From the rainbow-hued pearl lobsters of Indonesia and the baby eels of Spain to the giant Copper River king salmon of Alaska and Nigeria's cod stockfish, dried thousands of miles away in the cold winds of Norway, we uncovered the stories behind six of the world's most expensive kinds of seafood.
Editor's note: Katey St. John was also an editor on this video.
Editor's note: Katey St. John was also an editor on this video.
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00:00 From the rainbow-hued pearl lobsters of Indonesia and the baby eels of Spain,
00:06 to the giant Copper River king salmon of Alaska,
00:09 and Nigeria's cod stockfish dried thousands of miles away in the cold winds of Norway,
00:15 we uncovered the stories behind six of the world's most expensive kinds of seafood.
00:22 Our first stop is on the northeast coast of the U.S.,
00:26 where fishers in Maine can find the greatest quantities of American lobster.
00:31 From there, they can sell to popular restaurants like this one in New York City,
00:36 where they charge over $30 for a fresh four-ounce lobster roll.
00:40 So what made this crustacean go from prison food to a well-known delicacy?
00:45 And why are lobsters so expensive?
00:55 It's no secret that lobsters are pricey,
00:57 and a standard lobster dinner in a restaurant can set you back $38 or more.
01:02 There are a lot of species of lobster,
01:05 but we're interested in the recognizable clawed lobsters you might see on the menu,
01:09 Homerus americanus and Homerus gamerus,
01:12 better known as American and European lobster.
01:15 These two species are very similar.
01:17 The biggest difference is their color.
01:19 We went to Ed's Lobster Bar in New York City to speak to someone who has a lot of experience
01:23 buying, preparing, and cooking the crustacean.
01:26 So one of the hardest things about working lobster is,
01:29 truthfully, it's the price range of lobster, and it fluctuates greatly,
01:33 and from year to year, and the price increases.
01:36 And the yield when you clean a lobster is very low.
01:39 So you could buy a pound and a half lobster,
01:41 and I think this is what most people don't understand,
01:43 is in a pound and a half lobster,
01:45 there's probably only four ounces of meat out of a hard-shell lobster.
01:50 So there's not much yield that comes out of the lobster,
01:53 so when you're cleaning the lobster yourself to make lobster rolls,
01:56 it really turns into a very, very expensive product.
01:59 To fully understand what makes lobsters so expensive,
02:02 we need to take a look at its history,
02:04 because it wasn't always as revered as it is now.
02:07 Lobster's history varies across the world,
02:09 but for a long time, it was a source of food for many of the poorest in society.
02:14 During the Viking era, lobsters as food became much more popular in northern Europe,
02:18 as boats more suited to deep-sea fishing became available.
02:21 And by establishing meat-free days for certain religious holidays,
02:24 the church also increased demand for seafood, including lobster.
02:28 Across Europe, lobsters became associated with status and a lavish lifestyle,
02:32 and they were often featured in paintings to show wealth.
02:36 But the value of lobster remained low in North America.
02:39 Native Americans used lobsters as fishing bait and crop fertilizer,
02:43 a practice that European colonists later copied.
02:46 During the 1600s, American lobsters were dirt cheap because they were so plentiful.
02:50 Lobster became known as the poor man's protein among European settlers,
02:54 and the shellfish was often served to imprisoned and enslaved people.
02:58 That reputation in the US didn't turn around
03:00 until the advent of railway transportation in the mid-1800s.
03:04 Lobster started to be served on trains across the country,
03:07 and passengers soon became fans of the exotic-seeming dish.
03:11 For a better taste, chefs began cooking lobster alive, which they still do today.
03:15 Unlike many other foods, lobster wasn't rationed in the United States during World War II,
03:19 and the lack of other meat options led many more people to discover this delicacy.
03:24 The shellfish's surging popularity reduced the stocks of lobsters and drove up the price,
03:28 and lobster became a gourmet dish often associated with living the high life.
03:34 Even when the supply of these crustaceans is high,
03:37 the price doesn't drop due to the logistics involved.
03:40 Successfully catching lobsters is no easy task.
03:44 They're caught using traps, which have to all be baited and dropped to the ocean floor.
03:48 Even if the traps are full when the lobstermen return,
03:51 they might have to throw a lot back due to regulations.
03:54 The crustaceans are put back if they're too big, too small,
03:57 or if they're female lobsters carrying eggs.
03:59 The ones that make the cut have their claws bound
04:01 and are placed on ice before being taken back to shore.
04:04 They're then kept in saltwater tanks and shipped live.
04:06 They need to be kept cool and moist, as well as get enough oxygen to survive the journey,
04:10 all of which increases the cost to distribute them.
04:13 A commercial lobster farm could help reduce costs,
04:15 but it's very difficult to successfully farm American or European lobsters.
04:19 Out of 50,000 eggs, only two lobsters typically survive to reach legal size.
04:24 And if the lobsters don't get enough food, they become cannibalistic.
04:27 They're also highly susceptible to contagious diseases, particularly in confined spaces.
04:32 On top of all that, they grow very slowly.
04:35 It takes around seven years for a lobster to mature to the required harvesting size.
04:41 Regardless, lobster catches have been increasing since 1980,
04:44 and wild lobster populations have been holding steady, possibly thanks to global warming.
04:49 Climate change has led to warmer waters and therefore longer life cycles
04:52 and higher fertility for lobsters.
04:55 Even when there's plenty of lobster to go around, it's still expensive.
04:59 In 2017, the price of Maine lobster increased because of the high demand for lobster rolls,
05:04 despite a record catch the year before.
