Fugu Farmers Fight For Fixing Fatal Fish

When I used to travel to Japan on business, my Japanese co-workers used to take great delight in trying to find food I wouldn't eat. While they never succeeded, one of their best attempts was when they got me to eat fugu, a Japanese blowfish that is highly poisonous if cooked incorrectly.

Well, now it looks like the next time I'm in Japan, I can enjoy another round of fugu with less fuss (and less glory). Some clever Japanese researchers have figured out how to raise non-poisonous fugu:

Blowfish or fugu (ふぐ)　packs a lethal punch in the form of tetrodotoxin, an extremely potent neurotoxin that paralyzes its victims while they are still conscious. To put things into perspective, this means that you are fully aware as your throat closes, your lungs deflate and you drift slowly into death's arms.

There is no known cure.



However, Japan is a country of safety and order, so thankfully the majority of deaths occur when untrained people catch and prepare the fish, accidentally poisoning themselves in the process. The most dangerous culprit is the liver, which has been illegal for centuries despite being the tastiest morsel of the blowfish - it is often compared to the highest-quality foie gras (fatty goose liver).

Of course, all of this is set to change now that Japanese fish-farmers have found a way to raise non-poisonous blowfish.... that are 'as harmless as goldfish.' In fact, the advances are so significant that farmers have even been successful in producing completely poison-free fugu livers.

Of course, not everyone in Japan is happy about this development. The fugu lobbyists are doing their best to put a stop to all of this:

Sadly, Mr. Noguchi's research is being suppressed by powerful interests in the fugublowfish will jeopardize their monopoly.

"We won't approve it," said Mr. Hisashi Matsumura, the president of the Shimonoseki Fugu Association and vice president of the National Fugu Association. "We're not engaging in this irrelevant discussion."

Sigh. Looks like thrill-seekers in Japan are going to have wait a bit longer to legally sample fugu liver. Of course, there are certain places in Japan where you can get your fingers on some fugu liver, though be sure that your affairs are in order before you dig in!

It looks like public choice analysis explains a lot in the poisonous blowfish industry too.

Much more on the fight for fixing fugu in the New York Times.