularity skyrocketed across Europe when it was thought to be a possible cure for the plague but there's a recent looming problem for saffron and its price climate change in Kashmir production has dropped significantly and many farmers are selling their land instead we we had you know very few uh rains in the last I think four or five years the temperature and the climate has completely changed in Kashmir when I was a kid when we used to go to the saffron Farms to pick up the saffron we would it would at least take us two days to pick up the saffron from the same fields which you know nowadays you could just pick up in half an hour I'm very emotional about the the saffron because this is a cultural identity of Kashmir and especially the people of pampur but the thing is that you know the production is declining and uh you know the lands are being sold the houses are being built on the saffron lands you know it really disheartens people yeah between 2017 and 18 saffron production in the region fell almost 70 percent from 16.5 metric tons down to 5.2 and with continuing droughts and climate change this Harvest could become even more rare while some spices are dealing with drought others are threatened by heavy and unpredictable rainfall [Music] in the forests of South India Harvesters climb trees as tall as 50 feet to hand pick these clove buds when exported less than half a pound of these dried cloves costs thirty dollars that's ten times as much as some cumin and while demand is growing the clove industry in India is struggling to keep up clothes are the flower buds of clove trees that haven't blossomed yet when dried they're commonly used as a spice a close flavor is complex with notes of sweetness bitterness and Heat the oil found in cloves has medicinal properties that make the spice valuable outside of just cooking cloves with the round head or crown still intact have the most oil but to get cloves with the highest possible oil content highly skilled workers are needed at every stage Grove is harvesting is a very big job it's a very risky job so we we have to get special people to do that to get to the top of the trees Harvesters like Shibu rely on only a ladder and some rope oh yeah no he reinforces the bottom of the ladder with mud so it doesn't move as he navigates The Tall Tree Shibu ties a sack to his waist and then he starts his climb working his way from the top of the tree to the bottom Harvesters can't pick too soon or too late or the clothes will drop in grade and value in addition to picking at the exact right time and being careful not to harm the clove Bud they need to be sure not to break the tree branches they climb otherwise the tree will have a lower yield next harvesting season [Music] navigating all these elements can be extremely dangerous in BlackRock Estates harvesting cloves has led to death a couple of years back we lost a worker while he was plucking the lightning striked him we lost almost about six of them was they had paralyzed like we had to take them to rush them down to the hospital and they were admitted for a month yet hand picking is the only way Farms like BlackRock estate have managed to keep delivering quality clothes [Music] because timing is crucial Charles needs a big team to pick the clothes as soon as they're ready which is usually mid to late February Charles can sell the clothes for their highest price in the first 25 days of the harvesting season the more he can Harvest during this time the better it is for business when the Grove season is fully on and we have a very good crop we get about nearly about 300 workers during Peak harvesting season these workers make around 30 dollars a day on average once the clove clusters are picked Harvesters carefully remove the individual buds from the stalks and leaves they sift and soar each Bud according to its size age and whether it has a top it's best if the circular crown of the clove where it would otherwise flower is still intact this improves The spice's Taste and aroma even though there are machines to help with this process Charles prefers to pay for it to be done by hand to lower the risk of clove damage they have glow breaking and sorting with Machinery but still the half the clothes is damaged in that we get broken clothes in that so it's not very good doing it in the machine it's quality clothes were picked at the at the time before they turned pink or flowered they're large and plump and second quality clothes also still have their tops but they're smaller they were either picked too early or too late and the third quality has no crown with the top having either flowered or broken off after the Sorting workers leave the clothes out to dry in the sun high quality clothes take three days to dry under good sunlight but a quality clove won't always get sold as the highest grade because official grading doesn't happen until after it's dry if there's too little or too much sun the close quality drops instead of golden brown it becomes black and it loses one of its most valuable properties its oil content First Quality cloves are the most fragrant and have the highest oil content The Headless third quality clothes have the least and the difference shows in the price Charles sells his first quality clothes for about ten dollars a kilogram and its lowest grade for under seven dollars clove oil is mostly made up of the compound eugenol which is not only responsible for the clove's familiar aroma but also for its medicinal benefits researchers have noted eugenol has antimicrobial anti-inflammatory pain relieving and antioxidant properties so the demand for clothes goes beyond their culinary uses cloves are so sought after in India that Charles is able