05:06 The wholesale price for lobster can fluctuate anywhere from $8 to $10,
05:11 depending on the season, per pound.
05:13 So right now, market price at Ed's Lobster Bar, we charge $38 for a pound and a half lobster.
05:18 And our lobster roll is $34 for a four-ounce lobster roll.
05:22 And if we all stop and move out of the way, the lobster delivery is going to come in.
05:26 [Music]
05:37 Ed's Lobster Bar gets daily shipments of 150 to 200 pounds of fresh Maine lobster.
05:42 All of our lobster shipments are for a day or a day and a half max.
05:46 Nothing ever sits in the restaurant over two days.
05:48 So the reason why you want to cook lobsters live is,
05:53 number one, because a dead lobster is not going to be good.
05:57 When the lobster is dead, the meat is going to turn to mush,
06:01 it's going to smell bad, and you really can't eat it.
06:03 It kind of disintegrates inside the shell.
06:05 And if you actually served or ate that, you're definitely going to get sick.
06:08 So you always want to make sure the lobster is alive and kicking before you cook it.
06:14 Lobsters have become a favorite summertime treat.
06:16 On a busy night, Ed's will sell 150 lobster rolls.
06:20 You know, summer is definitely the season for lobster rolls.
06:23 It's when it's everybody's thought process.
06:25 Here in New York City, everybody's coming in the summer.
06:28 They can't get down to the beach because they want to get their lobster roll fix.
06:32 People just can't seem to get enough lobster.
06:35 But a shortage in the U.S. may be coming soon.
06:38 Lobster fishers use herring as bait, and there's about to be a lot less of them.
06:42 Because of concerns about overfishing, the New England Fishery Management Council
06:47 last year voted to limit fishers to about 46 million pounds of herring this year.
06:52 In 2014, fishers caught 200 million pounds of herring.
06:56 With so much less available to buy, the price of herring will likely rise,
06:59 which would in turn make lobster even more expensive.
07:02 And will people be willing to pay even more for their lobster?
07:07 You know, I'm very concerned about lobster prices rising.
07:10 It seems to be the bottom just keeps going higher and higher every year.
07:15 I don't believe the consumer is willing to continually absorb the price increase
07:20 that we have to absorb as restaurant owners selling lobster.
07:25 Keep going. Keep going.
07:28 Often referred to as the Wagyu of salmon,
07:31 Copper River King salmon can cost up to $120 per pound.
07:36 So like retail price, $1,500, $2,000 right here.
07:40 That's six times as much as other wild salmon and 10 times more than farmed salmon.
07:46 This salmon is extremely rare to come by.
07:50 For fishers in Cordova, Alaska, it means spending entire days in dangerous waters,
07:56 using life-threatening equipment and spending thousands of dollars on a permit.
08:01 All with the serious chance of coming back to port empty-handed.
08:09 F***! F***!
08:12 King salmon, also called Chinook salmon,
08:17 is one of the five species of wild Pacific salmon swimming through the Alaskan waters.
08:22 The Copper River King is the largest and most nutritious of them all.
08:27 The color of the Copper River salmon is just so vibrant.
08:33 It's such a deep, deep red.
08:35 And it's like one of those things when you see it, it's very obvious that it's a Copper River salmon.
08:39 And it just tastes so buttery. It's amazing.
08:42 Kyle and his crew set sail in the early hours of the morning from the Cordova harbor.
08:51 It will take them two hours to reach the delta of the Copper River.
08:55 King salmon will stay in the Copper River delta for only three to six weeks.
09:02 Kings are the first wild salmon of the season, and the start of the season is unpredictable.
09:07 Although it roughly always falls around mid-May,
09:10 fishers won't know it's time to set sail until less than a day before.
09:14 We typically have such a short window to fish.
09:17 It's really important for me to be able to make quick decisions.
09:21 The unpredictable outcome of each fishing run not only affects the price of each catch,
09:28 but also builds up the excitement.
09:31 That's insane.
09:32 That's insane.
09:34 The location is the first challenge for Kyle and his crew.
09:43 The delta of the river is very large, and not a lot of salmon swim in that area.
09:49 So fishers like Kyle have to take their boats to shallow waters.
09:52 It's extremely dangerous to fish for a Copper River king salmon
09:56 because they like to hang out in shallow waters.
09:59 And when you're fishing in that area, you're a lot more exposed to Mother Nature.
10:03 The waves are crushing, they're breaking on top of you,
10:07 and you're a lot more susceptible to capsizing your boat.
10:10 We're about to pick our anchor, and then we're going to make a set.
10:16 Once the anchor is set, the chances of catching anything are slim.
10:21 King salmon makes up only a small percentage of the salmon in the Copper River.
10:26 90% is sockeye.
10:29 That makes Kyle's job extremely difficult.
10:32 Aside from that, local laws require he uses specific nets called gill nets.
10:38 They're hung vertically to catch the fish by their gills.
10:41 Gill netting is an extremely effective way to catch these fish
10:46 because each net is hand-built and completely customized.
10:50 So, you know, for Copper River king salmon,
10:53 we use a lot larger mesh size, around six inches,
10:56 so the smaller fish swim right through it.
10:59 And, you know, when we are able to locate a king salmon,
11:03 they fit perfectly in our net.
11:05 King! King!
11:07 F***! F***!
11:11 Give me a second, I'll explain in a second.
11:16 F***!
11:18 Should've pulled more of the f***ing bow.
11:22 Oh!
