View of Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, from Mount Anba.
Photo: Adobe Stock.
Japanese environmentally friendly land-based seafood producer NTT Green & Food (NTT G&F), a subsidiary of telecommunications company NTT Group, announced today that by early 2026, it plans to begin construction of a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) project for Coho salmon and trout in the Koizumi district of Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.
The company also said that the project will introduce state-of-the-art RAS technology in collaboration with AquaBioTech Group (ABTG), a global leader in aquaculture technologies and services headquartered in Malta, but operating internationally, as demonstrated by its projects in places as diverse as Norway, Brunei, and Oman.
According to the NTT G&F statement, once completed in FY2026, the facility is expected to produce approximately 310 tons of commercial-sized trout per year, as well as around 260 tons of intermediate-sized Coho salmon for offshore aquaculture within the prefecture.
RAS technology system designed by AquaBioTech Group for NTT Green & Food's land-based fish farm.
Precisely, the new facility is part of NTT Green & Food's initiatives to achieve "sustainable local communities," aiming to revitalize regional industries, generate employment, and address local challenges through the use of digital technologies, with land-based aquaculture as a core pillar.
As reported by WeAreAquaculture in February this year, NTT Group, a leading telecommunications company, decided to bet on land-based aquaculture as a solution to revitalize rural areas and strengthen food security in Japan.
Back then, NTT explained that climate change and growing global demand for food have made strengthening food security a common topic of conversation in Japan. The Group added that there was also a risk that Japan's declining birth rate and ageing population would accelerate due to the lack of appeal of living in rural areas.
For this reason, the telecommunications company aims to boost the popularity of these areas through new industries and sees land-based aquaculture as offering a double advantage in achieving this.
On the one hand, it considers it an activity that welcomes anyone who wants to get involved in this field without the need for prior experience; on the other hand, it is an industry that can take advantage of facilities in these rural areas that have become obsolete.
All this while producing food locally, which, if we look at the latest results from Proximar Seafood, the Norwegian land-based salmon producer operating in Japan, pays off. As an example, the average price of NOK 97/kg that the company obtained for commercial-sized fish weighing more than 3 kg HOG in Q3 2025, compared to the average export price from Norway, which was NOK 69/kg. According to Proximar, this demonstrates "the significant advantage of local production in Japan."
Graphic of the NTT G&F's initiative to achieve sustainable local communities through land-based aquaculture.
NTT thus joined something that, although not yet a trend, we are seeing with some frequency lately in Japan: the incursion of companies outside this sector into projects related to seafood, especially land-based projects.
This is the case, for example, of the Shikoku Railway Company, which in January confirmed its plans to build a new land-based salmon farm in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture; or the real estate company Mori Trust Co., Ltd., which in July invested in 8F Aquaculture Fund Japan I LP, the venture capital fund managed by 8F Asset Management that supports Pure Salmon Japan's land-based farm project in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture.
In the case of the NTT Group, leveraging its expertise in algae production technology that absorbs higher levels of CO₂ for use as seafood feed, along with ICT-driven optimal aquaculture management, the company aims to harness nature's bounty through innovation and realise a circular society. Through these efforts, it strives to address food and environmental challenges in local communities, across Japan, and around the world.
"Focusing on seafood production through land-based aquaculture, we aim to contribute to regional revitalisation by creating jobs and stimulating local industries," said NTT Green & Food, Inc. President and CEO, Yoshikazu Kusumi.
"To realise a better future, NTT Green & Food will further strengthen collaboration with AquaBioTech Group and other partners," he added.
"It is an honour to have been selected to work on this exciting project that is significant not just for AquaBioTech Group, but also for the future of modern, intensive and sustainable aquaculture in Japan," said, for his part, AquaBioTech Group's CEO Shane A. Hunter.