As wild-caught Pacific saury have grown increasingly scarce, with landings plummeting to just 20,000 tonnes in 2021, a decline of over 90% from 355,000 tonnes in 2008, wholesale prices surged nearly tenfold. Maruha Nichiro Corporation has announced a major breakthrough in successful trial farming of Pacific saury at a breeding density equivalent to full-scale commercial operations.
This achievement was made possible through close collaboration with the Marine Science Museum, Fukushima Prefecture at the Maruha Nichiro Aquaculture Technology Development Center. Rich in DHA and EPA and cherished in Japan as a prized autumn delicacy, saury is a promising candidate for farmed aquaculture.
The Maruha Nichiro Aquaculture Technology Development Center launched saury aquaculture research in October 2023 with the Marine Science Museum in Fukushima Prefecture. The museum, which had achieved the world’s first successful in-tank saury breeding, provided eggs and its advanced breeding techniques to the project.
The center has accumulated extensive aquaculture and R&D expertise from producing and cultivating bluefin tuna, yellowtail, amberjack, and red sea bream, and from numerous trials and analyses to determine optimal feeding and breeding methods. In June 2024, the center achieved a major milestone with the successful cultivation of saury weighing over 100 grams, the preferred minimum weight to ensure healthy transport.
