December 29, 2020

 

Japanese company in joint venture with IMT Engineering to farm land-based shrimp

 

 

Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), which is based in Osaka, Japan, has established a joint venture with IMT Engineering (IMTE) to farm shrimp on land, and to process and sell them, SeafoodSource reported early this month.

 

The new joint venture company will farm whiteleg (P. vannamei) shrimp and plans to sell them to food processing companies and restaurants under the brand name, Kouebi. Sales to consumers via e-commerce companies will also be pursued.

 

The investment ratio for the company, which is called Kaiko Yukinoya, will be 98% for KEPCO, and 2% for Tokyo-based IMTE. The initial capital is ¥10 million (US$95,886).

 

Ryo Akita of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. will be the representative executive officer.

 

A new 16,000-square-meter production facility is planned to be built in Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture, aiming to start production in January 2022 and sales in May of the same year. It will have six grow-out pool lanes measuring 12 by 40 meters, in addition to four nursery tanks.

 

When construction begins in January 2020, the corporate capital will be increased to ¥1 billion (US$9.6 million). Until the new plant is completed, the company will sell whiteleg shrimp produced at a plant owned by IMTE in Myoko City, Niigata Prefecture.

 

The facility will adopt a recirculating aquaculture system and plans to apply Internet of Things (IoT), artificial Intelligence and image analysis for management and control of water quality, temperature and feeding.

 

The company also plans to apply the results of its technical research to improve survival and growth rates. Specific pathogen-free (SPF) juveniles will be used to produce safe, high-quality shrimp.

 

The project will apply the Indoor Shrimp Production System (ISPS) which was developed by IMTE and the Japan International Research Center for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (JIRCAS), a collaboration of industry and government.

 

ISPS consists of a grow-out tank, wavemaker, microbial purifier and oxygen water supplier. A quasi-natural environment with artificial seaweed and hidden places reduces stress for the shrimp. Creation of waves and oxygenated water entering from the bottom of the tank circulates water vertically, the collaborators said. Suspended substances are filtered with a micro-screen and the water is further subjected to biological filtration using microorganisms without adding chemicals.

 

- SeafoodSource