Kita-Sanriku Factory Featured in WeAreAquaculture for SBIR-backed Sea Urchin Aquaculture Project
MEDIA
投稿日：2025年5月30日
Kita-Sanriku Factory Featured in WeAreAquaculture for SBIR-backed Sea Urchin Aquaculture Project
We are honored to share that Kita-Sanriku Factory has been featured in WeAreAquaculture, a California-based international aquaculture media outlet, for our pioneering work in land-based sea urchin aquaculture in Japan. This initiative is supported by Japan’s SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program, and aims to establish a sustainable model of sea urchin farming through habitat restoration and innovation.
The article highlights our collaborative efforts with local fisheries, our commitment to marine ecosystem revitalization, and our broader vision for expanding sustainable aquaculture practices.
Yukinori Shitautsubo, CEO of Kita-Sanriku Factory, has been selected for Forbes JAPAN NEXT100
The “NEXT100” is an annual feature project by Forbes JAPAN, which selects 100 next-generation entrepreneurs from across the country who are engaged in innovative businesses and initiatives of high social significance.
In this year’s selection, we were highly praised for its regenerative aquaculture model that restores seaweed beds and ecosystems while adding value to sea urchins that have lost their original value due to rocky shore scorching in areas where rocky shore scorching is becoming more serious. Furthermore, our CEO’s attitude of opening up new possibilities for the global fisheries industry based on the recycling of local resources has led to expectations that he is an entrepreneur who will lead the blue economy.
Uoriki and Kita-Sanriku Factory Sign Business and Capital Alliance
Uoriki, aiming to “convey Japan’s fish-eating culture,” and Kita-Sanriku Factory, with the mission to “enrich the world’s oceans,” strive to achieve sustainable fisheries.
Kita-Sanriku Factory Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Hirono Town, Kunohe District, Iwate Prefecture; CEO: Yukinori Shitautsubo) has signed a business partnership and investment agreement with Uoriki Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Uoriki).
Uoriki, one of Japan’s largest fresh fish retailers, aims to realize sustainable fisheries to preserve the world’s rich oceans and spread rich fish-eating culture worldwide. They also support efforts to address global environmental issues, such as seaweed bed restoration.
Through this business and capital alliance, we will further promote our domestic and international sea urchin regenerative aquaculture business. We will also collaborate on expanding sales channels by developing new markets in North America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, alongside domestic sales of sea urchin products and sustainably produced seafood.
Chairman Yamada of Uoriki stated, “due to the impact of global warming, the domestic supply of sea urchins has decreased while those from Russia have increased. In this context, Kita-Sanriku Factory’s regenerative aquaculture business is a groundbreaking initiative that contributes to the production and export expansion of Japanese seafood and prevents sea desertification. We believe it is important to support such initiatives that lead to improvement of the global environment, including blue carbon projects, not only for domestic sales and overseas exports.”
CEO Shitautsubo of Kita-Sanriku Factory commented, “while global demand is increasing, domestic production of sea urchins has significantly decreased. By increasing the production and distribution volume of domestic sea urchins without relying on overseas imports, we can meet the ever-growing global demand. Building a collaborative system with Uoriki Group, which has a strong global fresh fish retail network, will enable us to more actively promote our activities to enrich the oceans through sea urchins. We look forward to creating the future of the fisheries industry through this wonderful partnership.”
Efforts to Promote Sustainable Seafood
Why the Promotion of Sustainable Seafood is Necessary
Sustainable fisheries is essential to prevent the depletion of fish resources and maintain the balance of marine ecosystems. The impacts of global warming, overfishing, and illegal fishing endanger certain fish species and adversely affect the entire ecosystems. In recent years, due to poor catches of mackerel and bonito, Japan’s national fishing and aquaculture catch has fallen below 4 million tons for two consecutive years, hitting a record low.
To pass on Japan’s cultural resource of fish-eating culture to the next generation, we view the promotion of sustainable seafood as an urgent issue and are actively working on its promotion.
This video, provided by the Great Southern Reef Foundation in Australia, was screened at JAPAN UNI SUMMIT 2024 (details below). Kita-Sanriku Factory is promoting the launch of sea urchin regenerative aquaculture and seaweed bed restoration projects both domestically and internationally, including in Australia, where the sea desertification problem caused by sea urchins is progressing.
Previous Efforts Between the Two Companies
In overseas distribution, Kita-Sanriku Factory and Uoriki have already established a business flow with a major American supermarket that sources seafood from fisheries and aquaculture facilities compliant with the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) standards, minimizing environmental impact. Domestically, we sell “Four-Year old Sea Urchin from the Uni Ranch ®︎ in Hirono” harvested sustainably and “HAGUKUMU-UNI®︎” nurtured through regenerative aquaculture. In the future, we will continue to supply sustainable seafood products, including those from Australia, both domestically and internationally.
Kita-Sanriku Factory’s Efforts to “Enrich the Oceans”
We have obtained patents for our sea urchin regenerative aquaculture system, which involves recycling discarded sea urchins and improving their quality to product level. In collaboration with research institutions and businesses, including Hokkaido University, we have established methods for making sea urchins delicious through the development of feed, cages for nurturing, and techniques for regenerating sea urchins into high-quality, valuable seafood.By placing “skinny” sea urchins from barren sea areas into cages and feeding them our developed feed, this regenerative aquaculture can make them high-*value products within two months.
While promoting the establishment of sea urchin regenerative aquaculture technology that will lead to seaweed bed restoration, we hold the “JAPAN UNI SUMMIT” annually where we consider the future of the world’s oceans through sea urchins. We aim to realize our mission with various stakeholders both domestically and internationally.
Kita-Sanriku Factory Inc. is a leading company developing high-quality sea urchin brands in the town of Hirono, Iwate Prefecture, home to the world’s only ‘Uni Ranch®︎’. With the mission of ‘Enriching the world’s oceans from Kita-Sanriku’, the company is leveraging its expertise in growing high-quality sea urchins to connect with the world through its new ‘sea urchin regenerative aquaculture system’ technology and promote initiatives to create a sustainable future for the fisheries industry. 2023 saw the establishment of an Australian subsidiary, with operations both in Japan and abroad.
Company name: Kita-Sanriku Factory Inc.
Affiliated organizations: Hironoya Corporation / KSF Australia Pty Ltd / Tasmania Blue Seafood Pty Ltd / General Incorporated Association moova
Business activities: production, processing and sales of processed agricultural, forestry and fishery products, planning and management of the development of vertical diversification (primary production + manufacturing + service), technological development related to the fishery industry.