11:23 So what happened was, you know, so king salmon,
11:33 they're really large fish and they typically don't really get stuck into the net.
11:37 They usually just wrap up.
11:39 So it's imperative that you have a dip net to catch them in case they pop out.
11:43 And what had happened there was, it was the first king of the day,
11:46 I was super, super excited.
11:47 I had the net underneath and it had already peaked
11:50 and started to crown over the bow roller.
11:52 And I tried to reach for it to pull it over,
11:55 but because it popped off and I was only holding the dip net with one hand,
11:59 and because the king was so large, it overpowered me and I ended up swimming out.
12:03 But the same features that make gill nets such an effective way to catch king salmon
12:10 are also what make using them so dangerous.
12:13 There are a lot of hazards and dangers using a gill net,
12:16 specifically on deck for the crew,
12:18 just because we are using hydraulic equipment to send the net out into the water.
12:22 There's a lot of loose mesh that goes flying out.
12:26 So any, you know, loose strings from a hoodie or shoelaces,
12:30 all those are really prone to getting snagged.
12:32 Mist catches are common here in the Copper River.
12:36 Even after spending his whole day out on the boat,
12:39 Kyle has a serious chance of coming back empty-handed.
12:42 That makes the fish that he does catch even more prized.
12:48 Oh, f***!
12:50 Yeah, go, go!
12:52 Oh, f***!
12:56 Woo!
12:58 We just caught this toad of a Copper River king salmon.
13:02 This one probably weighs probably 30, 35 pounds.
13:06 And for like retail price, we, you know, this goes like $1,500, $2,000 right here.
13:14 And just for a size comparison, this is a Copper River sockeye salmon.
13:22 Yeah, it's got a darker mouth.
13:28 And then also on top of the spine, you'll see it's got spots along the line.
13:32 And also this nice silver with spots on the tail as well.
13:36 So this one right here is probably 22 pounds.
13:39 Gross. It's a very beautiful, very fatty Copper River king salmon.
13:45 Very excited that we got the first one on board.
13:50 The day's getting started.
13:52 And looking forward to catching many more.
13:55 The huge size of the Copper River king salmon is due to its migration.
14:00 Wild salmon are born in freshwater streams like the Copper River
14:04 and then migrate to the ocean as juveniles.
14:07 After spending most of their lives at sea, they return to their home to spawn.
14:12 For the kings returning to the Copper River,
14:14 this means enduring a 300-mile-long journey against a 7-mile-per-hour current,
14:19 swimming between glaciers and gaining 3,600 feet in elevation.
14:24 Copper River salmon have the most intense salmon migratory route out of any salmon in the world.
14:32 Because of that long journey home, it has a huge impact on the flavor of the Copper River salmon.
14:38 Because the moment the salmon enter, you know, they go from the ocean, the seawater,
14:43 and they hit that freshwater of the Copper River salmon,
14:46 their body automatically changes into reproductive mode.
14:50 So up until that day that they hit that freshwater,
14:53 they're just feeding and building up fat to make that 300-mile-long journey.
14:57 Go, go, go, go!
15:01 Nice!
15:02 39,000 kings are set to return home to the Copper River this year,
15:09 13% below the 10-year average of 46,000.
15:13 Out of these 39,000, fisheries are only permitted to catch less than half
15:19 to ensure enough salmon make it up the river for future generations.
15:23 Kyle is only allowed to go out once enough salmon have escaped the fishing ground
15:28 and have started to make their way up the Copper River.
15:30 The catch limit is different every day.
15:33 It can be reached at any moment, and when it is,
15:36 Kyle has to stop fishing and return to port immediately.
15:40 But he still needs to bring home enough to keep his business running.
15:44 And fishing in the Copper River bears high costs.
15:48 If I came back empty-handed, it would cost me, you know,
15:52 it could be anywhere from $300 to $600 in fuel, and probably a chunk of my pride.
16:00 For a company like Kyle's, fuel can top $12,000 a season.
16:05 But that's still significantly lower than the cost of a permit
16:09 to commercially fish in these waters, which is $250,000.
16:13 When I first started commercial fishing, I did not save any of my cash for myself,
16:19 just because I had taken on so much debt to buy into the fishery,
16:23 I couldn't afford to save any of the salmon for myself.
16:26 I eat salmon very regularly now.
16:31 Alright, come in, come.
16:37 Yeah, come, come.
16:40 Oh!
16:42 Holy s***!
16:51 Go, go, go, go, go!
16:53 Oh my God, we got another one.
17:02 That's six kilos.
17:06 Oh my God!
17:08 That's insane.
17:11 Last time of the day, we just bought in seven Copper River kings.
17:16 Insane.
17:17 Dude, that was bonkers.
17:20 Once Kyle returns to port, the fish must be filleted and packaged as soon as possible
17:33 to preserve its nutritional value.
17:36 It takes us about a week to get our salmon to consumers.
17:39 The moment our fishermen return to port, we'll fillet, portion, vacuum pack,
17:44 and flash freeze for a minimum of three days,
17:47 so then that way the seafood is consumable for sushi, is considered sushi grade.
17:53 They're so fatty, it's so oily, it's hard to hold on to them, they keep slipping.
17:58 Kyle sells his king salmon to fine dining and sushi restaurants,
18:02 but also directly to customers across the country.
18:06 Shipping out of Alaska can get very expensive because of its remote location.
18:10 It costs him $65 to ship a five-pound box of salmon from Cordova to New York.
18:16 Due to an increase in demand, the price of king salmon has slowly gone up over the last five years.
