Draft:Cultivated fish and seafood

• Comment: All sources that mention fish and seafood are sourced to the same advocacy group. The rest of the sources don't seem to mention fish or seafood but instead focus on cultured meat in general, which is an article we already have. It may be possible to add a section to that article to discuss fish and seafood. Valereee (talk) 12:45, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

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Cultivated fish, often referred to as lab-grown or cultured fish, is a fish product made out of real animal cells that were cultivated within a controlled laboratory environment. The development of cultivated fish and seafood products holds an innovation in the world of sustainable food production, allowing the consumption of fish products without the need to rely on animals for production. The key difference between cultivated fish and other fish alternatives products available in the market today, is that cultivated fish is made out of animal cells rather than plant-based ingredients, allowing the consumers to have the exact taste and nutritional values as real fish. The technology used to develop cultivated fish is applicable, with appropriate modifications, for other types of animal meat as well, including beef, chicken, and pork.

Motivation

Some of the driving motivations behind cultivated fish are environmental sustainability, food security, human health, and animal welfare.

Environmental Sustainability

The traditional fishing industry is causing tremendous harm to ocean ecosystems. On a global scale, overfishing damages fragile sea environments, with over 90% of wild fisheries classified as overfished or harvested at maximal capacity according to FAO 2020. Replacing consumption of traditional fish with cultivated fish reduces the strain on these overfished populations and allows marine ecosystems to recover. In addition, consumption of cultivated fish will help reduce the traditional fishing industry's contribution to climate change, driven by the fuel used by fishing boats.

Food security

As global demand for seafood increases, over 800 million people are at risk of undernutrition if fish populations continue to decline (Golden et al. 2016). Fish and seafood production is heavily dependent on geographical considerations and therefore limited. In addition, as fish and seafood are consumed fresh, distribution supply chains shorten the shelf life of the products. Production of cultivated fish allows a sustainable alternative that does not depend on the fish population in the ocean. It is independent of geographical considerations with production possible at any location, shortening the supply chain and reducing food waste.

Human Health

Commercial fish and seafood products hold risks to consumers' health, as they often contain dangerous concentrations of heavy metals, pollutants, and plastic. In contrast, cultivated fish is developed in a controlled, sterile environment, which can be regulated more effectively. Additionally, as cultivated fish is developed in a lab, it's possible to adjust its composition so it would be richer with protein and vitamins while reducing fat.

Animal welfare

Fish grown in fish farms live under terrible conditions, as they are heavily overcrowded and experience illness, stress, and physical injuries. In addition, fish are not slaughtered using methods that minimize their pain, but rather using methods that are the most efficient and economical, leading to immense pain and suffering. For example, fish may be left in the air to die slowly or be processed while still alive. In contrast, cultivated fish does not require growing fish in industrial farms nor slaughter of fish, therefore improving fish welfare.

Process

General Overview

Production of cultivated fish, similarly to other species of cultivated meat, starts by taking a small sample of cells from a healthy animal of the target species. The collected cells are then put inside bioreactors, specialized vessels designed for cell growth. Inside the bioreactors, the cells are fed by a growth medium, containing nutrients such as amino acids, glucose, vitamins, and other growth factors essential for the cells' growth. Once the cells grow, mature, and differentiate into muscle and fat cells, they are harvested. The harvested cells are then prepared and packaged into final products. Final products might be unstructured, such as fish sticks or fish cakes, which are easier to develop as their texture is simple. However, structured products like fish fillet, have a more complex texture and therefore their development requires using additional technologies like scaffolding and 3D bio-printing.

Cell lines

The cells taken in a sample are stem cells, which have the ability to differentiate into a diversity of cell types. An ideal cell line would be "immortal", meaning it is able to divide repeatedly to generate a large number of cells. After dividing, the stem cells are transferred into a separate environment where they are triggered to differentiate into fat and muscle cells, which are the main components of meat. Stem cells can be triggered using scaffolding or growth medium composition. Achieving immortal cell lines that have the desirable characteristics for production of cultivated meat at scale is one of the biggest challenges of the industry. Sometimes, genetic engineering techniques are used to enhance cell lines' ability to divide and differentiate efficiently.

Scaffolding

Scaffolds are structures or matrix that provides support to cells, while allowing them to grow and organize in a way that mimics the natural tissue structure of meat. Scaffolds are essential for producing meat products that have complex structures, like steaks, chicken breasts, and fish fillets.

