R & D

Umami Sustainable Seafood’s Croatian subsidiary, Kali Tuna, conducts research and development in two specific areas: propagation (i.e. spawning Bluefin Tuna in captivity) and lowering the feed-conversion ratio for our fish.

Propagation

Umami Sustainable Seafood’s operations hold a larger number of sexually mature fish than can be found in captivity anywhere in the world, which in turn spawn in their cages, releasing fertilized eggs into the wild. The R&D team at Umami has worked extensively at creating a commercially viable breeding program for the northern Bluefin Tuna. The objective is to close the “full-circle farming process,” i.e. farming tuna that is born and raised in captivity. Umami believes this program could become a reality within a few years, eliminating the need for wild catch.

Umami has a large brood stock population in Croatia, which has been proven to spawn for three consecutive summers 2009-2011, and it has expanded its knowledge and capabilities in taking the fertilized eggs to the next stage. Umami is well-placed to maximize its future production quantities with the use of specific technologies and propagation infrastructure, and is focused on achieving the clear objective to close the life cycle of the species as soon as possible. A variety of factors will determine the time involved in achieving this goal. If we succeed in our quest to create a closed life cycle in the Bluefin Tuna farming process, we will become less dependent on the capture of wild tuna.

Lower Feed-Conversion Ratio
The R&D team at Umami Sustainable Seafood is researching the feeding habits of the Bluefin Tuna for the purpose of determining the optimal way of feeding the fish at its sites. Improving the so-called Food Conversion Ratio (FCR), which represents the number of kilograms of feed needed to produce one kilogram of fish, facilitates achieving maximum feeding efficiencies and cost savings.

Bluefin farmed by Umami is fed only whole, small pelagic fish. No chemicals, drugs or additives are fed to the fish. Umami has managed to maintain a feed-conversion ratio of 13:1 at its Croatian facility and 17:1 at its Mexican facility, in contrast to the industry average of around 20 and the 25-30:1 ratio required in the wild. This means that the company is able to sustain its stock of tuna with considerably less feed than what even Mother Nature can manage.