RAS On the Rise Across Japan
Late last year, Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) announced their intention to build a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Iwata City near Tokyo, beginning in January 2021. KEPCO aims to start producing Pacific whiteleg shrimp as early as March 2022 under the name Kaiko Yukinoya Co. Ltd.
The company plans to apply a system called the Indoor Shrimp Production System (ISPS). ISPS combines an automatic wave-generating apparatus with a vertical pump for conserving energy. A robotic cleaner eliminates solid debris from the bottom of tanks without user-intervention. An oxygen-generating system is also available remotely for adjustment according to biomass. ISPS also utilizes low-salinity, high-hardness water, creating a quasi-natural environment that prevents cannibalism with artificial seaweed that newly molted shrimp can hide behind.
The system was developed in joint venture partnership between aquaculture engineering firm International Mariculture Technology Engineering Inc. (IMTE) and the Japan International Research Centre for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS).
IMTE and JIRCAS have been developing technology in partnership for industries including agriculture, forestry, and fishery products for two decades. They have worked together over the years to introduce RAS shrimp culture based on the ISPS concept to countries such as Vietnam and India through consultations.
RAS has been expanding across Japan in recent years due to the technology’s guarantee to limit negative impacts on the environment and increase biosecurity.
A Beneficial Investment
Read the official announcement by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster or check out videos detailing their plans, at OceanSupercluster.ca:
“‘Initial investment costs are very high, but Iwata City has helped us to clear this problem by offering generous measures to build a shrimp plant in their city as Kaiko Yukinoya is established,’ said Nohara and Dr. Marcy Wilder, senior research scientist at JIRCAS. ‘Meanwhile, building a very large-scale shrimp plant will sufficiently lower unit costs for such things as labor, electricity, and feed, thus realizing a true economy of scale. The system also has virtually no environmental impact. In fact, at the conclusion of a production cycle, since the water we use is very low salinity and sufficiently clean according to Japanese sewerage standards, it can be disposed of easily and according to standard methods.’
The economic benefits of land-based farming in Japan are also worth noting, according to Dr. Junpei Shinji of the University of Tokyo. He is a co-author of a bio-economic analysis into Japan’s closed shrimp farming that was recently featured in the Advocate.
‘Such benefits depend on the ability to improve and artificially control rearing conditions,’ he said. ‘But unforeseen problems may occur. In our analysis, we predicted that there may be unidentified but critical factors that increase mortality, possibly induced by the cumulative death of individuals in the closed system. One key point that is necessary for efficient economic management is managing shrimp populations within the system. The timing of harvests may also be an easy solution to implement.’”
Source: Power Move: Japanese Energy Firm Getting in On RAS Shrimp - Global Aquaculture Alliance
Photo Source: WIX - www.wix.com
Written by AQUAMERGE
February 22, 2021