Tuna are struggling in the wild. As a predator high on the food chain, they do not breed very fast. Added to this, we have been catching them in completely unsustainable numbers.
Perhaps lab grown tuna will arrive first? I know a great number of vegetarians are there because for some reason they do not think that it is right (either because they do not think we should be killing animals, or more recently because they believe that we shouldn’t eat it because it has a high carbon footprint.
I have a certain amount of sympathy for both views.
However, with tuna, even those who pay little attention to what is going on in the world around them are likely to have noticed the many adverts about sustainable tuna and the like.
Lab grown tuna could be truly sustainable. Once some cells are harvested, you should not need to touch the animal again.
BlueNalu is a start-up cell-based sea food aiming to provide the fish without the negative environmental issues.
His company was aiming to capitalize on two moves that have been under way in the public. There has been a rapid move from red meat to meats such as fish as these are more healthy for people. The other thing he noticed was that while there was much innovation in making plant foods taste like meat, the process of growing actual meat from cells were doing far better.
BlueNalu will be producing the high value fillets rather than something you might find in fishcakes, and it will start in restaurants as at the beginning quantities will be so small and here can support more expensive ingredients.
This like many other moves, will be one to watch.