By MASAKI HASHIDA/ Staff Writer
September 27, 2025 at 07:00 JST
Pacific saury raised through land-based aquaculture (Provided by Maruha Nichiro Corp.)
Japanese seafood giant Maruha Nichiro Corp. said it scored a world-first in farming Pacific saury at a commercially viable level in land-based tanks.
In trial tests, the fish, sanma in Japanese, grew past 100 grams each, the rough benchmark for shipments, in June 2024.
The company confirmed that Pacific saury could be raised in tanks at near-commercial densities.
It started working with the Fukushima Marine Science Museum, also known as Aquamarine Fukushima, in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, in October 2023. The public science aquarium is known for its fish-breeding expertise and provided the eggs to Maruha Nichiro.
Artificial insemination was done at Maruha Nichiro Aquaculture Technology Development Center Co. in Minami-Satsuma, Kagoshima Prefecture.
Pacific saury are notoriously difficult to farm as the streamlined fast-swimming fish are prone, in tight spaces, to collide with tank walls, resulting in injury or death.
Maruha Nichiro used aquaculture techniques to farm bluefin tuna, red sea bream and other fish species to develop food and tank facilities for Pacific saury.
Having achieved full-cycle aquaculture, the company said it takes about six months for the fish to grow large enough for shipping.
Although this year’s natural Pacific saury are thick and fatty, prices were high due to poor catches in recent years.
Maruha Nichiro’s achievement looks set to open the door to practical application of saury aquaculture, officials said.
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