The US already has the first salmon cultivated in the laboratory. It is a relief for wipes who ask for the time

The world is hungry for fish, but goes through areas. In Spain, Consumption is downhillso much that fishmongers want to reinvent themselves to serve our pets Before us. In other countries, such as China, That hunger is voraciousto the point that your folders They have been small And they are Going for those of Latin America. To avoid folding, there are those who investigate “alternative proteins”, And in the United States they have already developed the first salmon cultivated in the laboratory that is served in a restaurant.

And with a series of advantages that does not really have salmon.

Fish hunger. The forecasts They point out that the global aquatic food consumption will double by 2050 compared to the 2015 levels. That will imply that it will go from about 80 million tons annually to almost 155 million tons. The problem is that production must follow the rhythm. It is something promoted by population growth, the improvement of quality of life in certain countries and the development of aquaculture.

As we say, China has a role in this story because it is not only the largest world consumer of fish, but it is also creating huge ships to raise new fish. And in Africa also An increase in demand is being seen. According to the FAOto maintain consumption until 2050, total production should increase by 22%, and is a capital challenge. That’s where the laboratory alternative becomes interesting.

Cultivating salmon. Wildtype It is a company that has attracted to investors Like Jeff Bezos, Mandamás de Amazon, but also actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio or Robert Downey JR. Currently, they operate a factory in San Francisco and have just launched the ‘Saku’. This is cultivated salmon that is designed to eat when Sashimi stylewith a texture, flavor and ‘freshness’ comparable to really salmon.

Here the key is to know how this salmon has been cultivated (it becomes weird to speak in those terms of a fish). The researchers extracted real salmon cells, specifically from salmon coho in their fry stage. In BIORREACTORS And using a patented “nutrient mixture”, cultivate those cells, combining the resulting cell mass with vegetable ingredients to replicate both the texture and the taste of traditional salmon.

As they expose in The Washington Posta salmon can take about two years to mature, but in two weeks a 220 grams “fish” block can be created with the Wildtype method. And claim that it has a nutritional and omega-3 profile similar to that of wild salmon.

“NO OBJECTION”. And what do agencies that decide what enters, and what not, in circulation in the United States think? Well, they have no objections. ” Each country or region has a health entity that is the one that establishes a regulation that allows certain substances and products to be present in what we eat. They do not always agree, but if a product wants to enter a market, it must pass under the magnifying glass of that body.

In the case of the United States, it is the FDA (Food and Medicines Administration of the United States) that, at the end of May, He gave permission to Wilkdtype so that your cultivated salmon is marketed. With that success, the cultivated salmon has already debuted in Kanna famous Haitian restaurant located in Portland, but it is expected that little by little it will arrive at more restaurants and shops in the form of ‘false’ packaging.

Looking at the advantages. As with the coffee without coffeesalmon without salmon will allow maintaining the production of a very consumed food, but without continuing to measure in some wipes that agonize. But as important as sustainability, reduction of overfishing and habitat destruction which implies, is the issue of food security.

This ‘Saku’ occurs in a production environment controlling, which minimizes exposure to pollutants, parasites and something that, unfortunately, is present in practically everything we eat, but above all the food from the sea: The microplastics.

And the fishermen? When something that replaces something already established, the first question that comes to mind is what will happen to what moves to give way to the new. We have seen it from the Industrial Revolution, with AI and to Wimbledon with the Line judges being replaced by a computer. And, in this case, the question is whether something like this seeks to replace fishermen.

Justin Kolceck is the co -founder of Wildtype and, in this article of the Washington Post, he comments that they do not seek to put fishermen outside the business or “eliminate the need for aquaculture. The amount of fish consumed is booming and the projections are so high that we will really need all the production we are doingin addition to the traditional and some more help in the world of plants to meet demand.

For my part, I only have to add that in some Spanish supermarkets there is already salmon based on plants and oil and, although it reminds the taste of the animal, the texture does not look like. Maybe that Saku is the answer …

Image | Lou Stejskal

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