About Australia Hagfish and its commercial use

 

 

 

 

 

Typical looks of Hagfish
Hagfish are elongated, eel-shaped, bottom dwelling marine organisms. They are characterized by soft scaleless skin and by four pairs of tentacles (barbels) surrounding the mouth and opening for the nasopharyngeal duct, which is used in respiratory water intake. The mouth of hagfish contains a protractable and retractable orange coloured cartilaginous plate that bears two sets of sharp teeth oftenreferred to as the ‘rasping tongue’. The tongue used grasps and burrows into food resources. The skeleton of hagfish is made entirely of cartilage with 5 to 15 pairs of gills.
Hagfish vary in colour from a mottled grey-brown to a red-grey upper and a white to pale grey on the underside Hagfish will typically grow to 40.6 to 81.3 cm in length. Variations in body colour correspond to changes in the colour of the sea bottom. The hagfish feeds predominantly on dead or injured organisms by consuming the internal organs and flesh until only the bones and some skin remain. When feeding on large carcasses such as whales, the hagfish will usually enter the body through the mouth, anus or gills.
Hagfish is currently classified as Non Quota Stock by Australia’s quota management system and thus there is currently no limitation as to the quantity of the catch. Also only “Group LT” has exclusive license & assess to catch this special species within Australia so solely able to supply own interest. 

Commercial use
While Hagfish are usually not eaten in Europe or Oceania owing to their repugnant looks, it is relatively popular among Asian customers, especially in South Korea. Nearly or over 5,000,000 kg of hagfish meat is consumed in South Korea each year. Hagfish is known to contain a lot of proteins and Vitamin A and is known as one of the stamina food. It is served to customers in a fried or grilled form.

Commercial Catching of Australia Hagfish
There has never been a traditional commercial fishery for Australia hagfish. A decline in the Korean and Japanese hagfish fisheries during the late 1980s and early 1990s led to the development of a limited trial fishing for Australia hagfish mainly in near sea. However, quality issues and lack of information regarding fishing gear and techniques hampered development of the hagfish fishery. A hagfish fishery is also similarly established but limited in the United States.

Target Market-History 
Hagfish is almost exclusively consumed in South Korea, as other countries are hesitant to commercially use them due to its repugnant looks. The Korean Hagfish market first began as the marine product market in Busan was established by Korean refuges during the Korean War. As gathered refuges did not have enough food at that time, they barbequed hagfish in a barbeque grill and either sold at the market or ate together as an appetizer.
Today, there are more than 100 traditional izakayas in Busan, of which some have been there as long as 4-50 years since the Korean War.Hagfish especially has a modest following among older Korean men who savor it as an appetizer broiled in sesame oil, sprinkled with salt and accompanied by a shot of liquor.

Current Market Analysis 
The recognition and the demand of Hagfish keep increasing in Korea along with media exposure in some popular Korean dramas and with its unique taste that is going viral.  As there is not enough quantity that can be supplied locally within South Korea, the demand for NZ Hagfish is dramatically increasing.
There used to be about 200 tonnes of frozen NZ hagfish supply per month to Korea 4-5 years ago, but the supply stopped since then, and America Hagfish substituted to become a major supplier at Korean Market. However, due to much richer taste of Australia / NZ hagfish, there is still high demand for Australia / NZ hagfish.

Operation and Marketing
As Hagfish is used as food ingredients, it is essential to supply them as fresh as possible to keep the taste and the quality of hagfish. In order to do so, handling and holding procedures on-board the vessel is the key element.

Live Hagfish 
While live shipments fetch much higher prices, it is a much more involved process, because live hagfish require a lot of TLC (Total Landed Cost). Done wrong, the death toll can climb and eels that show up DOA (Dead on Arrival) are worthless. Thus, it should be transferred immediately after harvesting to an iced seawater mixture, which is maintained at approximately 0°C, in order to minimize potential skin damage from biting and bacterial and enzymatic degradation as a result of stress. As hagfish releases slimes when they are stressed and get suffocated in their own slimes, fishermen and processors stay busy removing slime from hagfish tanks to keep them alive after the catch. For shipping, processors pack the hagfish into containers filled with saltwater and liquid oxygen to keep them breathing and keep the containers cool.

Frozen Hagfish 
Demand for frozen product is greater from the market, as the price is relatively lower than live hagfish and constant monthly supply can be guaranteed. There is a risk from an exporter though, as it requires bigger amount of initial cost to install freezer plants. Hagfish is typically frozen by pouring live hagfish onto 20 ltr plastic bags, which gets transferred to a freezing pan and gets frozen at approximately -40-50°C for 24 hours. Once completely frozen, it gets transferred to a fishhold which is maintained at -20°C. Done this way, fresh live hagfish are frozen quickly and instantly, which allows buyers to get almost the same fresh quality hagfish as live hagfish when defrosted at room temperature.
Both Live and frozen hagfish require specialized facilities and skills in order to even catch some hagfish in first place, and to keep hagfish fresh and good quality. It is essential, therefore, to thoroughly know how to catch and process hagfish, and to employ qualified and specialized fishermen. It is equally essential to have the right gear and the vessel ready.