18:22 A pound of Copper River king salmon is now going for $100 to $120.
18:28 Although bigger fish sell for more, huge king salmon are getting harder to come by.
18:34 A 2020 study found that in the last 60 years, salmon in Alaska have been getting smaller, especially kings.
18:40 Since 1960, king salmon have lost 8% in body length.
18:45 Streams are warming earlier in the year, and salmon are making their migrations at a younger age and smaller size.
18:52 There's also competition with other fish populations caused by hatcheries releasing the fish they produce into the sea.
19:00 In the long term, this drop in size affects the salmon's commercial value.
19:05 The transport of nutrients, egg production, and especially for king salmon, it reduces the supply for rural communities.
19:12 Salmon and seafood in Alaska is more than just a job.
19:18 It's very deeply rooted into our traditions.
19:21 We have very many rural communities in Alaska that rely on these wild salmon runs as their only source of protein.
19:29 So, you know, they don't have, you know, some of them, they don't have access to grocery stores.
19:34 So it's really important that we have these salmon runs returned for them.
19:39 This lobster is so valuable that people try to smuggle its larvae across international waters.
19:50 The ornate tropical rock lobster, or the pearl lobster as it's better known, can cost nearly $100 a kilogram.
19:58 Making it six times as expensive as other popular varieties, like Maine lobsters.
20:03 The colorful crustacean is one of the rarest and priciest lobsters you can find.
20:09 Pearl lobsters are found throughout the Indian Ocean and West Pacific.
20:14 But the waters around Indonesia are where their largest communities exist.
20:18 They're known for their blue-green shells, rainbow-colored spots, and extra long antennae.
20:25 Pearl lobsters are also meatier and sweeter than other lobsters.
20:28 In Ikas Bay, Indonesia, they're considered a popular delicacy and sold for a hefty profit.
20:35 Abdul Kassim has been fishing for lobsters for 29 years.
20:54 Whenever it's not too windy, he takes his boat to rocky locations that could be home to pearl lobsters.
21:01 The fishers leave their nets out overnight and return in the morning.
21:05 They also catch some of the fish that are caught in the morning.
21:11 The most difficult part is finding the right location.
21:15 Sometimes we run out of the location we've been fishing for.
21:20 So we have to find a new location to catch the lobsters.
21:24 The fishers leave their nets out overnight and return in the morning.
21:28 They also catch sand lobsters, but pearl lobsters are worth a lot more.
21:33 If a pearl lobster costs Rp 1 million, compared to sand lobsters, it's Rp 500,000.
21:41 So in January and February, the price of a pearl lobster is Rp 1,500,000 per kilogram.
21:51 In other months, it's Rp 1 million or Rp 1,150,000.
21:57 Any lobsters that are large enough to be sold are bought to a seller.
22:03 Pearl lobsters are sold to a breeder.
22:06 Due to government regulations, pearl lobsters that weigh less than 200 grams must be brought to a breeder.
22:12 Breeders like Merdiem raise pearl lobsters in captivity.
22:17 This method ensures a more reliable supply of lobsters.
22:21 I'm interested in this method because it's very beneficial for my family.
22:28 It's beneficial for my children's education and other needs.
22:35 But keeping them healthy is no easy feat.
22:38 The lobster larvae, or seeds as they're called, are placed in nets that float directly in the ocean, exposed to natural elements.
22:46 Merdiem takes his boat out to feed the lobsters every day.
22:50 It takes 18 months to fully breed pearl lobster seeds.
22:56 It's difficult to breed pearl lobsters because they're very fragile.
23:05 They can easily get sick.
23:09 And their teeth are very expensive.
23:13 The lobsters are also often attacked by pufferfish and barracudas, who eat their legs.
23:23 If a lobster loses two legs from the same side, it's considered defective and can't be sold.
23:28 We usually release 50 lobsters per net.
23:39 We get around 40 lobsters per net, which is around 10% of the total.
23:47 The surviving lobsters will grow from 50 grams to the preferred selling weight of 500 grams.
23:53 To help protect their lobsters, breeders check on the nets throughout the week and repair any damage.
24:00 It's a lot of work, but it's worth it, since pearl lobsters have become one of the most valuable resources at Indonesian fisheries.
24:10 To help strengthen the country's lobster farming industry, the Indonesian government has banned the export of all lobster larvae.
24:17 This measure is also meant to protect its wild lobster populations.
24:22 However, theft and international smuggling attempts of Indonesia's lobster larvae have not stopped.
24:28 Back in autumn 2022, authorities caught smugglers transporting $2.2 million worth of lobster larvae.
24:38 The Indonesian government estimates that the country lost more than $64 million in revenue to illegal exports in 2019.
24:45 The demand for Indonesian lobsters, particularly pearl lobsters, is very high in countries like Singapore, China and Vietnam.
24:53 Pearl lobsters aren't even always available in Indonesia.
24:58 Not all of the lobsters are sold in the market.
25:03 The quality of the lobsters is good, and they're the most expensive.
25:08 People who buy pearl lobsters are usually tourists, locals, domestic and even foreigners.
25:20 Many restaurants and hotels also buy pearl lobsters, driving up the demand and prices.
25:26 The time of year impacts how expensive a pearl lobster will be as well.
25:31 Lobsters are more expensive in January and February because of all the Chinese New Year celebrations.
25:36 Prices are also higher from August to September when international tourists come to visit.
25:41 During these months, captive pearl lobsters sell for around $50 per kilogram, and wild pearl lobsters can sell for as much as $75 per kilogram.
