January 8, 2019 — Two of Japan’s largest seafood companies, Maruha Nichiro and Nippon Suisan Kaisha, or Nissui, soon expect to begin commercial shipments of fish farmed in land-based facilities in Japan, reports Nikkei.
At a land-based salmon farm in the town of Yuza, in the northwestern prefecture of Yamagata, Maruha Nichiro farms a variety of salmon known locally as sakuramasu. Maruha, which developed the system with valve maker Kitz, expects to ship its first batch of sakuramasu soon.
Maruha president Shigeru Ito said he aims to market the fish as a Japanese product in a country that relies on imports for 90% of its salmon consumption.
Meanwhile, Nissui plans to begin inland farming of mackerel next year, according to Nikkei, aiming to become the first company in Japan to sell farmed mackerel commercially. The key goal of the project is to cut costs by teaming up with a business in another industry that has a water treatment technology.