Farmed bluefin tuna. (Photo: Kinki University)

Interest in bluefin farming grows

JAPAN
Thursday, March 31, 2016, 03:10 (GMT + 9)

Several Japanese firms are conducting research on bluefin tuna farming and fattening given the wild species stock are declining.

One example of the trend is that of food-maker Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd. (NISSUI), which is carrying out studies on ways of artificially hatching eggs or fattening juvenile fish to maturity, The Japan Times reported.

An executive from the firm explained that full-farming of bluefin tuna was still at the research stage, but a source familiar with the industry said the technique was closer to becoming perfected.

Another Japanese firm interested in improving bluefin farming is Maruha Nichiro Corp., which launched full-fledged shipments of fully farmed tuna this year in order to expand its sales to include overseas restaurants that serve Japanese cuisine.

The firm succeeded in the full-farming of bluefin for the first time for a private company in 2010 and started shipments this year and intends to carry out direct seasonal tuna shipments to major supermarket chain Aeon Co.

The company is making efforts to sell tuna directly to restaurants both within and outside of Japan instead of through wholesale markets.

According to the Fisheries Agency’s resources management division, international regulations are set to be tightened on catching bluefin in September, based on a resources survey last month.

As a result, demand is set to increase further for fully farmed bluefin, with competition expected to intensify.

Efforts to improve bluefin tuna farming started in 2002, when Kinki University’s Fisheries Laboratory succeeded in the full-farming of the species.

The university started mass-producing fully farmed bluefin tuna in cooperation with trading house Toyota Tsusho Corp. in 2014 and aims to sell 240 tonnes of the fish, mainly to department stores, in 2020.
 

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