25:51 Wild pearl lobsters are always more expensive because they tend to be larger than their captive counterparts.
25:58 They also weigh more, even when they're the same size, so there's more meat to enjoy.
26:25 Despite the extravagant cost, one of the most popular ways to eat pearl lobster is grilling it at a local outdoor restaurant.
26:33 I eat pearl lobsters once a month or twice a month.
26:40 I usually take it to a restaurant to grill it, or I take it home to fry it with my own spices.
26:48 Pearl lobsters have a soft texture on the tongue, and the meat is thick, and it's also sweet.
26:59 But despite pearl lobsters' popularity in Indonesia and throughout Asia, its price has actually fallen over the years.
27:05 And its fluctuating value is concerning for the people whose livelihoods depend on it.
27:11 We hope that the government will stabilize the price of pearl lobsters.
27:18 We just need the price to stabilize, not to the point where the price is too high and falls.
27:24 Because we also need enough money to meet all the family needs.
27:32 Almost everyone at this market in Lagos, Nigeria, is here to buy stockfish.
27:38 A coveted source of protein, it sells for $65 per kilogram, seven times as much as other popular fish like croaker.
27:47 But no one in Nigeria can actually buy stockfish.
27:53 The fish comes from thousands of miles away in Norway, where entire operations are dedicated to supplying the stockfish demand in Nigeria.
28:01 It's 99.9% for Nigeria.
28:07 A full drying rack like this is worth over $5,000.
28:13 And it's a lot of fish.
28:17 But because the supply from Norway is volatile, prices fluctuate, and sellers here in Nigeria have no control over how much fish gets here.
28:26 We add our stockfish.
28:32 The stockfish is very important to Nigerian cuisine.
28:37 It's a very important ingredient in Nigerian cuisine.
28:43 The stockfish is very important to Nigerian cuisine because of the texture and flavor it gives to the dish,
28:51 especially when you want to have that local smell, local aroma to your food.
28:57 This is the fishing village of Henningsvard in Lofoten, Norway.
29:08 It's the ideal location for drying stockfish.
29:13 Cod migrates here at the start of the winter.
29:16 After it's caught, the fish is graded by size and tied to be hung on racks, heads and bodies separately.
29:25 The weather here is cold, dry, and reaches -10 to -15 degrees Celsius with wind chill.
29:36 It's so cold that there are no insects that could eat the fish, but not cold enough to freeze the fish.
29:42 And it dries the fish so much that after a few weeks, not even birds are interested in it anymore.
29:50 These racks have the capacity for as much as 4,000 metric tons of stockfish.
29:57 It's a way of conservation. You know the yield is 23%,
30:03 so that means that if you take out all the water, it's a way of preserving the proteins.
30:09 Exposed in the freezing wind, it takes three months for cod to fully dry and become stockfish.
30:17 Once that happens, stockfish can be stored for up to three years, making it an extremely valuable resource.
30:25 This is a longer method than using salt or artificial dryers, which can dry cod in a week.
30:32 But the long wait pays off.
30:34 Companies like Nora's buy fresh cod for 52 kroner, a little less than $5 per kilogram from fishers.
30:43 Once dried, its bulk price is around 150 kroner per kilogram.
30:50 In Nigeria, it won't be sold in kilograms, but in 30-kilogram bags.
30:58 These heads, after two months approximately, we can take it indoor after drying it.
31:05 And we press it into 30-kilogram jute bags and ship in 40-feet containers, and it all goes to Nigeria.
31:17 Up until 60 years ago, the word "stockfish" meant little to nothing in Nigeria.
31:27 But after the Nigerian Civil War killed more than a million people, mostly of starvation in the late '60s, everything changed.
31:36 Among the emergency supplies other countries sent to Nigeria to combat the famine, Norway sent stockfish.
31:44 While Norwegians still eat it in restaurants now, almost 100% of the stockfish produced in Norway is headed to Nigeria, especially for home cooking.
31:57 In 2015, Nigeria imported $8.94 million worth of stockfish from Norway.
32:05 You know this is gold.
32:09 From Norway. We don't have a challenge selling stockfish when we import it.
32:15 And we sell as much as we bring.
32:18 Nanso is a stockfish dealer.
32:22 He's spent 20 years in the business, going from retailing to dealing directly with imports.
32:28 He sells his stockfish at the Otowhite Sand Market in Lagos, Nigeria.
32:34 Stockfish comes in this first machine.
32:37 So there is the heads aspect of it, which is also into three types.
32:42 There's one that comes with jaw, and one that comes without jaw.
32:46 There's also a type of different heads.
32:49 So the same way it is different, the prices are different.
32:53 So in two types of meat, there are two types of meats.
32:57 There's the one without skin, and the one with skin.
33:00 Then aside from that one, there's also the body, the long one.
33:04 That one also is more expensive.
33:07 And even in that body, there are four different types.
33:10 The hot and humid climate makes it impossible for stockfish to be dried here.
33:17 Importing it is the only option.
33:19 The stockfish takes six weeks to get to Nanso from Norway.
33:27 A pack of body here is above $500 and above $300,000.
33:36 Then the main body, the long one, is up to $800,000 to $900,000 here,
33:43 which is almost close to $1,000 and above.
33:47 But those prices will not be the same tomorrow.
33:50 Prices fluctuate depending on the season.
33:54 And because it's a more convenient trade currency than Norwegian kroner,
33:58 prices are set in US dollars.
34:01 They depend on the Naira to dollar exchange rate of the day.