to sell more than just the buds we sell everything nothing goes to waste even the pollen the dust everything we sell that's also because the cloves he grows kanyakumari clothes are known for their high oil content and strong aroma in fact these clothes were awarded a GI indication in 2021 [Music] Charles's kanyakumari clothes are the most expensive Variety in India when you go to the market to buy cloves the grow price will be built three times the price what we give it'll be about 2000 rupees where we get only 750. the retail price is so much higher because of the supply chain to maximize on profits for the farm Charles won't sell his clothes directly to Consumers who only buy smaller amounts as needed instead he sells to Clove dealers who buy large quantities dealers like Franklin Roosevelt then have to keep the clothes fresh until they sell them to retailers if he doesn't store the clothes properly their shelf life drops temperatures to cover the cost of quality control Franklin sells clothes to stores for almost twelve dollars a kilo the shops that buy from Franklin have to pay transportation and packaging costs bringing the retail price of cloves in India even higher but one of the biggest challenges in every step of the supply chain has been the changing climate is 2018 and 2019 India lost 13 metric tons of clothes due to heavy rainfall and while the global clove Market is expected to grow by three and a half percent by 2027 the changing climate may still continue to disproportionately bird and clothe Farmers farmers foreign it's not only plant species that are suffering from changes in the climate stone crabs one of the priceiest Seafoods you can buy are declining rapidly in population depending on their size a pound of claws at a restaurant can cost as much as seventy dollars and this has led Harvesters to overfishing fishes can Harvest only the claws from the crabs while the bodies must be returned to the ocean though the crabs can regenerate these limbs the claws need to be removed correctly and not prematurely or the crabs can bleed to death so what continues to make these claws so coveted you can only fish for stone crab on the Southeastern coast of the U.S Cuba the Bahamas and Mexico and it's Florida where more stone crabs are caught than anywhere else these Crustaceans are markedly more expensive than other popular crabs a pound of claws can cost two times the price of Alaskan snow crab legs part of what makes these crabs so costly is the labor-intensive process of catching them there's a nice crab Ernie Patton Jr has been commercially fishing for stone crabs for over 40 years with limited time to harvest each year his crew must start their days early sailing out before the sun rises the process begins with dropping traps down to the ocean floor this is probably the funnest part you know you get to be a little more physical you know what I mean it's a little bit of a rhythm thing going on here it's like uh dancing mariachi but plucking these claws can be a dangerous process the clause on an adult crab can have as much as nine thousand pounds of pressure per square inch with the enormous pressure that's exerted they could actually pop a finger off at the joint these crabs they have a mind of their own you can easily get bit you know if you're not careful I've only been bit maybe say eight times in my career popped over a million Falls in my day the crew leaves the traps in the water for about two weeks before they're pulled in by a rope then each one must be sorted thoroughly we come back in a couple of weeks and then got a couple in the Trap we're gonna pull them out we're gonna pop their claws and uh hope for a good day Crews break off the claws quickly so they don't keep the crabs out of water for too long but even if a trap is full of crabs Kevin can't necessarily take every claw the state requires all harvested claws to be at least two and seven eighths inches long crabbers can legally break off both claws if they meet the required size the ones that look smaller we measure them on the gauge like that one crabs are one of few animals that can regenerate when a crab loses a claw or two it can grow each one back in time on average claws can take up to three years to grow large enough to harvest again which is why the state requires that crabbers pay close attention to each claw's size this ensures Fishers don't remove one prematurely but despite the claw's ability to regrow some researchers have questioned the sustainability of this system the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found that 46 to 82 percent of crabs died from the loss of two claws while 23 to 59 died from the removal of one that's compared to just 12.8 percent of crabs that died when no claws were removed crabs can also only regrow a claw if the joint that linked it is left intact otherwise we'll bleed to death this makes the way these claws are broken all the more important for preserving the fishery's future hiring enough people to make the operation run smoothly is another reason for the high price of these claws and then there's one other cost you'd never expect each trip requires 900 pounds of pig's feet for bait and that's just about half of the total cost of fishing for the day normal running costs to go Stone Crab in a day is about eleven hundred dollars to leave the dock Dave prices have gone up fuel prices have gone up you know the track tag prices have gone up after 10 hours on the boat Ernie's crew must boil and Ice their catch as soon as they return otherwise the claws won't stay fresh they finish the day by weighing each claw which ultimately sets the final value claws are sold in four sizes at Billy Stone Crab Restaurant Prices