Obayashi Corporation begins land-based clam rearing trials in Kumamoto

Obayashi Corporation has launched demonstration tests for the land-based rearing of Manila clams in Nagasu Town, Kumamoto Prefecture. The project aims to establish low-cost feed supply technologies to support fishery resource conservation and the revitalization of the fishing industry.

To reduce costs, the company is testing the use of by-products from Ajinomoto Co., Inc.’s Kyushu plant as nutrients for cultivating diatoms, which serve as clam feed. Additionally, indoor tests have shown that using rice bran as an alternative feed could reduce costs to approximately one-tenth of the price of using diatoms alone. The project involves a collaborative agreement between Obayashi, Nagasu Town, the Kumamoto Northern Fisheries Cooperative, West Japan Institute of Technology, and Ajinomoto.

By combining land-based rearing with traditional tidal flat conservation methods, the initiative seeks to mitigate the impact of climate change, such as high water temperatures and heavy rainfall, which have led to decreased shellfish harvests.