34:05 And even then, there are two different exchange rates.
34:09 The official one, set by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the black market rate.
34:16 Black market rates, although unofficial, often give a better picture of the real market conditions.
34:22 Most of us end up going for black market because it can be in the queue for dollar for months.
34:31 In Nigeria, these two exchange rates are very different.
34:36 Which one you pick to sell your stockfish can make or break a business like Nanso's.
34:42 That's a major challenge in every business in this country.
34:45 The distribution and access to gold.
34:49 The difference between gold market rates and black market is over 100.
34:52 That's a lot of money.
34:54 So it makes the business difficult.
34:56 And also makes it expensive for consumers.
35:00 So it's a very big challenge.
35:02 But for now, I don't have much option. I have to continue my business.
35:11 In 2021, to encourage local fish farming, the Nigerian government added stockfish to a list of over 40 items that importers have to buy with actual US dollars.
35:23 Not Naira converted into the same amount.
35:26 For Nanso, this made trading stockfish even more challenging.
35:31 15 years ago, a container of stockfish could be around 7, 8 million Naira.
35:40 Today, a container of stockfish would worth between 75 to 80 thousand dollars.
35:45 In current black market, it's about 17 million to 15 million.
35:51 The challenge is assessing for us through central bank, normal rents.
35:56 A lot of people have left the business.
35:59 The rise in energy costs has also made the operations in Norway more expensive to run.
36:05 And that also reflects on the final price at the market here.
36:10 The way the people go, for which one they can afford.
36:13 So we're now building a method that instead of allowing it to be there to spoil, we're now starting to slash it.
36:22 So when you move around the market, you'll see people slashing the stockfish to a smaller size that people can afford.
36:31 I really can't place a time frame to how long I've been cooking stockfish.
36:39 I grew up knowing stockfish.
36:41 I learned to use stockfish also in cooking the local dishes, the local delicacies, especially our soup and stews.
36:53 This here is our seafood okra in all its beauty.
37:01 How lovely it looks.
37:06 First of all, you feed with the eyes.
37:18 The burst of flavours, the taste, all combining to give this wonderful aroma.
37:25 Back in Norway, the Nigerian market is too important to lose.
37:31 It's funny because we have been trying to sell to other countries these products also.
37:41 And every time we think we try to find a new market, then we find out that it was really the Nigerians living in the Netherlands or England or the US.
37:58 So it's always the Nigerians who like this.
38:07 This kilogram of baby eels has just sold for over $7,000.
38:11 Angulas are the young of the European eel.
38:14 They're a delicacy in Spain where every year they're auctioned off for thousands of dollars.
38:20 But angulas are tiny.
38:23 Fishes need to catch 3,000 of them to reach one kilo, a task that requires spending entire nights in the water in total darkness, braving strong tides and stormy seas.
38:36 And while angulas are prized for their crunchy texture, they have a very mild taste, almost non-existent.
38:43 It's midnight in Ribadesella in the north of Spain.
38:51 And it's the first day of the baby eel season.
38:55 We hope to catch something.
38:57 Not much, because the weather didn't come.
39:01 Manolo has been fishing eels for the last 33 years.
39:05 He's one of 46 fishers here in Ribadesella who are licensed to fish angulas.
39:10 Tonight marks the beginning of a four-month long season.
39:14 When the season starts, we have to catch a lot of fish.
39:19 When the season starts, I feel very different.
39:22 I feel anxious, I feel nervous, even though it's been a few years.
39:27 But I still feel like it's the first time.
39:30 The fishing takes place at night when the eels are most active.
39:34 We look for the best moments, the best moments for fishing, and it's always the sea.
39:43 The first thing Manolo does is assess the water.
39:46 Right now, although awake, the eels are hiding in the sand,
39:50 so he relies on the movement of the water to reveal them.
39:54 What we're looking for is the place where the waves meet.
40:00 Because when you bring the angula from one side to the other, it always leaves them in that area.
40:05 To fish, Manolo uses a custom rake, which is a special type of rake.
40:11 Manolo uses a custom rake called a ceazo.
40:13 We put the ceazo in the water and lift it before the wave comes from behind.
40:21 The ceazo is well settled on the ground.
40:25 If it hangs, the angula that passes below doesn't go into the ceazo.
40:34 Manolo's timing needs to be spot on.
40:38 If he lifts the rake one second later than he should,
40:41 the same wave that pushed the eel into his net can also wash it back into the sea.
40:45 Even with the right equipment, baby eel fishing has a serious risk of coming back empty-handed.
41:01 That's because there is one thing Manolo can't predict - the weather.
41:07 Today is a calm, calm, calm day.
41:10 This is usually very rare.
41:13 There has to be a sea storm,
41:17 with a lot of waves, big waves that drag the bottom.
41:22 Tonight is also a full moon.
41:25 While it may give him some light on this dark beach,
41:28 it's not ideal as some eels may confuse it with daytime and stay buried in the sand.
41:35 What we need to look for is the darker it is, the better for the angula.
41:40 Well, it's not going well.
41:45 Well, the time is coming.
41:47 We're going to change beach.
41:50 We're going to go to the beach in San AntolÃn.
41:52 This change of beach is a gamble for Manolo.
41:55 There is no guarantee there will be eels there.
41:58 That's because much is still unknown about their life cycle.
42:04 The angulus' journey starts very far away, in the Sargasso Sea,
42:07 a region of the Atlantic Ocean close to the Caribbean.
42:10 There, adult eels spawn and die,
42:14 and their hatchlings travel through the Gulf Stream until they reach the coast of Spain,
42:18 seeking fresh water.