range from 35 to 70 dollars per pound we run about four thousand pounds of stone crab through the restaurant each week on a busy weekend we sell seven to eight hundred pounds of stone crab the most expensive order costs 140 dollars the plate is made up of four seven ounce colossal claws which yields just under one pound of crab meat fresh cooked claws sold on ice or less expensive but even then the mediums will cost you 29 per pound years ago stone crabs weren't such valuable food in the 1890s they were nothing more than bycatch in spiny lobster traps Fishers began to keep the crabs that fell into those traps and by the late 20th century the stone crab fishery had become one of the most valuable industries in Florida today it's worth 30 million dollars and the prices of these claws aren't likely to drop anytime soon data from the FWC show the number of crabs caught each year has declined by 712 000 pounds that's since Peak harvest in the late 1990s many commercial Harvesters have also started fishing farther offshore pointing to a lesser number of crabs in the area the FWC says both of these changes signify a threat of overfishing and prices have gone up in order to keep the fishery profitable to further protect the species future the FWC instated even stricter regulations last year two changes include an increase in the minimum size of harvestable Claws and cutting the fishing season short by two weeks these limitations aren't likely to lower the cost of stone crab claws but the goal is to help preserve them and keep Florida Fishers busy for years to come another revered Seafood being affected by a change in climate is the Copper River King Salmon and referred to as the wagyu of salmon it can cost up to 120 dollars a pound that is six times as much as other wild salmon and 10 times as much as farmed salmon but King Salmon are actually becoming smaller and smaller in size and huge King Salmon are now very rare with fewer fish available the ones paying the price are the rural Alaskan communities who have depended on wild salmon as a leading food source for Generations King Salmon also called Chinook salmon is one of the five species of wild Pacific salmon swimming through the Alaskan Waters the Copper River King is the largest and most nutritious of them all the color of the copper of salmon is just so vibrant it's such a deep deep red and it's like one of those things when you see it it's very obvious that it's a Copper River salmon and it just tastes so buttery it's amazing Kyle and his crew set sail in the early hours of the morning from the Cordova Harbor it will take them two hours to reach the Delta of the Copper River King Salmon will stay in the Copper River delta for only three to six weeks kings are the first wild salmon of the season and the start of the season is unpredictable although it roughly always falls around mid-may Fishers won't know it's time to set sail until less than a day before we typically have such a short window to fish it's really important for me to be able to make quick decisions the price of each catch but also builds up the excitement we're that's insane that's insane [Music] the location is the first challenge for Kyle and his crew the Delta of the river is very large and not a lot of salmon swim in that area so Fishers like Kyle have to take their boats to shallow Waters it's extremely dangerous to fish for a copper of a king salmon because they like to hang out in Shallow Waters and when you're fishing in that area you're a lot more exposed to Mother Nature you know the waves are crushing they're breaking on top of you and you're a lot more susceptible to capsizing your boat um we're about to pick our anchor and then we're gonna make a set once the anchor is set the chances of catching anything are Slim King Salmon makes up only a small percentage of the salmon in the Copper River ninety percent is Sockeye that makes Kyle's job extremely difficult aside from that local laws require he uses specific Nets called Gill Nets they're hung vertically to catch the fish by their gills Gill netting is an extremely effective way to catch these fish because each net is hand built and completely customized so you know for a Copper River King Salmon we use a lot a lot larger mesh size around six inches so the smaller fish swim right through it and you know when we are able to locate a king salmon they fit perfectly in our net King King give me a second I'll explain in a second should pull them over the bow so what happened was you know so King Salmon they're they're really large fish and they typically don't really get stuck into the net they usually just wrap up um so it's imperative that you have a dip net to catch them in case they pop out and what had happened there was the first king of the day I was super super excited I had the net underneath and it had already peaked and started to Crown over the bow roller and I uh I tried to reach forward to pull it over but because that it popped off and I was only holding the div net with one hand and because the King was so large it overpowered me and ended up swimming out but the same features that make Gill net such an effective way to catch King Salmon are also what make using them so dangerous there are a lot of Hazards and dangers using a gill net specifically on deck for the crew just because we are using hydraulic equipment to send the net out into the water there's a lot of loose mesh that goes flying out so any you know loose strings from a hoodie or shoelaces all those are really prone to getting snagged missed catches are common here in the Copper River Even after spending his whole day out on the boat Kyle has a serious chance of coming back empty-handed that