MAJOR Japanese trade houses, led by Marubeni Corp., have been pushing for the land-based farming of salmon, a popular type of sushi and sashimi, in Japan, as supply from Norway is starting to peak.
In October, Marubeni started selling salmon to supermarkets and fishmongers that was farmed by its Norwegian partner, Proximar Seafood AS, at a plant in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture near Mt Fuji.
Under an exclusive distribution agreement Marubeni signed with Proximar in 2022, the trading house plans to ship 4,700 tonnes by 2025 and raise the figure to 5,300 tonnes by 2027, when the plant becomes fully operational.
“In the future, Marubeni will consider exporting salmon to neighbouring countries that highly value Japanese food products,” Marubeni said in a press release.
Land-based salmon farming has its merits, such as being less susceptible to parasites and red tide, and preventing feces of the fish from polluting the sea. Norway is a major supplier of salmon to Japan but it has been struggling to meet demand, as suitable areas for sea-farming, its mainstream aquaculture method, are reaching their limits.
Among Marubeni’s rivals, Mitsubishi Corp. has partnered with fishery processing company, Maruha Nichiro Corp., to start land-based farming of salmon at a plant in Nyuzen in Toyama Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast from 2025. It aims to start shipments from 2027 and onwards, of 2,500 tonnes a year.
Kyodo
#TheGlobalNewlightOfMyanmar