42:20 When they arrive, the angulus are transparent.
42:23 As they move out of the salty ocean and into rivers,
42:26 the higher temperature of the fresh water will turn them from transparent to black
42:32 as they mature into adult eels.
42:34 Catching them before this transition occurs is essential.
42:37 But the eels' exact journey is unknown,
42:40 and it's impossible to predict the number of angulus that will arrive at the start of the season.
42:44 These years ago, we had around 1,500 to 1,700,
42:49 although last year it basically decreased to around 780 kilos.
42:56 This unpredictability makes Manolo's job even more difficult.
43:01 If I catch 50 grams at the end of the night,
43:05 that's it.
43:08 It's probably the worst start of a long time.
43:15 Although the night is not going so well,
43:19 the eels Manolo finds tonight will be the most expensive of the season.
43:24 That's because buyers will pay a premium for the first night's catch.
43:31 Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll have a good price.
43:34 Look, we've got one.
43:37 I think the record is around 5,000 euros.
43:43 Look, three, four.
43:48 Manolo caught 90 grams tonight.
43:50 He doesn't know how much it will be worth yet.
43:53 But he's not going to give up.
43:56 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
43:59 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
44:02 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
44:05 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
44:08 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
44:11 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
44:14 He's going to catch a lot of eels.
44:18 Before the eels are sold at the auction,
44:20 workers at Ribe de Seja market clean them with a sponge
44:23 to remove all the excess water that could affect their weight.
44:26 1.4 kilos arrived at the market today,
44:32 the total catch of all fishers working last night.
44:35 On a good day, the total catch can weigh 5 or 6 kilos.
44:40 Today's low total will make this auction even more competitive.
44:45 Bidders for the angulas are typically restaurants in the area.
44:48 And the lucky chef who will get to cook the eels
44:51 is there in person to make the bid.
44:54 When the auction arrives, there's a good feeling,
44:57 you're nervous to see who's going to catch the angula this year.
45:01 It's exciting.
45:04 Manuel is the chef at El Campanú, a restaurant in Ribe de Seja.
45:08 He holds the record for the highest ever bid.
45:12 The restaurant paid €6,620 per kilo in 2019.
45:16 The auction itself is very quiet.
45:36 It's done using a screen, and each buyer has a remote control
45:40 that they use to make their bid.
45:42 Manuel made it.
45:57 He gets to cook the first kilo of angulas of the season
46:00 for €7,280.
46:04 That's a new record high.
46:08 I was looking at the person who was going,
46:10 and I saw a strange movement in that person,
46:13 towards the hook, and then I took a look.
46:17 We're keeping the angula this year.
46:20 Out of the whole batch, those 90 grams that Manolo fished last night
46:24 were worth €655 today.
46:27 Very good price, very good price, very happy.
46:30 The shame is that we caught very little.
46:35 I don't know what's wrong with him, but I'm happy.
46:38 I'm happy, I'm happy.
46:40 But not all baby eels cost over €7,000.
46:44 Cost is variable depending on the time of year.
46:47 That's why for fishers like Manolo,
46:49 it's impossible to rely on just angula fishing for a living.
46:53 The first day, the first day auction,
46:55 economically for me, it doesn't take much.
46:59 The important thing is the remaining three months and 29 days.
47:05 Eel fishing here in Riba de Sella is heavily regulated.
47:08 Fishers like Manolo are only allowed to fish baby eels
47:12 between November and February,
47:14 with five mandatory rest days each month.
47:16 Each fisher needs to hold a licence,
47:19 and certain beaches are no fishing zones.
47:21 Breaking any of these rules can cost as much as €6,000.
47:25 These regulations mean that the price of angulas
47:28 has skyrocketed in recent decades.
47:32 When I started fishing with my father,
47:35 I sold the angula for the cheapest price,
47:39 at €8,000, €10,000, €12,000 at the time.
47:42 And now, in the last few campaigns,
47:45 we've sold it for up to €810.
47:48 That's the maximum I've sold,
47:50 a kilo for €810.
47:52 In the last 50 years,
47:54 the demand for the increasingly scarce eels
47:56 has risen so much that goulas,
47:59 a cheaper copy of baby eels, were born.
48:01 Goulas are made of tsurimi,
48:03 the same fish paste used to make imitation crab,
48:06 and cost 62 times less than angulas.
48:09 They are now just as popular as the real thing.
48:12 This makes cooking with real baby eels
48:15 a delicate task for chefs like Manuel.
48:17 He needs to make sure the subtle taste of the angulas
48:20 shines through, and that they don't lose their texture,
48:23 or they could be mistaken for their cheap imitation.
48:26 Angulas can't be cooked alive,
48:30 because they'll release slime.
48:31 So Manuel treats them with a tobacco infusion first.
48:34 He then removes the unwanted slime by hand.
48:51 This process is the most expensive,
48:53 the one that takes the longest,
48:55 and the most delicate of all.
48:58 The most important thing about cleaning angulas
49:02 is to remove the slime,
49:04 so that it doesn't lose its bad taste,
49:07 and changes the texture and taste of the angula.
49:10 We put the water to boil.
49:14 When it starts to turn white,
49:18 we take out the angula,
49:20 and we put it directly in the cold water
49:22 to finish cutting it.
49:25 The texture of the angula is soft,
49:47 and when you combine the garlic and the spice,
49:50 you get a burst of flavours in your mouth.
