April 18, 2020

Japanese firms buy Danish RAS salmon farmer

Japanese giants Marubeni and Nippon Suisan Kaisha (Nissui) have jointly acquired 66.7% of Danish Salmon's shares, as part of its expansion plans.

Hirthals-based Danish Salmon (DS), a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farmer, which farms around 1,000 tonnes at the moment, "is the top-ranked company in the salmon RAS business, and one of the few companies with an already established RAS salmon farming method", the Japanese companies said.

Nissui and Marubeni "have jointly acquired DS' shares in order to grow their business in Europe, and for the purpose of expanding their RAS operation to countries outside of Europe as well", they said. "Through this acquisition, Marubeni aims to satisfy the increasing global demand for seafood by providing a stable supply of sustainable seafood to consumers all over the world and contribute to solving the social challenge of increased protein demand."

No purchase price was given in the statement.

Nissui's Danish subsidiary Nordic Seafood has been handling sales for Danish Salmon.

According to the companies, the "sub-industry of salmon farming is regulated by geographical condition which causes a limit in its expansion". Therefore, the expansion of salmon farming can be achieved through the use of land-based RAS systems, "which is not limited by geographical conditions".

"RAS is a farming method with the potential to minimise environmental impact by reducing both the risk of water pollution and the risk of escaped farmed fish. It is for these reasons that RAS is currently drawing attention as a future solution to a potential protein shortage caused by an increased global population," they said.

Marubeni, one of Japan's largest trading houses, has a range of seafood assets including Eastern Fish and North Pacific Seafoods in the US, but nothing currently in salmon farming. Nissui, on the other hand, owns Salmones Antartica, a Chilean salmon and trout farmer.