Shinryo Corporation Starts Demonstration Project for Closed Recirculating Land-Based Aquaculture Plant

Shinryo Corporation (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Takeshi Kagami; hereinafter 'the Company') has completed a demonstration facility for a 'closed recirculating land-based aquaculture' system at its 'Innovation Hub' research and development facility in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. This system circulates and manages aquaculture water within the facility without connecting to external seas or rivers, addressing the increasing demand for marine products and the growing importance of marine resource conservation. Full-scale demonstration operations will commence in 2026, and after the demonstration, the Company aims to expand orders for land-based aquaculture facility construction and introduce denitrification systems for aquariums.

■ Background and Objectives
In recent years, as global seafood consumption increases, land-based aquaculture is regarded as a means of sustainable seafood resource supply, with Japan's Fisheries Agency advocating a 'Comprehensive Strategy for the Growth Industrialization of Aquaculture.' Meanwhile, land-based aquaculture is attracting attention as a method that can achieve both stable seafood supply and reduced environmental impact, in contrast to the water quality deterioration, red tides, and climate change affecting marine resources due to marine aquaculture and flow-through aquaculture.
As one of its growth strategies in its mid-term plan, the Company is working on creating new businesses. As part of this, it is utilizing water treatment and biological management technologies cultivated through the design and construction of breeding facilities*1 at 21 aquariums nationwide. In this demonstration project, by introducing a denitrification system*2, the Company aims to build a model for a land-based aquaculture system that can operate stably with energy efficiency and a low water exchange rate*3.

*1 Breeding facilities: Facilities for aquariums that connect filtration and sterilization devices via piping to maintain the health of fish, marine mammals, invertebrates, and aquatic plants, managing water quality in a state close to the natural environment while circulating water.
*2 Denitrification system: A treatment method that converts nitrate nitrogen contained in water into nitrogen gas and removes it through the action of microorganisms.
*3 Low water exchange rate: A method of operating an aquaculture plant by minimizing the amount of water supplied from external sources.

■ System Features
(1) Achieves low water exchange rate by incorporating a denitrification system
・Reduces supplementary water by reusing breeding water, contributing to water resource conservation
・Achieves energy saving by reducing heat source capacity through incorporating a denitrification system into the circulation line

(2) Applies construction know-how cultivated in 21 aquarium breeding facilities nationwide
・Leverages knowledge of biological management and water treatment to provide integrated support from design to construction
・Achieves energy-efficient operation while maintaining an environment suitable for farmed organisms (trout salmon adopted in this demonstration project)
・Applies advanced breeding water treatment design based on実績 to aquaculture plants

(3) Standardization and optimized design of land-based aquaculture systems
・Systematizes key technological elements such as water treatment, circulation lines, and biological management
・Establishes optimal operating conditions and design guidelines based on demonstration operation results
・Constructs a highly scalable system capable of expanding to medium to large-scale plants with an annual production of 200 tons or more.

Closed Recirculating Land-Based Aquaculture System Configuration Flow Diagram
Exterior view of the facility and inside the tank