49:53 Despite the proliferation of goulash,
50:03 in the last few years,
50:05 real angulas have enjoyed increased popularity.
50:07 The first-day auctions generate a lot of buzz,
50:10 with chefs arriving from all over Spain
50:12 to make their bids.
50:15 The demand for angulas has increased
50:17 in the first-day auctions.
50:19 There are many more buyers in the last 10 years,
50:22 and they are willing to pay a lot more
50:25 for that first kilo of angula.
50:28 Baby eels have become so popular
50:32 that overfishing and smuggling are serious risks.
50:35 In 2017, Spanish police uncovered
50:38 an international trafficking operation headed for China,
50:41 which included 2 million euros worth of angulas.
50:44 But it's unclear if the seasons to come
50:46 will be able to support this rise in demand.
50:49 The European eel is listed as critically endangered,
50:52 and fewer and fewer baby eels
50:54 arrive at the beaches of Riba de Seja each year.
50:57 I've been here for 33 years.
51:00 I haven't lost any.
51:03 And it's true that if you look back 10, 15, 20 years,
51:09 the catch has gone down.
51:13 It's gone down.
51:15 The fishermen have also gone down.
51:18 There are different theories for this decline,
51:21 including climate change,
51:23 habitat deterioration,
51:26 pollution, and overfishing.
51:27 But for Manolo,
51:29 fishing angulas is not about money.
51:32 I love angula fishing.
51:34 I've been doing it for many years.
51:37 I've been doing it since I was a kid,
51:40 with my father,
51:42 when I was 13 or 12.
51:44 I started enjoying it because I liked fishing.
51:48 I love being here.
51:52 [Oysters]
51:54 Oysters are a sure sign of high-end decadence.
52:07 But look back 200 years,
52:09 and they were handed out as free bar snacks.
52:11 So what made them the luxury food that they are today?
52:14 Oysters have been around for a while.
52:19 Experts put the shellfish around 300 million years old, at least.
52:22 And humans have been enjoying them for centuries.
52:25 Oyster cultivation was invented by Sergius Arata,
52:28 a Roman engineer also often credited with the invention of underfloor heating.
52:33 And since his invention, oyster farming has become big business.
52:37 While you may be seeing oysters on the menu more these days,
52:40 their popularity now is nothing compared to just 200 years ago.
52:44 Oyster sales boomed from the early 19th century onwards,
52:48 and the shellfish were sold as street food across London, Paris and New York,
52:52 as they remained a cheap and accessible snack to many.
52:55 In 1860, the small British seaside town of Whitstable alone
52:59 was sending 50 million tons of oysters to London each year.
53:03 And by 1900, New York was eating one million oysters every day.
53:07 But as their popularity grew, so did the problems.
53:11 Industrialization and dredging of the waters in England led to overfishing.
53:16 And as more people moved to the coast,
53:18 more and more sewage ended up dumped in oyster-growing waters.
53:21 Soon there were outbreaks of typhoid and other diseases,
53:24 and many oyster beds had to be closed.
53:27 Hard winters and new diseases killed off many of the remaining native oysters,
53:32 and gave the shellfish a bad reputation that lasted for years to come.
53:36 There's something else that kept the price of oysters down around the turn of the century.
53:40 Child labour.
53:42 In the early 20th century, American photographer Lewis Hine
53:45 captured photographs of many of the children working in the oyster industry.
53:48 Even photographing four-year-old Mary,
53:50 who had apparently shucked two pots of oysters each day.
53:53 Things had to change, though.
53:56 We soon realized the importance of clean water in the oyster-growing process,
53:59 and outlawed child labour.
54:01 Making oysters environmentally safe and ethical to grow came at a cost,
54:06 as the shellfish take a lot of work to produce.
54:09 And now, when oysters are raised,
54:11 the environment they're grown in is one of the main considerations.
54:15 Here, there's no industry, there's very little even farming here.
54:20 What you've got out in the loch is just everything that is naturally in the loch.
54:24 So they're feeding on the best possible feed that you could want,
54:28 and they couldn't be an any more natural product.
54:32 Each oyster takes two to three years to mature,
54:35 and they start out microscopically small.
54:38 The tiny shellfish are grown in hatcheries.
54:42 When they're large enough, they're transplanted to their final growing place.
54:45 Well, we get the oysters in from our hatchery when they're about your thumbnail size.
54:52 We will grow them in these baskets for approximately two to three years,
54:57 and then we'll send them to the depuration centre for depurating,
55:03 and then for packing for dispatch.
55:05 At Loch Fyne, every oyster is depurated,
55:08 a process that cleans the oysters and removes any dangerous bacteria.
55:11 Every single oyster must be checked by hand.
55:14 Making sure that each oyster is shipped live is paramount.
55:17 Believe it or not, we sell roughly about 35,000 oysters every week out here,
55:24 and every single oyster is individually checked.
55:28 So what we would do is when we're packing the oysters,
55:31 we'd pick up two oysters and we would tap them together.
55:35 Now, you can obviously see that one's dead,
55:39 but if you were packing thousands at a time, you wouldn't necessarily see it.
55:42 And sometimes it's only open just a little tiny bit.
55:44 But when you tap that oyster, you can hear it's hollow straight away.
55:50 And that is the best way to tell if an oyster's going to reach its shelf life,
55:57 whether it should be discarded.
55:59 Oysters may only have a nine-day shelf life,
56:08 but that doesn't stop them being shipped all across the globe.
56:10 And their popularity and image as a luxury treat
56:14 means that their demand is only going to rise.
56:17 [Music]
56:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]