August 21, 2023

Telecommunications companies provide support to Japan's aquaculture producers 

Japanese telecommunications firms are bringing their technology prowess to land-based aquaculture, as Japan's fishing industry faces challenges due to declining resources and labor shortages.

NTT has launched a joint venture with a startup from Kyoto University to engage in land-based farming. NTT Green & Food said it will use breed improvement technology for fish to speed up their growth rate and increase their edible portions. It added that it will use genome editing technology to engineer algae, the basis of fish feed, to store more carbon dioxide, as part of its efforts to contribute to decarbonisation.

Kusumi Yoshikazu, head of NTT Green & Food, said land farming has great potential in terms of both quality and quantity. He added that the firm will aim for sales of about US$69 million dollars, in five years.

SoftBank, another telecom giant, has launched a research project to farm sturgeon, along with partners including Hokkaido University. The project aims to establish a technology to produce high-quality caviar using artificial intelligence to analyse data such as the time and amounts of food consumed by each fish.

- NHK