makes the fish that he does catch even more prized yeah go go oh we just caught this toad of a copper river King Salmon this one probably weighs uh probably 30 35 pounds um and for like retail price we you know this goes is like fifteen hundred two thousand dollars right here and um just for a size comparison this is uh a Copper River sockeye salmon yeah it's got a darker mouth and then also on top of the spine you'll see it's got spots along the line and also this nice silver spots on the tail as well so this one right here is probably 22 pounds gross it's a very beautiful very fatty copper looking salmon very excited that we got the first the first one on board Dave's getting started and uh looking forward to catching many more the huge size of the Copper River King Salmon is due to its migration wild salmon are born in freshwater streams like the Copper River and then migrate to the ocean as juveniles after spending most of their lives at Sea they returned to their home to spawn for the Kings returning to the Copper River this means enduring a 300 mile long journey against a seven mile per hour current swimming between glaciers and gaining 3 600 feet in elevation cup of salmon have the most intense salmon migratory route out of any salmon in the world because of that long journey home it has a huge impact on the flavor of the copper salmon because the moment the salmon enter you know they go from the ocean the sea water and they hit that fresh water of the Copper River salmon their body automatically changes into reproductive mode so up until that day that they hit that fresh water they're just feeding and building up fat to make that 300 mile long journey go go go go nice 39 000 kings are set to return home to The Copper River this year 13 below the 10-year average of 46 000. out of these 39 000 Fisheries are only permitted to catch less than half to ensure enough salmon make it up the river for future Generations Kyle is only allowed to go out once enough salmon have escaped the fishing ground and have started to make their way up the Copper River the catch limit is different every day it can be reached at any moment and when it is Kyle has to stop fishing and return to Port immediately but he still needs to bring home enough to keep his business running and fishing in the Copper River Bears high costs [Music] if I came back empty-handed it would cost me you know it could be anywhere from 300 to 600 in fuel and probably a chunk of my pride for a company like Kyle's fuel can top twelve thousand dollars a season but that still significantly lower than the cost of a permit to commercially fish in these Waters which is 250 000 dollars when I first started commercial fishing I did not save any of my cash for myself just because I had taken on so much debt to buy into the fishery I couldn't afford to save any of the salmon for myself I eat salmon very regularly now all right come in come okay yeah come come oh holy go go go go go go go oh my God we got another one oh my God that's insane last other day we just bought in seven Copper River Kings insane dude that was bonkers once Kyle returns to Port the fish must be filleted and packaged as soon as possible to preserve its nutritional value it takes us about a week to get our salmon to Consumers the moment our fishermen returned report will fillet portion vacuum pack and flash freeze for a minimum of three days so then that way the seafood is uh consumable for sushi is considered sushi grade they're so fatty it's so oily it's hard to hold on to them they keep slipping Kyle sells his King Salmon to fine dining and sushi restaurants but also directly to customers across the country shipping out of Alaska can get very expensive because of its remote location it costs him 65 to ship a five pound box of salmon from Cordova to New York due to an increase in demand the price of king salmon has slowly gone up over the last five years pound of copper river King Salmon is now going for 100 to 120 dollars although bigger fish sell for more huge King Salmon are getting harder to come by a 2020 study found that in the last 60 years salmon in Alaska have been getting smaller especially Kings since 1960 King Salmon have lost 8 percent in body length streams are warming earlier in the year and salmon are making their migrations at a younger age and smaller size there's also competition with other fish populations caused by hatcheries releasing the fish they produce into the sea in the long term this drop in size affects the Salmon's commercial value the transport of nutrients egg production and especially for king salmon it reduces the supply for Rural communities salmon and seafood in Alaska is more than just like more than a job it's very deeply rooted into our traditions we have very many rural communities in Alaska that rely on these wild salmon runs as like their only source of protein so you know they don't have you know some of them they don't have access to grocery stores so it's really important that we have these sand runs return for them baby eels also known as angulas are also showing up on shores in smaller numbers they are a delicacy in Spain where every year they're auctioned off for thousands of dollars this kilogram of baby eels has just sold for over seven thousand dollars but it is unclear if Fishers will be able to support the rise in demand the European eel is listed as critically endangered due to overfishing Habitat deterioration and pollution it's midnight in Riverdale in the north of Spain and it's the first day of the baby eel season fishing eels for the last 33 years he's one of 46 Fishers here in Rio de cesia who are licensed to fish and ghoulas tonight marks the beginning of a four