Japan's Nissui Group has begun consolidation of its farmed tuna interests, moving two operations currently operated by group companies Kaneko Sangyo Co. and Seinan Suisan Co., to Nissui Maguro Co., a newly established, wholly owned subsidiary of Kaneko Sangyo.
"This will consolidate the Nissui Group's domestic farmed tuna businesses and achieve overall optimisation, demonstrating its presence in the domestic farmed tuna market with a 20 per cent share," said Nissui Group.
Since Kaneko Sangyo joined the Nissui Group in 2012, and Seinan Suisan in 2006, each company has been working independently on its respective tuna aquaculture business. However, since 2018, performance has reportedly deteriorated due to the impact of fish disease, red tides, and typhoons, and the two companies have been working together since fiscal 2021 to improve performance.
In the first year, costs were reduced by jointly purchasing feed, and some systems were integrated. In April 2022, Seinan Suisan's head office functions were transferred to Kaneko Sangyo's Karatsu Business Headquarters to integrate management functions, and in 2023, the sales teams were combined.
To promote further efficiency gains, Kaneko Sangyo's Aquaculture Department and Aquaculture Technology Promotion Department, and Seinan Suisan's Aquaculture Department, will be transferred to the new company Nissui Maguro through an absorption-type split, integrating the group's farmed tuna business.
Nissui Maguro specializes in the farming of bluefin tuna, and is building a supply chain for farmed tuna in cooperation with related companies within the group.
The bluefin tuna juveniles to be cultivated are caught by Kyowa Suisan Co., a Nissui Group company that operates a coastal purse seine fishing fleet, while feed is procured from Farm Choice Co., a Nissui Group company that produces compound feed for fish farming, as well as utilising the procurement functions of Kaneko Sangyo.
"In terms of business, we will increase the proportion of short-term aquaculture at our Ine facility (Ine-cho, Yosa-gun, Kyoto Prefecture) and other facilities in Kyushu," said the Nissui Group.
In normal aquaculture, small bluefin tuna weighing around two kilograms are raised for three to five years, but in short-term aquaculture, large bluefin tuna weighing around 100 kg are raised for about six months. Short-term aquaculture is noted for producing meat with a quality closer to that of wild tuna, and the shorter rearing period is expected to reduce feed and labor costs, reduce the three major risks, and improve cash flow.
"In parallel, in our sustainability efforts, we will use catches that comply with Pacific bluefin tuna fishing quota regulations, use fish species that are resource-stable for feed, strengthen and improve the measurement of the rearing environment, reduce the use of drugs, and expand the use of compound feed," aded Nissui. "We will also aim to eliminate plastic from aquaculture and shipping materials, and comply with Scope 3 in reducing CO2 emissions."
In June 2023, Nissui merged Kurose Suisan Co. and Satsuma Suisan Co., group companies engaged in yellowtail farming, to strengthen its yellowtail farming business. Following this, Nissui will now work to strengthen its farmed tuna supply chain, with Nissui Tuna at its core.