Growth Medium

Growth medium is a solution used to feed the cells during their proliferation and differentiation processes. The growth medium provides the cells the essential components required for their growth outside of their natural environment, such as within a bioreactor. Growth mediums typically include amino acids, glucose, vitamins, minerals, hormones, and growth factors, which are proteins that stimulate cell growth and differentiation. One of the challenges in the cultivated meat industry is developing growth mediums that are cost effective and can allow large-scale production at an affordable cost. Another main challenge is developing an animal-free growth medium, as traditional growth medium consists of fetal bovine serum. The choice of growth medium can impact the taste, texture, and overall quality of the final meat product.

Bioreactors

Bioreactors are vessels designed to support the growth of cells under a controlled environment. Different parameters like temperature, pH level, and nutrient supply can be modified to allow optimal conditions for the cells to grow.

3D Bioprinting

3D bioprinting is a technic used to create complex textures that are essential for developing structured meat products. 3D bioprinters allow the 3D printing of cells while still keeping them alive. After printing, the meat tissue goes through a maturation phase where cells continue to grow, differentiate, and form stronger tissue structures. Besides texture, another advantage of 3D bioprinting is that it allows flexibility, precision, and control over the final product's composition and structure. It can allow the production of meat products with tailored nutritional values, specific textures, or even combine different types of cells to produce hybrid meats.

Product Types

Cultivated fish products fall into two categories: simple and structured.

Simple products have simple textures and typically consist of processed fish meat. Examples of these include fish sticks and fish cakes. The development of these products is relatively less challenging as the creamy texture of the fish cells is suitable, as it is, to replicate processed meat textures.

On the other hand, structured products aim to replicate the natural texture of fish meat. An example of a structured product is a fish fillet. Creating the structured products is more challenging, as they require not only reaching a similar flavor and nutritional value, but also a complex flaky texture that is very different from the creamy texture of the fish cells. Creating the fibers and flakiness requires the use of tissue engineering techniques to ensure that the cells do more than just sit side by side - they must also interconnect to form actual tissue.

Cultivated fish products could be divided into two additional categories: hybrid and fully cultivated.

Hybrid products are products that combine cultivated meat with other ingredients. Typically, these products contain a blend of cultivated meat and plant-based ingredients. Often, the cultivated ingredient is the fat, as research has shown that fat significantly influences taste. Even a small addition, such as 5% cultivated fat, can dramatically improve the flavor of a plant-based product. These hybrid products serve as a temporary solution to reduce humanity's reliance on animal meat, while large-scale cultivated meat technology continues to develop. They represent the first generation in the evolution towards completely cultivated meat products.

Another type of hybrid product combines cultivated meat with traditional animal meat. These products target consumers who do not consume plant-based options and prefer not to fully replace their traditional meat products. This approach allows more sustainable meat consumption without abandoning traditional meat sources.

In the future, as cultivated meat technology continues to develop, the industry expects to introduce fully cultivated meat products on a large scale.

Challenges

Price and scale-up

For consumers to choose cultivated fish over traditional options, the cost of cultivated fish must be competitive. However, the technology used to cultivate meat was originally developed for the pharma industry, where products are offered on a smaller scale and at higher prices. This stands in contrast to the food industry's requirements, where products should be produced at a much larger scale and be affordable to a wider audience. The first cultivated meat product, a five-ounce hamburger developed by Dr. Mark Post in 2013, was created at a cost of about $325,000. Since then, the cost of production has declined dramatically. Additional extensive research is necessary to develop new methods and technologies that would allow to produce cultivated fish and seafood products at a large scale and with a competitive cost to the seafood industry.

Regulation

As cultivated meat is a relatively new technology, current food regulations do not recognize it and therefore it is not allowed for sale worldwide. In order to allow the sale of cultivated fish products in a specific country, its authorities are required to create a new framework for the approval of cultivated meat. Currently, there are only two countries that have approved the sale of cultivated meat, with Singapore being the global first and the United states being the second. The process of regulating and approving cultivated meat, in each country separately, presents a significant challenge for cultivated seafood companies aiming to bring their products to market.

Consumer Acceptance

The idea of consuming fish that was grown in a lab is innovative, and many consumers are reluctant about this idea. There is a need to convince consumers to embrace cultivated fish products as sustainable, safe, and nutritionally equivalent alternatives to traditional fish. Overcoming skepticism and ensuring that consumers trust these innovative seafood alternatives is crucial for the success and growth of the cultivated fish industry.