GLASSWATER

Anguilla rostrata · American eel

Bring the eel home.

A shorter supply chain for an American fish.

Learn more Move your light

The current system

7,000 miles is a strange way to raise an American fish.

  1. American riverJuvenile eels enter from the sea each spring.
  2. Netted and exportedNearly the entire catch is flown to Asia alive.
  3. Overseas grow-outRaised to market size on farms abroad.
  4. Frozen and shipped backProcessed, glazed, returned by container.
  5. United StatesSold as unagi, origin unmarked.

The Glasswater model

River. Farm. Table.

Current

RiverExportGrow-outImportRestaurant

Glasswater

RiverFarmRestaurant

The same fish, raised where it was born, sold fresh.

Three parts

Mission

  1. 01

    Farm

    Raise American eel domestically, in recirculating systems, for American tables.

  2. 02

    Restore

    Build a fishery designed around the long-term health of the species.

  3. 03

    Breed

    Close the life cycle of the American eel. It has never been done.

The animal

One fish. Two oceans. One spawning ground.

Every American eel is born in the Sargasso Sea. The larvae drift for most of a year to the coast, climb into rivers as transparent glass eels, and live in fresh water for a decade or more. Then they turn silver, return to the sea once, spawn, and die. No one has seen it happen.

Life cycle of the American eel
  1. EggSargasso Sea
  2. LeptocephalusOpen ocean, 9–12 months
  3. Glass eelArrives at the coast
  4. Yellow eelRivers and estuaries, years to decades
  5. Silver eelReturns to sea
  6. SpawningOnce. Never observed.
Range
Greenland to Venezuela
Population
A single, randomly mating stock
Status
Depleted. Managed under quota.
Bred in captivity
Never, from egg to adult

The farm

Fresh water, recirculated.

Eels are raised indoors in warm fresh water that is filtered and reused. There are no net pens, no river intakes and no discharge to the wild. The animals are handled rarely and sold live or fresh.

Water
Recirculating. Filtered, oxygenated, reused.
Stock
Wild juveniles taken under a managed quota, with a hatchery program in development.
Feed
Formulated, high protein, fed to appetite.
Product
Live or fresh, for restaurants and smokehouses.

Progress

Where we are.

  1. 2026Research, design, and permitting.
  2. 2027First juveniles stocked.
  3. 2028First harvest.
  4. BeyondClosed-cycle breeding program.

Follow

Follow the first harvest.

Occasional updates on the farm, the fishery and the first harvest. A few a year.