ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo: Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has reached an agreement with Soul of Japan K.K., as land-based Atlantic salmon farmer Pure Salmon is known in Japan, to handle domestic sales of the Atlantic salmon produced by the Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) land-based farms Soul of Japan will establish in Japan.

Worldwide demand for salmon is expected to increase due to population growth and the growing popularity of fish in diets, but the area suitable for sea-based farming are limited by weather conditions and other factors. Given these challenges, “land-based farming” where salmon are farmed in large water tanks on land is expected to offer a means to contribute to stable supply in the future. Since Atlantic salmon need to be raised at low water temperatures, they are currently cultivated mainly in the waters of Norway or Chile and then imported to Japan, but through control of the water temperature, among other things, land-based farming will allow Atlantic salmon to be farmed in Japan. Fresh Atlantic salmon could be distributed to Japanese market by this farming.

Pure Salmon operates a RAS land-based fish farm in Poland where it successfully raised large Atlantic salmon suitable for sale as products in 2018. The facility raises the salmon in salted fresh water instead of natural seawater to reduce the risk of pathogens entering the system, and sophisticated filtration technologies are used to recycle the water to reduce the impact on the environment. Same next-generation technologies will also be used in Japan, where Soul of Japan plans to produce 10,000 tons of Atlantic salmon annually. Construction of the land-based fish farm in Mie Prefecture will begin in 2020, with shipments scheduled to commence from 2023.

ITOCHU will utilize the expertise it has accumulated over many years in the food business and leverage its sales networks to actively facilitate the domestic distribution of Atlantic salmon that has been farmed in a safe, secure and environmentally-friendly way.