Maybe There Aren't Plenty More Fish In The Sea

[Mulboyne]

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[Mulboyne]

[Takechanpoo]

Regarding tuna extinction problem, Japan should take the initiative to restrict over fishing tunas. Undoubtedly Japanese alone eat it too much.

[Christoff]

Regarding tuna extinction problem, Japan should take the initiative to restrict over fishing tunas. Undoubtedly Japanese alone eat it too much.

Can I really be in agreement with Take? a sad day indeed...

[FG Lurker]

Can I really be in agreement with Take? a sad day indeed...

Take can see the problem with Tuna now that it is getting close to being critical. However he can't see the problem with hunting whales as whales have recovered a bit from their critical point a number of years ago. You'd think being able to see the reality of one situation would help one see the reality of the other but apparently not...

[Mulboyne]

After all the outrage in Japan about putting bluefin tuna on the endangered list, I think it did begin to dawn on a number of Japanese that there really was a problem. I suspect quite a few now share Take's opinion that some kind of intervention is required to protect tuna while not feeling the same about whales.

[Taro Toporific]

After all the outrage in Japan about putting bluefin tuna on the endangered list, I think it did begin to dawn on a number of Japanese that there really was a problem....

Bluefin tuna imports from S. Korea increasing
TOKYO, July 18 CYODO (full text because this link will die in hours)
The amount of bluefin tuna Japan imported from South Korea has reached at least 980 tons during the first half of this year, exceeding last year's total import of 920 tons, a survey by the Fisheries Agency showed Sunday.
As excessive catches of bluefin tuna undertaking migration mainly in temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean damage resources, several bluefin tuna fishing countries, including Japan, agreed last year not to boost their fishing capabilities for 10 years and reduce fishing of juvenile fish.
But South Korea refused to accept it and made its fishing in its exclusive economic zone exempt from the agreement.
Based on speculation that South Korean ships have drastically enhanced their fishing capabilities, the Fisheries Agency is considering requesting Japanese traders to refrain from importing bluefin tuna from South Korea, its officials said.
The agency will also urge Seoul to join an international framework to control natural resources, they added.
However, opposition to tightening the regulations still remains in South Korea as Japan's catch of bluefin tuna is more than 10 times that of South Korea.
In 2008, overall catches of bluefin tuna were estimated at around 25,000 tons, of which slightly less than 18,000 tons were caught by Japan, while South Korea fished 1,500 tons.
==

[Christoff]

there goes that theory... seem that the japanese are starting to believe that they may not be here for ever, so better to eat all you can now before they are gone and you missed the last boat... kaiten sushi anyone?

[TheNYCSobaIncident]

[Takechanpoo]

The discarded carcasses stretch as far as the eye can see at a Japanese fish factory.
Despite dwindling populations in our oceans the daily slaughter goes on - fuelled by the Far East's passion for shark fin soup.

Brit photographer Alex Hofford was amazed after wading through blood in the town of Kesen-num to capture the scene at just one processing factory.

He said yesterday: "It was hellish - so much killing just for fins."

A similar fate awaits the 73MILLION sharks being harvested for their fins every year.

Endangered blue-fin tuna are also victims as Japan defies calls for the bloodbath to end. Kids there eat shark fin SWEETS.
Ocean populations of scalloped hammerhead sharks are down 98 per cent. But factory owners proudly trumpet their mountains of corpses as tourist attractions.

UK conservation charity the Shark Trust warned grimly: "This slaughter is cruel and unsustainable."

It's right about too hunting sharks but incorrect about discarding its carcasses. Apparently after that, those carcasses are used as ingredients of Kamaboko. As always, damn English medias distort or fabricate phenomenons in Japan and spread all over the world.

[Ganma]

More news on this fishy saga...

From Japan TimesBy MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
Japan is known as the biggest consumer of tuna. Be it raw for sushi or sashimi or fried, broiled or canned, tuna is an important element of the food culture.

But concerns are growing because tuna is disappearing, and this is putting Japan in a difficult diplomatic position.

How much tuna does Japan consume annually, and how does the rest of the world feel? Following are basic questions and answers:

How many types of tuna are there?

There are many different types, but the six main species are Atlantic bluefin, Pacific bluefin, southern bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin and albacore.

Conservationists warn in particular that the bluefin, known as "hon-maguro" or "kuro-maguro," faces extinction because of overfishing...

[IparryU]

As always, damn English medias distort or fabricate phenomenons in Japan and spread all over the world.

that's because everyone hates the damn Japanese!

JK

I know, damn media F's up everything. I hate media...

[Mulboyne]

LA Times: Japan's appetite for fish is depleting stocks, threatening restaurants

...Matsuda and other experts said there is no time to lose in instituting major changes to help the Japanese fishing industry survive, and the government needs to lead the way. "There must be a fundamental change in thinking," he said, pointing to the need for a fishing policy based on developing grass-roots-level sustainable fisheries.

Takuhira Kaneko, head of Act For, a Fukuoka marine product wholesaler, agrees. "We need new policies from the government to help us protect resources that can even include cutting down on catches" over the long term, he said.

Seven years ago, Act For started the Mottainai fish project to buy fish discarded from those caught in nets and use them in such products as fish cakes. Mottainai, whose name means "stop wasting," accounted for $20,000 in sales last year and "helped us to face a business slump due to decreasing catches of popular fish," Kaneko said.

Wakao Hanaokoa, a tuna expert at environmental group Greenpeace Japan, has called on the government to develop a fishing management system to track endangered species "as a means of ensuring catches are from sustainable sources"...more...

[Mulboyne]

[Yokohammer]

[url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101114/local/8-million-consignment-of-maltese-tuna-blocked-in-japan]Times of Malta: €]

Help me out here. I'm having a hard time getting my head around this.

