We Are Tomodachi Spring 2018

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8Called the “diamond of the sea,” bluefin tuna has long been popular as a high-end neta (topping) for sushi. However, with the growing popularity of fish-based cuisine around the world, excessive harvesting of tuna by many fishing nations has drawn attention from the international community. In particular, overfishing of bluefin tuna in the Pacific has led to serious concerns about the depletion of bluefin tuna stocks, prompting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to add Pacific bluefin tuna to its Red List of Threatened Species in 2014. Furthermore, there have been active movements calling for the regulation of trade in Pacific bluefin tuna by designating it as an endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), also known as the Washington Convention. Amid these recent developments, a new aquaculture technique developed at the Aquaculture Research Institute of Kindai University in Japan is garnering attention for successfully producing the world’s first fully farm-raised bluefin tuna.“We began our research on cultivating fully farm-raised bluefin tuna in 1970 after receiving funding from the government’s Fisheries Agency to conduct research on the cultivation of aquatic resources,” says Shukei Masuma, general director of the Aquaculture Research Institute of Kindai University. Masuma goes on to explain, “Although tuna and other marine resources were still plentiful at the time, researchers were already anticipating that overfishing of aquatic resources would occur in the future as the world’s human population continued to grow and various countries achieved economic development. Meanwhile, Japan understood the importance of advocating the idea among Feature: Japan’s Passion for Food ExcellenceKindai University began exporting “Kindai Tuna,” its fully farm-raised bluefin tuna, together with Toyota Tsusho Corporation in 2017. These exports are planned to reach 80–100 tons per year (estimated based on one tuna weighing 40–50 kg (88–110 lb.)) by 2020, focused primarily on Southeast Asia.Cultivate the Seas!World’s First Fully Farm-Raised Bluefin Tuna