Sojitz Tuna Farm Takashima Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of major trading house Sojitz Corp, held a ceremony in Matsuura, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Wednesday to commemorate the first shipment of farmed bluefin tuna ahead of the year-end and new-year demand season.
‘‘We would like to spread the Takashima brand of tuna throughout the world,’’ Shinichi Teranishi, an executive officer at Sojitz, told the ceremony at the local Shinmatsuura Fisheries Cooperative Association in the southwestern Japan city.
Sojitz Tuna Farm plans to sell farmed tuna to luxury Japanese restaurants and sushi shops, according to Sojitz, the first Japanese trading company to enter into tuna farming.
Sojitz, which currently handles some 30,000 tons of tuna a year, plans to ship 150 tons of farmed tuna in the first year and boost the amount to more than 1,000 tons in three to four years’ time.