month long season is the fishing takes place at night when the eels are most active the first thing Manolo does is assess the water right now although awake the eels are hiding in the sand so he relies on the movement of the water to reveal them is to fish Manolo uses a custom Rake called address is [Music] manila's timing needs to be spot on if he lifts the rate one second later than he should the same wave that pushed the eel into his net can also wash it back into the sea about you [Music] even with the right equipment baby eel fishing has a serious risk of coming back empty-handed that's because there is one thing Manolo can't predict the weather is [Music] tonight is also a full moon while it may give him some light on this dark Beach it's not ideal as some eels May confuse it with daytime and stay buried in the sand [Music] foreign [Music] this change of beach is a gamble for Manolo there is no guarantee there will be eels there that's because much is still unknown about their life cycle [Music] the angulis's journey starts very far away in the sargasso sea a region of the Atlantic Ocean close to the Caribbean there adult eels spawn and die and their hatchlings travel through the Gulf Stream until they reach the coast of Spain seeking fresh water [Music] when they arrive the angulos are transparent as they move out of the salty ocean and into rivers the higher temperature of the fresh water will turn them from transparent to black as they mature into adult eels catching them before this transition occurs is essential but the eel's exact journey is unknown and it's impossible to predict the number of angulis that will arrive at the start of the seasons uh this unpredictability makes manolo's job even more difficult [Music] [Music] although the night is not going so well the eels Manila finds tonight will be the most expensive of the season that's because buyers will pay a premium for the first night's catch [Music] [Music] because I don't know caught 90 grams tonight he doesn't know how much it will be worth yet [Music] before the eels are sold at the auction workers at Riverside Market clean them with a sponge to remove all the excess water that could affect their weight 1.4 kilos arrived at the market today the total catch of all fishes working last night on a good day the total catch can weigh 5 or 6 kilos today's low total will make this auction even more competitive bitters for the angulos are typically restaurants in the area and the lucky Chef who will get to cook the eels is there in person to make the bid is Manuel is the Chef at El campanu a restaurant in Rio de cesia he holds the record for the highest ever bid his restaurant paid 6 620 Euros per kilo in 2019. [Music] [Music] the auction itself is very quiet it's done using a screen and each buyer has a remote control that they use to make their bid is [Music] he gets to cook the first kilo of angoulas of the season for 7 280 Euros that's a new record high foreign [Music] out of the whole batch those 90 grams at Manolo fished last night were worth 655 Euros today [Music] but not all baby eels cost over 7 000 Euros cost is variable depending on the time of year that's why for Fishers like Manolo it's impossible to rely on just angula fishing for a living is [Music] [Music] fishes like Manolo are only allowed to fish baby eels between November and February with five mandatory rest days each month each Fisher needs to hold a license and certain beaches are no fishing zones breaking any of these rules can cost as much as 6 000 Euros these regulations mean that the price of angulis has skyrocketed in recent decades is [Music] in the last 50 years the demand for the increasingly scarce eels has risen so much that ghoulas achieve a copy of baby eels were born ghoulas are made of tsurimi the same fish paste used to make imitation crab and cost 62 times less than angulus they are now just as popular as the real thing this makes cooking with real baby eels a delicate task for chefs like Manuel he needs to make sure the subtle Taste of the angula shines through and that they don't lose their texture or they could be mistaken for their cheap imitation angulas can't be cooked alive because they'll release slime so Manuel treats them with a tobacco infusion first [Music] he then removes The Unwanted Slime by hand [Music] yelmas important is [Music] Blanca is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] despite the proliferation of ghoulas in the last few years real angulas have enjoyed increased popularity the first day auctions generate a lot of Buzz with chefs arriving from all over Spain to make their bids is baby eels have become so popular that overfishing and smuggling are serious risks in 2017 Spanish police uncovered in an international trafficking operation headed for China which included 2 million euros worth of angulos but it's unclear if the seasons to come will be able to support this rise in demand the European eel is listed as critically endangered and fewer and fewer baby eels arrive at the beach as a river seizure each year is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] there are different theories for this decline including climate change Habitat deterioration pollution and overfishing but for Manolo fishing angulas is not about money is [Music] foreign [Music] food in South America is Royal quinoa which in recent years has become a pricey Global SuperFood [Music] with black Royal quinoa going for eight thousand dollars per metric ton in 2011. the price has at times climbed so high that many locals could no longer afford to eat it [Music] the high demand for this premium quinoa has led to over farming and has drained the soil of its nutrients unpredictable