Ship-Eating Sea Worm Provides Sustainable Alternative To Fish, Study Says

(Photo : Getty Images/YURI CORTEZ)

A ship-eating sea worm may soon be marketed in shops as a sustainable alternative to other fish products.

Alternative To Big Five

Researchers at Cambridge and Plymouth Universities are developing the slimy white mollusc with the goal of farming it for UK consumers.

Known as the shipworm, teredo worm, or tamilok in the Philippines, people eat it uncooked, soaked in coconut vinegar with salt and pepper.

Unlike many other molluscs, it lacks a shell.

Instead, using two small plates on its head, the shipworm burrows its way into seawater-soaked timber.

Researchers David Willer of Cambridge and his colleague Reuben Shipway of Plymouth, who prefer the appellation "naked clam," believe the organisms will provide a sustainable alternative to the "big five."

Cod, haddock, salmon, tuna, and prawns account for 80% of seafood consumed in the country, but they are caught using the damaging and frequently unsustainable method of trawling.

The hope is that the shipworm will supply people with the benefits of a fish-rich diet, such as a lower risk of strokes and neurological disorders, but in a more sustainable way.

According to the NHS, humans continue to consume slightly more than half of the recommended two servings of fish each week.

Willer stressed that the great thing about your naked clam is that it eats wood. The key to its success is the presence of symbiotic bacteria and fungi in its gut, which transform the wood into a variety of substances, including protein, vitamin B12, and vital micronutrients.

While the shipworm typically feeds on wood, it can also filter food pellets to improve flavor or scent.

Its taste has been compared to oysters, but this might vary depending on the type of wood in contact with the mollusc.

"In the Philippines they are typically battered like calamari or in a marinated stew. If you're going to do them as a mass-market consumer product, we're thinking they'll be mashed up like in fish fingers," Willer added.

Food System

Last year, the scientists built the world's first shipworm aquaculture in Plymouth, a wooden, brick-sized matrix in which the clams grow, with the goal that the cultivation technique may be used on land throughout the UK.

Once they have received patents for their idea, the two-year scale-up plan, which includes farming off the Devon coast, will begin in May.

Shipworms have been known to bore holes in French and UK ships in the Channel, as well as cause problems for Christopher Columbus while stuck in the Caribbean.

However, the scientists discovered that the animals are high in nutrients, such as vitamin B12, and only need wood and water to thrive, with the option of feeding them recycled wood chips to further reduce the carbon effect.

There is "definitely reason to be hopeful" about shipworms, according to Charlotte Coombes of the Marine Conservation Society, which develops the Good Fish Guide, which includes alternatives to the big five.

"It's this different way of thinking about our food systems that we really do need, because we can't just keep going on as we are, when 97 per cent of global fish stocks are either fully fished or overfished. But it all depends on what it looks like when it's scaled up," she said.