A GIANT bluefin tuna fetched a record

[Serpo]

A GIANT bluefin tuna fetched a record Y32.49 million ($A394,105) in Tokyo today, in the first auction of the year at the world's largest wholesale fish market.

The price for the 342kg tuna beat the previous record set in 2001 when a 202kg fish sold for Y20.2 million ($A245,027), 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 5am.

The giant tuna, caught off the coast of northern Japan, was among 538 shipped in from around the world for Wednesday's auction.

The record-setting price translates to a whopping Y95,000 ($A1,152.35) per kilogram.

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood, with Japanese eating 80 per cent of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught. The two tuna species are the most sought-after by sushi lovers.

Japanese wholesalers, however, face growing calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks worldwide.

In November, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas voted to cut the bluefin fishing quota in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean from 13,500 to 12,900 tonnes annually - about a 4 per cent reduction. It also agreed on measures to try to improve enforcement of quotas on bluefin.

The decision was strongly criticised by environmental groups, which hoped to see bluefin fishing slashed or suspended.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/executive-lifestyle/giant-tuna-fetches-record-a394000-in-japan/story-e6frg9zo-1225982594726

[SLV^GLD]

Bluefin tuna is definitely my favorite sushi meat. Hell, I think sushi is my favorite foodstuff. I had the pleasure of testing my theory that I'd be happy surviving on nothing but sushi for over a month and finding out I was right. God knows how much mercury I put down the hatch back then. Nowadays, I very infrequently eat such mercury-laden fish.

[Awoke]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/484112647_35374b9a5d_o.gif


MMMMmmmmm...







........mercury....

[gunDriller]

how much does a meal cost at those restaurants ?

1/4 pound of sashimi goes down fast - that would be about $125 ?

4 ounces of silver for one fish meal ... when tuna fish cans are going for 99 cents some places ... i guess rich Japanese people don't mind those kind of prices.

[SLV^GLD]

LOL tuna in the can (albacore?) compared to bluefin sashimi is rather like comparing a McDonald's hamburger to a choice fillet taken from grass-fed beef. I'm not arguing that it isn't expensive or that the choice to spend for it is wise but acting as if it is not the pinnacle of tuna and therefore not worthy of a premium is just silly. Personally, I won't even touch a McD's hamburger but if I want beef I will spend a relatively large amount of money to get premium meat with a known diet. But I guess I must be a stupid rich American willing to pay obscene prices when there is plenty of cheaper meat laying around. This stupid, rich American may eat canned tuna from time to time but much prefers some bluefin sashimi and occasionally chooses to spend for it. I've got cans of tuna socked away for when the day comes that no one will bring a bluefin as far inland as I am.

[Ponce]

I am with Gun.........how much for a meal from that fish?.......crap, and the people in Cuba are earning $20.00 a month.........makes me sick.

[SLV^GLD]

I am with Gun.........how much for a meal from that fish?.......crap, and the people in Cuba are earning $20.00 a month.........makes me sick.
You would spend quite a bit to make a full meal from bluefin sashimi. I would typically buy it as one of a few courses for a meal and the bluefin tends to cost more by weight than most sushi except for the really crazy stuff that coversa whole plate. Typically a serving of sashimi is 2, 3 or 4 pieces. The pieces are generally about 2" long by 1" wide by maybe 1/2" thick. They equate to a real mouthful if you put the whole thing in at once. That serving is generally right around $10-$12 at most places that would even have it on the menu in the SE US. I've not weighed the pieces but I am guessing they are something on the order of a 1/2 ounce each. So, for a really good deal you'd be paying $5/oz. I have no idea what Japanese pay but I suspect it is less unless they are just so enamored for the bluefin that demand shoves the price up higher.

A typical sushi bill for me and my wife to eat runs about $50 sans any sake or wine. It's not cheap by any measure but is not quite as exorbitant as more traditional fare can be, either.

[Bullion_Bob]

Open a tuna farm, feed fish several times daily, toss a bunch on a fishing boat, float into port.

Retire soon with 500 million dollars?

What am I missing?

[SLV^GLD]

Open a tuna farm, feed fish several times daily, toss a bunch on a fishing boat, float into port.

Retire soon with 500 million dollars?

What am I missing?


You're missing the expense of feeding them to eating size. They have huge diets.
I suppose since folks farm salmon tuna could be farmed but they do that whole migration thing in common.
Oh, yeah, hope you got some bigass tanks because a bluefin has to move about its body length every second to push enough oxygen over its gills to stay alive.

I did a bit of research and the Japanese ARE the drivers of the high price. Supply is limited and demand is higher than supply can supply without running out forever. Japanese people want it at any price. I can't say I blame them.

I also found that many attempts have been made at farming but all have failed to date.

[Bullion_Bob]

Open a tuna farm, feed fish several times daily, toss a bunch on a fishing boat, float into port.

Retire soon with 500 million dollars?

What am I missing?


You're missing the expense of feeding them to eating size. They have huge diets.
I suppose since folks farm salmon tuna could be farmed but they do that whole migration thing in common.
Oh, yeah, hope you got some bigass tanks because a bluefin has to move about its body length every second to push enough oxygen over its gills to stay alive.

I did a bit of research and the Japanese ARE the drivers of the high price. Supply is limited and demand is higher than supply can supply without running out forever. Japanese people want it at any price. I can't say I blame them.

I also found that many attempts have been made at farming but all have failed to date.


Forget tanks, I'd make a huge pen in the ocean using nets, and feed them fish I catch with another net, or farm smaller fish for food. It would seem the operating expenses would pay off rather quickly. Do they die if they cannot migrate, and do they migrate to follow food I suppose would be the question.....hmm

[Ponce]

The ocean fish farm has to be in open water where the water circulates, enclosed farm kill the fish because their #2 will sofocate them.......

[SLV^GLD]

Sequestering portions of the ocean such as you speak of is called "ranching". Yeah, that is failing too. Salmon is tanked so I ran with the comparison.

[gunDriller]

Open a tuna farm, feed fish several times daily, toss a bunch on a fishing boat, float into port.

Retire soon with 500 million dollars?

What am I missing?


trained dolphins to guide the tunas into the nets ?

[horseshoe3]

trained dolphins to guide the tunas into the nets ?


:ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:

[horseshoe3]

Is it the breed, or the individual size that makes this fish so desirable?

[Book]

I'd make a huge pen in the ocean using nets...



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/science/earth/14salmon.html

Nope.

[SLV^GLD]

Is it the breed, or the individual size that makes this fish so desirable?
Both. Bluefin is, without a doubt, the best fish for sashimi. Therefore the meat is in high demand at a premium price. Getting large or even consistent supplies of the meat is difficult because the fish is overfished and there are big sanctions on how much can be taken. So, if an abnormally large fish is caught that provides an overwhelming amount of fresh meat in one catch the buyer will realize a surge in sales especially when that buyer is the most high profile sushi preparer in Ginza.

[DMac]

Related:

Atlantic bluefin tuna may become endangered, thanks to Gulf oil spill (http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/atlantic_bluefin_tuna_may_beco.html)

[Bullion_Bob]

I'd make a huge pen in the ocean using nets...



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/science/earth/14salmon.html

Nope.




From that article "however, that the study involved pink salmon, not species like sockeye or chinook, which are usually larger and presumably less vulnerable to sea lice."

Raise them in tanks until they're about a foot or so in size, skin gets thicker, less susceptible.

Even if the infection rate was 50% all you would need is 50 or so fish out of hundreds to make a killing.