weather and droughts have also Limited harvests while different varieties of quinoa now grow all over the world Royal quinoa only grows in southern Bolivia near the salade or uni salt desert it grows larger than other quinoas and it's considered to be even more nutritious here at 3 600 meters above sea level Farmers still use traditional methods to harvest quinoa Bolivia's mountainous terrain means it's difficult to modernize production but the farmers also follow tradition to honor the Earth and their ancestors [Music] [Music] Farmers drive over the quinoa with tractors to Fresh it or to separate the grains from the stems because of the High Altitude everything is done early in the morning to avoid the humidity after this rushing the quinoa is taken to be sifted which removes any remaining stems this usually takes place in the afternoon and depends on wind conditions the quinoa needs to have all its saponin removed as well saponin is a bitter tasting chemical that protects the outer shell of quinoa seeds from pests and disease Royal quinoa also has a lot more saponin than other quinoa varieties which is what allows it to grow in such extreme conditions it also means cleaning the quinoa for consumption is a lot more time consuming the saponin has to be either thoroughly washed off or removed via special machines that won't damage the grains and then it's time for the grains to be separated for processing while some of this is done by Machine many pots can still only be done by hand this intense process drives up labor costs foreign [Music] because Royal quinoa production happens on a relatively small scale when Global demand for quinoa first started ramping up in 2006 prices skyrocketed in just five years Royal quinoa tripled in price on the international market hitting three thousand two hundred dollars per metric ton the colored varieties of Royal quinoa are even more expensive red Royal quinoa has sold for around 4 500 a metric ton and black Royal quinoa nearly twice that the UN even declared 2013 the year of quinoa to celebrate its health benefits and growing popularity which only increased worldwide demand for it many bolivians moved back to their rural hometowns to grow quinoa to take advantage of the profitable crop in just six years Bolivia's quinoa Fields more than doubled in size and many farmers stopped following the traditional method of allowing the land to rest every other year the profits from Royal quinoa were life-changing people were able to build new houses and send their kids to school quinoa's Hefty price tag however meant some bolivians could no longer afford to eat it but why was quinoa selling for so much well in recent years there's been widespread Global demand for healthier food and there's no healthier food than quinoa UNESCO even named it the perfect food for Humanity because it's gluten free and has all known essential amino acids NASA's astronauts eat quinoa during long space missions because the gluten-free grain is so packed with fiber protein and vitamins and is a great substitute for animal meat quinoa also contains phytoestrogens which are thought to help prevent cancer and other diseases and since Royal quinoa is one of the largest varieties it's considered to be even more nutritious so Bolivia's Royal quinoa crops were extremely valuable but the international demand for quinoa and unprecedented profits that came with it have spelled disaster for Bolivia's share of the quinoa Market the rush to produce more quinoa has caused severe soil erosion and infertility is many farmers have been focusing on quinoa instead of rotating it with other crops or livestock which has drained the soil of nutrients and with fewer Farmers raising llamas there's less manure to fertilize the land recent droughts and storms have also damaged Bolivia's Royal quinoa cropsis so production is down and the quinoa plants themselves are much smaller than usual and despite the high demands and low Supply prices have been falling is other countries where in quinoa have more modern technology than Bolivia so their crops haven't been as affected by weather conditions Peru has taken Bolivia's spot as the world's top producer of quinoa and even though Peru does not grow Royal quinoa and in fact no other country in the world can most consumers aren't aware of the difference the price of Royal quinoa has dropped from 294 dollars per 100 kilograms to just 83 Bolivia went from exporting 30 000 metric tons of quinoa in 2014 for 200 million dollars to 33 000 metric tons for 81 million dollars in 2018. farmers are operating at a loss and they're unable to invest in the equipment they would need to modernize [Music] the falling quinoa prices however has reintroduced quinoa into many bolivian's diodes [Music] [Music] Bolivia is also looking to rebuild a market for its Royal quinoa after all the global quinoa Market is valued at around 90 billion dollars and it's expected to grow to nearly 150 billion dollars by 2026. in 2020 Bolivia's Royal quinoa industry successfully obtained a protected designation of origin this will help brand Royal quinoa as a high quality product you can only get from Bolivia similar to Spain's at barrico ham or Italy San Marzano tomatoes ideally this will improve Royal quinoa sales on the international market and allow producers to raise their prices which will in turn allow Farmers to modernize their methods while staying sustainable is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 413,569

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, So Expensive Food, Climate Change, Saffron, Cashews, Agriculture

Id: PNjynDybHxE

Length: 85min 23sec (5123 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 04 2023