On a Thursday evening in Portland, Oregon, diners at the acclaimed Haitian restaurant Kann were served something that looked and tasted like salmon—glossy, pink, and delicate enough to be sliced into sashimi. But the fish had never swum in an ocean. It was born in a steel tank, not a river, grown cell by cell in a lab run by the food-tech company Wildtype.
This marks the first time lab-grown fish has been served to the public in the United States, following a pivotal green light from the Food and Drug Administration. The approval, issued on May 28, declared the salmon “as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods,” and allows Wildtype’s product to be sold and consumed without further regulatory hurdles.
A New Kind of Seafood
Just to be clear, this isn’t salmon replacement or some kind of alternative. This is, by every biological definition, salmon meat. It’s also far less taxing on the environment.
Wildtype’s makes its salmon using a process known as cell cultivation. Scientists start with a few living cells taken from Pacific salmon. These are placed in bioreactors—carefully controlled environments that mimic a fish’s internal conditions, down to the temperature and nutrients. Over time, the cells grow into something just like the real thing. After harvesting, the team blends the result with plant-based ingredients to enhance the flavor, color, and texture.
The final product is what sushi chefs call “saku,” a high-grade cut of fish typically reserved for raw dishes like sashimi. It contains the same beneficial omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids as conventional salmon, but without the risks of mercury, antibiotics, or parasites. It also sidesteps the ecological toll of fishing and aquaculture.
“Introducing Wildtype’s cultivated salmon to our menu hits the elevated and sustainable marks we want our menu to offer guests who share a similar value system to ours,” said Kann’s award-winning chef, Gregory Gourdet.
The fish is currently only available on Thursday nights, but will appear on Kann’s menu daily in July. Wildtype has also opened a waitlist for four more restaurants where the product will debut over the coming months.
A Fish Story in a Changing Ocean
The approval of Wildtype’s salmon comes as the world grapples with a seafood paradox. The demand for fish is rising, fueled by population growth and shifting diets. But the supply chain is under pressure. Overfishing, pollution, and climate change are battering marine ecosystems. And many fish farms rely on antibiotics and crowded conditions that raise concerns for both health and the environment.
Against that backdrop, cultivated seafood offers a compelling alternative. It doesn’t rely on wild stocks. It doesn’t require fishing vessels or offshore pens. And it’s not subject to the same contaminants.
But the journey for lab-grown food is still a long one. Wildtype is only the fourth company to receive FDA approval for a cultivated animal product, following Upside Foods and Good Meat (both focused on chicken) and Mission Barns (which has FDA clearance for cultivated pork fat but awaits USDA signoff).
Dr. Emily Nytko-Lutz, a patent lawyer specializing in biotechnology, explained that FDA’s safety consultation could make a big difference. “The FDA’s authorisation with a ‘No Questions’ letter is a middle ground,” she told The Verge. “It’s helpful for marketability.”
Still, political headwinds loom. At least eight states have moved to ban or restrict the production and sale of lab-grown meat, transforming it into a cultural flashpoint. Florida and Alabama have already passed laws, framing cultivated meat as a threat to traditional farming.
Wildtype’s product is now entering a marketplace long dominated by wild-caught and farm-raised seafood. Its presence at a celebrated restaurant like Kann—winner of a James Beard Award—offers a signal: lab-grown fish is officially dinner.
And if the rollout goes as planned, diners across the country could soon be tasting what might be the future of sustainable eating—no hooks, no nets, no ocean required.
