Nippon Meat Packers Group Entering Farmed Tuna Market

Tokyo, Nov. 25 (Jiji Press)--The Nippon Meat Packers Inc. <2282>
group will start shipments of domestically farmed bluefin tuna in
mid-December, becoming Japan's first meat firm to enter the market,
officials said Wednesday.
Marine Foods Corp., a Nippon Meat unit, aims to ship a total of
1,500 tuna by the end of March, the group officials told Jiji Press.
It will use the group's nationwide sales network to sell the tuna
directly to sushi restaurants, supermarkets and other clients without going
through fish markets.
Direct sales will allow the firm to provide to customers with fresh
tuna as well as information on the latest progress in the group's tuna
farming operations, the officials said.
Marine Foods procures fish and other marine produce from 12
countries around the world. It processes them for use in sushi, sashimi and
other products at plants in and outside Japan for sales in its home country.
In hopes of raising Japan's self-sufficiency in tuna, the company
established a tuna-farming joint venture in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture,
southern Japan, in July 2008.
After succeeding in raising tuna, Marine Foods is preparing to
start shipments of the fish.
In Japan, the world's largest consumer of tuna, concerns are
mounting over high fuel prices and stricter international controls on tuna
fishing. Against the background, tuna farming is attracting attention.
Marine products makers Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc. <1334> and
Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd. <1332> are already active in the market. The firms
plan to expand their tuna farming operations.