Japan’s “fully farmed” bluefin tuna shipments drop to 2%

The proportion of “fully farmed” bluefin tuna shipments in Japan has dropped to 2%

According to statistics from the Japan Fisheries Agency, the shipment volume of farmed bluefin tuna in Japan in 2024 (preliminary value) is 18,687 tons, an increase of 11% over the previous year. Among them, the shipment volume of fully farmed (artificial seedlings) bluefin tuna using artificial hatching fry is 405 tons, accounting for 2% of the total. This proportion has dropped by half from the previous year (4%), and has dropped significantly compared with the highest level in 2020 (16%).

Full farming is highly anticipated as a technology to prevent the depletion of aquatic resources caused by overfishing and to provide a stable supply of high-quality fish to the table. In particular, Japan is a world leader in the full farming of bluefin tuna, with a production of about 3,000 tons in 2020, accounting for 16% of the total farming, but it will drop to 405 tons by 2024.

Japanese fishery companies Gokuyo and Nissui have withdrawn from the complete farming of tuna. As the only large fishery company in Japan that currently maintains complete farming, Maruha Nichiru’s shipments in 2025 will also be 80% lower than the previous year.

Of the farmed bluefin tuna shipped in 2024, 98% were farmed using fry (natural seedlings) caught in natural waters. As natural resources in the Pacific Ocean recover, the price of mackerel as bait has risen, and complete farming, which takes nearly five years to farm from fish eggs, is facing headwinds.

On the other hand, in the long run, complete farming is still highly anticipated as an important technology. Kinki University in Japan and others are strengthening research to solve issues such as breeding better than natural environments and the development of bait that does not rely on natural resources.