A leading Singapore-based company has announced a significant breakthrough in eel aquaculture, marking a milestone in the industry: the company has succeeded in reproducing tropical eel in captivity (Anguilla bicolor).
This groundbreaking achievement responds to a growing demand for eel in Asian markets, where its rich taste and high nutritional content (high in Omega-3) make it a highly valuable product. This achievement will also help to improve the protection for the species as it can be bred in a controlled space, avoiding depletion of eel elvers in the wild. Before this, farmers have always sourced the glass or baby eels from many seas and species, in a frenetic race that has put the several kinds of eel under dangerous situation.
A specialized team has successfully hatched 70,000 tropical eel larvae, managing to keep them alive for 11 days. This success demonstrates the potential for large-scale commercial production of the tropical eel, despite its complex life cycle and difficult breeding conditions outside its natural habitat.