Profile
Maruei Suisan
Maruei Suisan Co., Ltd., founded in 1968, is affiliated with the Higashi Shakotan Fishery Cooperative Association in Hokkaido. As a large-scale set net fishing business, the company plays an important role in the local fishing industry. Maruei Suisan’s main target species to date have been yellowtail, Pacific bluefin tuna, squid, and mackerel.
Problem
Maruei Suisan aimed to revitalize yellowtail fishing throughout the region, but faced the challenge of how to optimize its business
Maruei Suisan, which engages in set net fishing off the coast of Shakotan, previously mainly targeted Pacific bluefin tuna. In recent years, however, the composition of fish species has changed, and yellowtail came to account for more than half of the company’s annual catches. In turn, together with the Higashi Shakotan Fishery Cooperative Association, the town of Shakotan, and others, the company launched a project to develop yellowtail as a local industry and to promote the branding of yellowtail from Shakotan. To accomplish these tasks, however, Marui Suisan needed to drastically revise its business. Further, the company faced a multitude of challenges, including maintaining stable catches and securing distribution routes.
Moreover, their conventional set net design could not prevent unintended catches of Pacific bluefin tuna. This led to a need for measures to avoid exceeding their catch quota limit.
Nitto Seimo’s Proposal
Leveraging our knowledge and experience, we proposed a total solution, including the use of redesigned nets, and worked together with Maruei Suisan to reform their business
Leveraging our accumulated knowledge and experience, we provided total support to Maruei Suisan in its ambitious new business endeavor, helping them to reform their business by providing detailed proposals for each of their issues. For their nets, we designed a new bottom set net that would avoid Pacific bluefin tuna bycatch while improving the catch of yellowtail. With the knowledge gained through our dealings with customers all across Japan, we worked together with Maruei Suisan to optimize the rest of their fishing gear as well. We suggested new fishing boats, saving manpower, labor, and energy. We implemented a system that provided Maruei Suisan with real-time access to information such as what kind of fish were inside their nets, improving the efficiency and productivity of their fishing operations. And we also helped them to create a distribution route system.
Current Status
With increased fish catches and successful branding, yellowtail fishing has become a key industry supporting the region
Our package of reform proposals was selected for and received a subsidy from the Japanese Fisheries Agency's Support Program for the Creation of Profitable Fisheries. Post implementation, Maruei Suisan has seen great success in its yellowtail catches, far exceeding their plans from the first year and achieving stable, low-cost, and highly profitable business operations. In addition, the company succeeded in creating the “Shiho” high-end yellowtail brand for carefully selected fish weighing 12-13 kilograms or more and with a fat content of at least 20%（real value）. Shipped to Toyosu as well as markets in the Kansai and Hokuriku regions, Shiho’s reputation for fantastic flavor is growing year by year. In addition, Maruei Suisan is planning to offer tours where visitors will be able to watch fish being offloaded from its boats and enjoy sampling Shiho yellowtail. With the influence of this project extending even to tourism, it is contributing greatly to the revitalization of the region.
