Japan makes squid farming breakthrough as wild population plummets

This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Scientists in Japan say they have developed a groundbreaking method of farming squid that could solve shortages of the seafood staple, amid warnings from environmental groups that aquaculture is incompatible with the animal’s welfare.

Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) say their system produced a reliable supply of squid and has the potential to be commercialised.

Squid is widely consumed in Japan, where it is an essential part of the diet and is often eaten raw as sushi or sashimi. But stocks in the country’s waters have been declining for decades.

The annual squid catch in Japan peaked in 1989 at 733,594 tons; by 2018, it had plummeted to 83,593 tons. To fill the gap, the country now imports huge quantities of processed squid from South America.

Smaller catches in Japan have been blamed on rising sea temperatures caused by global heating — which inhibits the creatures’ ability to spawn and grow — as well as inadequate regulation and overfishing.

Scientists have spent decades attempting to farm squid — a method long considered particularly challenging due to the animal’s behaviour — but have had little success, according to OIST. The creatures are known to be aggressive and sensitive to water flow and have particular food preferences and a complex life cycle.

But experts at OIST claim to have made a breakthrough, having perfected a method that is cheap and efficient and results in high hatching and survival rates among oval squid.

“By keeping a single squid lineage for 10 generations in very restricted laboratory conditions, we demonstrated that squid aquaculture can work safely,” said Zdeněk Lajbner, an OIST researcher who leads the project. “I believe it is our duty to offer such valuable technology for commercial applications.”

Whereas wild squid catches can be unpredictable, the institute’s aquaculture technology has the potential to “reliably and predictably” produce live squid, and at an affordable cost, Lajbner said.

Animal rights campaigners, however, say that farming carnivorous species, such as squid, is unsustainable because it would require extracting other marine species from already strained fisheries using inhumane fishing practices.

“Animal welfare is not a consideration for any aquaculture system in Japan — not just for squid,” said Chihiro Okada from the Animal Rights Centre Japan. “As farming systems expand, so too will the suffering of animals. Sustainability will not be achieved simply by seeking to harvest more and eat more.”

Okada said there was no such thing as sustainable cephalopod farming.

“Farming carnivorous species such as octopus and squid requires fish or other seafood products, and squid farming will put pressure on other animal species,” said Okada, who called for an immediate halt to the project, and for aquaculture to be replaced by sustainable fishing and the promotion of a plant-based version of the animal.

“The intensive rearing of many animals in one place, even in the sea, can be a source of water pollution, parasites and infectious diseases,” she said. “In addition, cephalopods are sentient beings, and confining such animals in small farms will inevitably cause animal welfare issues.”

Similar concerns have surfaced over the farming of other marine species. Critics warned in March that the world’s first commercial octopus farm, due to open in the Canary Islands next year, would cause “great suffering” to the animals, which the U.K. recognized as sentient beings last year.

In October, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, which oversees a global certification scheme for farmed fish, announced plans to introduce new welfare rules after accepting that fish can feel “pain, stress and anxiety.”

The team at OIST insists its project, which it says has attracted commercial interest, will reduce pressure on local and global squid stocks and continue to provide healthy, sustainable seafood to Japanese consumers.

Lajbner also dismissed concerns voiced recently by the Aquatic Life Institute and dozens of other animal welfare groups that farming squid and other carnivorous animals would require using marine species sourced from strained fisheries, and inhumane fishing practices.

“Species that are carnivorous in the wild do not need to be carnivorous in captivity,” Lajbner said.

“For instance, I know vegan cats and dogs that are healthy, happy animals. You can now find a strong trend in the replacement of fish-based protein with plant-based protein in aquaculture feeds, and this trend is likely to continue.”