Initiatives for Sustainable Aquaculture

Operating Policy for Environmentally Friendly Aquaculture Farms

Group company Japan Salmon Farm Inc. established the Operating Policy for Environmentally Friendly Aquaculture Farms in order to achieve sustainable aquaculture.

Biodiversity Conservation: ASC and MSC certifications

The group carries out various initiatives based on the belief that environmentally and socially friendly aquaculture is vital to providing a sustainable supply of seafood. To learn more, click here.

Biodiversity Conservation: Increasing FCR

Background

The world’s wild marine resources are being depleted due to overfishing. Expanding the aquaculture business provides an alternative to wild-caught fish and helps to conserve wild marine resources for consumption as food over the long term, yet it also uses wild fish in feed to raise farmed fish.

Approach to Aquaculture Feed

The group believes that raising farmed fish in an amount that exceeds its use of wild fish as feed provides greater meaning to the aquaculture business. In other words, sustainable aquaculture requires that fish 1kg or over from wild fish of less than 1kg. We are now working in various ways to increase our aquaculture volume while controlling the amount of wild fish we use as feed.

The group’s Initiatives

The group is working on the following initiatives to reduce its use of fish meal.

Selection of Fish Species with Low FCR

The feed conversion ratio (FCR) is a coefficient showing the amount of feed required to fatten an aquaculture fish by 1kg. Flounder has an FCR of 4, young yellowtail 6, and tuna between 12 and 15, but salmon trout generally have an FCR of under 2. The ratio of fish meal contained in feed ranges between 15 and 50%. This means that more salmon trout can be produced from less marine resources. Going forward, we intend to continue focusing on fish species with a lower impact on marine resources.

Lowering FCR

The Group is working to reduce FCR itself in order to reduce the catch of wild fish in its feed. In the aquaculture leading countries in Scandinavia, the FCR has already progressed to 1.2, a level where it is difficult to improve further. On the other hand, the FCR of our domestic aquaculture business is about 1.5, and there is room for improvement. The Group is now working to further lower FCR through such means as improving feed*, reducing the mortality rate, and improving feeding methods.

* Partnering with feed companies, we are improving feed from various angles such as feed better suited to closed-loop aquaculture farms, feed better suited to automated feeding, and feed that makes fish more resilient to seawater habituation.

Qualitative and Quantitative Results

Progress of FCR Reduction (Japan Salmon Farm Inc.)

We are making progress with reducing FCR through our ongoing efforts.

FY	FCR
FY2019	2.07
FY2020	1.58
FY2021	1.52
FY2022	1.52
FY2023	1.48
FY2024	1.61

Biodiversity Conservation: Initiatives to Prevent Fish Viruses

Background

Salmon trout aquaculture on occasion experiences outbreaks of viral infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics such as infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN) or infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN). These outbreaks could lead to large losses of farmed fish and fish that live around pens. If an infected farmed fish escapes from the pen (known as a fugitive fish), there is a risk that it could have negative consequences on the outside ecosystem.

The group’s Initiatives

Cooperation with Vaccine Development

The development of vaccines is an effective method of stopping fish diseases. The group operates the largest salmon trout aquaculture business in Japan and thus has access to ample sample sizes for testing. Using this unique trait, the group actively cooperates with clinical trials for vaccines against fish viruses being developed by vaccine makers.

Prevention of Disease in Our Aquaculture Fish

Group company Japan Salmon Farm Inc. implements the following countermeasures to prevent outbreaks of fish diseases.

1 Visual Inspections of Eggs
The company checks to make sure none of the eggs purchased from outside the group have not been exposed to fish diseases nor are there any abnormalities found in a visual inspection of all eggs by specially trained personnel. The eggs are sterilized prior to shipment at our American supplier and again by Okamura Foods Co, Ltd. upon delivery.
2 In-House Farming of Juvenile Fish
Since they pose a risk of bringing in diseases, we do not purchase juvenile fish from outside providers and instead raise them in-house from fertilized eggs.
3 Disinfection of All Employees and Visitors
Every individual who enters the premises of our intermediate aquaculture farms changes into company-issued boots and undergoes a thorough disinfection of their hands and boots.
4 Bird Nets
To reduce the risk of fish diseases being brought in by mammalian or avian species, bird nets and fences have been installed in both land-based and sea-based pens to prevent contact between mammalian or avian species and aquaculture fish.

As a result of these initiatives, Japan Salmon Farm Inc. has not experienced any outbreaks of fish viruses since its founding in 2017.

Biodiversity Conservation: Preservation of Surrounding Ecosystems

The group’s Approach

Fugitive fish can adversely affect the surrounding ecosystem by interbreeding with wild fish or other fugitive fish. Understanding these risks, the group implements extensive measures to prevent fugitive fish and works to minimize the impact on the ecosystem should farmed fish escape.

The group’s Initiatives

We implement the best possible measures so that no fish escapes the pen during growth, acclimatization, and harvest, and operate it at the time of landing. However, we cannot completely eliminate the possibility of fugitive fish.

Therefore, all aquaculture fish handled by Japan Salmon Farm Inc. are female. This prevents any impacts from fugitive fish interbreeding.

Preventing Water Pollution: Dealing with Sludge

The group’s Approach

At intermediate aquaculture farms, sludge is generated from the excrement of farmed fish. Japan Salmon Farm Inc. properly disposes of this sludge as industrial waste. From the perspective of preventing river water pollution, we will work to improve wastewater by reducing sludge, and we will also work on the effective utilization of sludge to realize a recycling-based society.

The group’s Initiatives

Reducing Sludge to Improve Wastewater Quality

Lowering FCR will result in the more efficient feeding of farmed fish, which can reduce excrement.

Effective Utilization of Sludge

Japan Salmon Farm Inc. is attempting to sludge with the hope of reusing it as fertilizer for agriculture over the medium to long term. We have already installed drum filters at Fukaura Omine Intermediate Aquaculture Farm and Fukaura Shirakami Intermediate Aquaculture Farm , and are now conducting tests.

By adjusting feed mixes, we will increase the hardness of the excrement to make it easier to collect in a drum filter.

At Musholm A/S, we supply sludge to a specialized provider for reuse as biogas.