With the cost of standard fish feed being highly volatile,

One company has come up with a plant-based feed to provide fish farmers with a more stable alternative.

Another company is taking difficult to sell fish and turning them into a variety of delicious food products.

Today's On-Site Report features businesses that are tackling current issues facing Japan's seafood industry.

When fishing nets pull in their catch, they contain different types of fish.

In addition to the desirable fish, they also pull in various types that are difficult or impossible to sell, which are called bycatch.

For example, this lionfish.

The poisonous spines on its fins make it difficult to process.

Or, this type of filefish that's considered edible, but is difficult to sell when it's not in season.

Other fish can be considered bycatch because they don't meet size requirements

or because they just don't look appetizing enough for consumers.

Because they're considered unsellable, bycatch fish are usually discarded or sometimes used as bait.

Our crew recently traveled to the southwestern city of Fukuoka,

to meet Inokuchi Tsuyoshi who has started a business that makes use of bycatch.

Years of working in the seafood business made him aware of the large amounts of fish that were going to waste.

It's hard to see any kind of fish go to waste,

but especially fish that are being thrown away for reasons that have nothing to do with their quality or flavor!

Good morning!

Inokuchi sources the fish from a buyer who regularly purchases from several different fishermen.

From St. Peter's fish and Stargazers to Spotted Tail Morwong,

the middleman doesn't just source the fish for Inokuchi, he even does some prep work to keep them fresh!

Some species, require a little more work than others.

For example, certain types of fish, like this tilapa,

have completely different bone structures and require a skilled professional to debone them.

Inokuchi has come up with a variety of ways to season and flavor bycatch fish

in order to accentuate their unique flavor and texture profiles.

From thinly sliced gurnard in soy sauce marinade to emperor bream in herb oil confit,

the company currently uses over 50 different seasonings to flavor its fish.

Since Inokuchi has no control over the amount or type of fish that comes in with each delivery,

he has created a unique business model to sell them.

In March of 2021, he opened a seafood box subscription service

where registered clients across Japan can regularly receive different types of rare fish delivered right to their door.

In less than 3 years, the company has already surpassed 11,000 subscribers.

Nanami and Daisuke Suzuki have been customers for about 6 months.

On the day we visited, they were trying yellow croaker marinated in soy sauce.

They chose to serve it on a bowl of white rice with raw egg on top.

"It's really tasty!"

"Offering rare types of fish is a great idea!"

"We look forward to each delivery!"

Depending on the way we season or flavor it, any type of fish can become a hit.

By offering this service, I hope to provide our clients with a broad range of tasty fish

while reducing the amount of bycatch that goes to waste across Japan.

Along the coast of Ehime Prefecture...

Sea Bream farms are thriving.

The feed these red sea bream are eating differs from standard feed and doesn't contain any fish powder at all.

After seeing volatile price swings in the fish feed market,

Aquaculturist Akasaka Ryutaro decided to try developing fish feed without fish powder.

Nearly 3 quarters of our costs usually go into fish feed.

When fish powder runs low, feed prices can sky rocket, like they did 5 years ago when they increased by about 30%.

Akasaka, also felt that creating a feed that didn't use fish powder

could lessen the impact on marine resources, such as anchovy,

which is often used as a main ingredient in standard fish feeds.

In place of fish powder, Akasaka came up with a plant-based mixture

using soy beans, corn, and white sesame seeds for feeding young adult red sea bream.

The soybeans and corn provide the needed protein.

And the sesame seeds are rich in antioxidants, which Akasaka says helps keep the meat fresh for longer periods of time.

After finding the right balance of ingredients, Akasaka ran into another major challenge.

The biggest difference is in how the fish respond to it.

The feed made with fish powder gives off a strong odor, so the moment you drop it in, they start devouring it.

The plant-based feed, however, doesn't have a fishy odor, so it takes them much longer to react to it and start eating.

With standard feed, adult red sea bream only need to be fed once in the morning and once in the evening.

But this method doesn't work with the plant-based feed.

Aware of the Sea Bream's habit of coming to the surface when hungry,

Akasaka found that he could get them to eat the plant-based feed

by pouring in smaller amounts during the times the fish were closer to the surface.

After making this discovery, he then introduced an AI-driven automated feeding system.

It can gauge the appetite level of the red sea bream based on their movements

and determine the ideal amount of feed as well as when to release it.

Young adult sea breams' appetites peak during the last 6 months before harvesting.

By changing to plant-based feed, aquaculturists don't have to worry about volatile pricing affecting their feed costs.

In 2021, they began selling red seabream fed with plant-based feed.

The fish have even found their way into a local sushi restaurant.

Fish given the standard fish feed can be a bit smelly.

But these sea bream don't smell at all and they have just the right amount of fat.

In this fiscal year, Akasaka expects to ship about 100,000 fish raised on plant-based feed.

The texture and flavor differences allow him to sell them for 10% to 20% more than red sea bream raised on standard feed.

I want to continue transitioning from fish-based feeds to plant-based feeds,

because it will also help to protect our natural resources.

If we can use it to feed 1 million red sea bream, I believe this change will have a positive impact on the ocean.