Tuna fetches record 32.49 mil. yen at year's 1st auction in Tokyo

Source: The Mainichi Daily News

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A bluefin tuna from Hokkaido fetched a record-high 32.49 million yen on Wednesday in the first auction of the year on the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, commonly known as Tsukiji market, market officials said.

The price for the 342-kilogram tuna, caught off Toi in Japan's northernmost prefecture, is the highest since 1999 when comparable data became available. It was well above the previous record of 20.2 million yen marked in 2001.

The tuna was jointly bought by the operators of a sushi restaurant in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district and a sushi chain in Hong Kong, which joined forces to win bids for the highest priced tuna for the third consecutive year.

Chinese participation in the bidding for the fish helped the price reach its record level, which was equivalent to 95,000 yen per kilogram, up from 70,000 yen logged for the highest-priced tuna the previous year. The popularity of high-grade bluefin tuna in China is growing.

Read more: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110105p2g00m0dm019000c.html

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What's interesting to note is the Chinese participation since the Chinese and Japanese notoriously don't get along very well.

talk about some expensive sashimi!!!!!

:crazy:

Oblivious to the self-induced environmental destruction all around it, the hapless human animal that inhabits planet Earth continues its descent into extinction. A species endowed with great promise but lacking in collective foresight. A tragic loss indeed but to allow such carelessness out into the cosmos would be problematic. The evolutionary future of entire worlds could be easily compromised by such careless brutes. A species must understand the importance of balance in nature and respect all forms of life that partake in the eco-system or it will with certainty die out. Every species that has gone extinct is testament to this lesson.

But these people saw only monetary value and the hope for a quick profit. The suffering of the oceans was never a consideration, nor the welfare of future generations that would reap the true cost of their actions.

It's a sushi chain in Hong Kong-- which is China, and yet it isn't-- that helped foot the bill with the Tokyo-Ginza restaurant for this fish

And all the collateral damage caused by the fishing method.

Commercial fishing uses nets.




Read more: About Commercial Tuna Fishing | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6372115_commercial-tuna-fishing.html#ixzz1AAkxYBad

Not for the kind of tuna we are talking about. The net technique is used for smaller yellowfin.

Please read:

http://www.worldfishing.net/features/new-horizons/japan-urges-industry-wide-reduction-of-tuna-effort

And I applaud the efforts to reduce bycatch and juvenile harvesting, but "efforts" is the key word here.



The nets collect the juveniles, while the longlines collect the sharks and turtles.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=69



The above is from 2004, but it explains the methods and inherent problems.