It may take some time, but cell-cultured seafood is on its way to U.S. restaurants and markets. Several startups worldwide are getting into the business of growing animal cells in bioreactors on land, and a handful of those are focused on fish. Among the companies in the U.S., BlueNalu, based in San Diego, appears to be ahead of the pack. “We’re the first to be accepted into the National Fisheries Institute,” says BlueNalu CEO Lou Cooperhouse. 

According to Mia Montanile, associate director of corporate communications & marketing, the idea of joining NFI is to position the company’s products as complementary to wild seafood rather than competitive. “That’s why we’re working on cultured bluefin tuna,” says Montanile. “It’s more of a niche market, and we can help reduce pressure on wild stocks.” 

Cooperhouse adds that the company experimented with eight different species of fin fish. “We’re looking for the best place in the market, where we can meet a demand and see a return,” he says. “We talked to chefs, and they said they could sell bluefin, especially the toro, the fatty belly meat, but they couldn’t get a consistent supply, and the flavor, color, and marbling weren’t always consistent either. Then we talked to consumers and they wanted tuna but they had health concerns about mercury and microplastics. Our product checked all the boxes for what chefs and consumers were looking for, and we’re able to provide the market with consistent quality bluefin tuna year-round.”

To produce cultured bluefin, the R&D team at BlueNalu first establishes a cell line. “We isolate cells from their muscle, fat, and other parts of wild tuna and then feed these cells with nutrients, similar to what is used in conventional aquaculture,” says Cooperhouse. “Once we have the cell line we continue growing it in a bioreactor.” The growing cells require food, and BlueNalu has partnered with the aquaculture feed producer Nutreco to supply them with this specialized feed.

“Once we have enough cells, we centrifuge them out and freeze them,” says Cooperhouse. “That’s our cell bank. When we’re ready, we thaw out the cells we need and make our products.”

According to Cooperhouse, the shelf life of Bluenalu’s cultivated bluefin is longer than that of wild fish due to the hygienic conditions in the company’s facilities. “With wild tuna, there are more bacteria and a fatty product like toro will oxidize quicker,” he says.

BlueNalu, as well as a few other companies that are focusing on cell-cultivated seafood, are still in their pilot phase but expect regulatory approval over the coming year.  Cooperhouse notes that his company has investments and collaborations from several seafood companies, including Thai Union, one of the world’s largest tuna packers

When the industry is ready to scale up, Cooperhouse plans to pursue a new production and distribution strategy. “We’re not going to ship this all over the world. We’re going to build our facilities close to the markets that emerge. We want to be part of the local seafood scene.”