Urchinomics removes barren sea urchins from the seafloor and converts them into premium 'uni' while helping kelp forests to recover.
Photo: Urchinomics.
Although without disclosing the specific figure, Japan's Mizuho Bank, Ltd. has announced that it has invested in Verdant Bloom Ltd., the parent company of Urchinomics Group, which is dedicated to restoring kelp forests through its global sea urchin farming business.
Mizuho has justified its investment by stating that it believes solving major environmental issues, such as climate change, resource circulation – i.e., the circular economy- and natural capital and biodiversity, requires not only individual efforts but also integrated ones that consider the interconnectedness of these issues, including both synergies and trade-offs.
"The ocean and other areas of the blue economy are at the intersection of these issues, and Mizuho will address these interrelated environmental issues and actively promote the transition to a sustainable society through its blue economy initiatives," the Japanese bank said in a statement.
The investment was made through Mizuho Bank's Transition Investment Facility, a capital investment mechanism for strategic and agile investments in transition-related projects that are in the development and incubation stages, such as seed and early stages, and are being implemented by the bank's clients.
In the release announcing its new investment, Mizuho Bank explained that kelp forests, where kelp grows in clusters in shallow waters, are attracting attention as a source of blue carbon—as they fix and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis—as well as a place where important ecological processes, such as the spawning of marine organisms, take place.
However, currently, this important function of kelp forests is being affected by so-called urchin barrens, where large numbers of undernourished sea urchins have consumed all the kelp and devastated the kelp forest ecosystem, constituting a serious problem that is spreading worldwide.
But it is not just the kelp forests that are disappearing. As these decline, so too does the number of edible sea urchins. With little or no coveted 'uni' - sea urchin roe - inside them, these undernourished sea urchins are unfit for human consumption and are therefore not harvested.
In response, Urchinomics Group is harvesting the malnourished sea urchins that cause sea urchin deserts in multiple locations around the world, such as California, Norway, New Zealand, and Japan. Drawing on years of experience, it raises sea urchins in land-based, closed-circulation aquaculture facilities specifically designed to create an optimal environment for sea urchins, and raises them into high-quality edible sea urchins using its own naturally sourced feed formula.
The revenue from the sale of these sea urchins is then reinvested in the ongoing removal of sea urchins and the restoration of kelp forests. As Urchinomics founder Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda explained to WeAreAquaculture, it is "restoration as part of the business model".
A couple of days before Mizuho Bank's investment was announced, Giles Cadman, founder of Verdant Bloom, expressed a similar opinion on his LinkedIn profile. "If we truly want coastal eco-system restoration at scale — tens of thousands of hectares, not square metres — it starts with circular economics and a path to positive EBITDA," he wrote.
Now, Mizuho Bank insisted on that same reasoning. "This circular model is a concrete and sustainable solution that achieves both environmental conservation—through the restoration of kelp forests—and economic benefits, while also enabling creation of blue carbon," the Japanese bank stated.
The Japanese bank also noted that this is why Urchinomics has been highly evaluated internationally, including being endorsed as a Decade Action, one of only three led by the private sector, under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly.
Likewise, it added that, leveraging Mizuho Bank's Industrial Research Department and Mizuho Research & Technologies, it makes strategic investment decisions and ensures mobility by making the most of its long-standing knowledge of the transition industry and environmental technologies.
Therefore, in addition to investing in the parent company of Urchinomics Group, Mizuho also announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), which, as reported by WeAreAquaculture in July last year, has also invested in the parent company of Urchinomics Group to contribute to marine biodiversity conservation and decarbonization.
The MoU signed now with Mizuho Bank covers activities that include collaboration in the areas of the blue economy and blue carbon. "By joining NYK in supporting the growth of Urchinomics Group through investment, Mizuho will contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and to kelp restoration helping to curb global warming," the Japanese bank said.
Finally, Mizuho added that it will also form a partnership with Japanese logistics giant NYK in the fields of the blue economy and blue carbon, which will expand its industrial and technological expertise and develop specific solutions to social issues in the blue economy.