Japan, the largest consumer of bluefin tuna in the world, prevented 3,500 tons of tuna that had already been imported into the country from going to market (2,700 tons of which were subsequently released, with 800 tons still impounded) because it may have come from over-fished and/or over-ranched sources (in this case Malta)? The blame for over-fishing is being placed on French, Spanish, and Maltese fleets and fisheries?

OK, now this may be a bit of a simple-minded question, but that's 3,500 tons of already-dead fish, right? I can sort of understand how blocking the import could serve as a demonstration of determination to do something about the over-fishing problem (while diverting attention from any over-fishing that Japanese fleets might be responsible for), but it does look like another case of curing the symptom rather than the disease. And what kind of "talks between the EU and Japan" would have resulted in the release of that 32 million euro worth of tuna while keeping the remainder impounded?

Clear as mud to me ...

Perhaps there's a clue is in this, somewhere:

The investigation continues to pile pressure as EU member states squabble over whether to make further cuts to the bluefin tuna quotas ahead of a crucial ICCAT meeting which takes place in Paris this week.

[Mulboyne]

Help me out here. I'm having a hard time getting my head around this.

Follow the link to the ICIJ report which spells it out more clearly. In particular, Part III.

[Yokohammer]

Follow the link to the ICIJ report which spells it out more clearly. In particular, Part III.

Thanks. I missed that link.

I just read Part III, as you suggested, and it does answer my questions (pretty much what I expected, actually ... Japanese officaldom sitting on hands until galvanized into action by embarrassing revelations and external pressure ... and then overreacting in an effort to prove diligence ... etc.).

Really interesting. I'll have to read the other parts as well.

[Mulboyne]

Oceans: The Bluefin Tuna Could Be on a Path to Extinction

[Yokohammer]

Oceans: The Bluefin Tuna Could Be on a Path to Extinction

The video of Sylvia Earle's speech at the end of that article is worth a watch.

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[Samurai_Jerk]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_pricey_tuna

TOKYO – A giant bluefin tuna fetched a record 32.49 million yen, or nearly $396,000, in Tokyo on Wednesday, in the first auction of the year at the world's largest wholesale fish market.

The price for the 754-pound (342-kilogram) tuna beat the previous record set in 2001 when a 445-pound (202-kilogram) fish sold for 20.2 million yen, a spokesman for Tsukiji market said.

"It was an exceptionally large fish," said the official, Yutaka Hasegawa. "But we were all surprised by the price."

The massive tuna was bought and shared by the same duo that won the bidding for last year's top fish: the owners of Kyubey, an upscale sushi restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district, and Itamae Sushi, a casual, Hong Kong-based chain.

Reporters thronged Hong Kong entrepreneur Ricky Cheng after his big win, which reflects the growing popularity of sushi around the world, particularly in Asia.

"I was nervous when I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, but I am relieved now," he said after the auction, which began shortly after 5 a.m. ...

[Yokohammer]

[quote="Samurai_Jerk"]TOKYO –]
Holy crap ... let's do some simple math here:

How much of a tuna ends up being edible? Let's guess 75% for the sake of the calculation.

So, 342 kilos x 0.75 = 256.5

Now, guessing that the weight of tuna on the usual two-piece serving of tuna sushi is around 100 grams (don't know, just guessing), we can multiply the above figure by 10 to get approximately 2,565 servings.

Divide the price of the fish (JPY 32,490,000) by that number and we arrive at an average cost per serving of JPY 12,666 !!! And that's before the restaurant adds their margin.

Ouch. Don't think I'll be partaking in any of that fish.

[kuainiri]

The fish was bought by a restaurant owner from Hong Kong.

See link for BBC video interview:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12121719

[Yokohammer]

Divide the price of the fish (JPY 32,490,000) by that number and we arrive at an average cost per serving of JPY 12,666 !!! And that's before the restaurant adds their margin.

Looks like my guestimate calcs were pretty much spot on.

On TV this morning they were showing a single slice of "akami" (half of the "serving" conjectured above) that would cost JPY 5,000, and a single slice of "toro" that would cost JPY 9,000.

It's nice to know that the economy is improving for some people.

[Marked Trail]

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[waruta]

Dear kuainiri:

The massive tuna was bought and shared by the same duo that won the bidding for last year's top fish: the owners of Kyubey, an upscale sushi restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district, and Itamae Sushi, a casual, Hong Kong-based chain.

Reporters thronged Hong Kong entrepreneur Ricky Cheng after his big win, which reflects the growing popularity of sushi around the world, particularly in Asia.

"I was nervous when I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, but I am relieved now," he said after the auction, which began shortly after 5 a.m. ...

Kyubei and the Cheng's sushi-chain won it again...just like last year.

Some newscasts were referring to Cheng as "buying for a Chinese sushi chain"

[Mulboyne]

A British TV chef has a new show called Fish Fight:

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Here's his campaign website.

[Mulboyne]

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Stupid and probably ignorant question (but hey, that's me to a tee!:D ), but why doesn't someone just farm these fish?

[Ganma]

Stupid and probably ignorant question (but hey, that's me to a tee!:D ), but why doesn't someone just farm these fish?

They are being farmed. However not in large enough numbers and ... some say they don't taste the same.

[Yokohammer]

They are being farmed. However not in large enough numbers and ... some say they don't taste the same.

I think it's because in the wild bluefin tuna cover large distances through varying currents and water temperatures at relatively high speeds – they've been clocked doing in excess of 40 mph (64 km/h) for short bursts. Those conditions are partly responsible for the state of the fish's musculature and flesh, and therefore the taste. Pretty hard to replicate in the confines of a fish farm.