Giant tuna fetches $177,000 at Japan fish auction

[lilharcher]

My Take: Giant Bluefin = Mucho Dinero (at auction) = Greed = Over [Commercial] Harvest (above set quotas) = Disaster for Viability of Species. What are your thoughts? Here is the article:

TOKYO – A giant bluefin tuna fetched 16.3 million yen ($177,000) in an auction Tuesday (today, 1/5/2010) at the world's largest wholesale fish market in Japan.

The 513-pound (233-kilogram) fish was the priciest since 2001 when a 440-pound (200 kilogram) tuna sold for a record 20.2 million yen ($220,000) at Tokyo's Tsukiji market.

The gargantuan tuna was bought and shared by the owners of two Japanese sushi restaurants and one Hong Kong-based sushi establishment, said a market representative on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

Caught off the coast of northern Japan, the big tuna was among 570 put up for auction Tuesday. About 40 percent of the auctioned fish came from abroad, including from Indonesia and Mexico, the representative said.

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

However, tuna consumption in Japan has declined because of a prolonged economic slump as the world's second-largest economy struggles to shake off its worst recession since World War II.

"Consumers are shying away from eating tuna ... We are very worried about the trend," the market representative said.

Apart from falling demand for tuna, wholesalers are worried about growing calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in November slashed the quota for the 2010 catch by about one-third to 13,500 tons (12,250 metric tons) — a move criticized by environmentalists as not going far enough.

[squirtis]

Just saw that this afternoon Matt,,,,imagine how pissed the commercial guy is when he finds out he got $18 a pound for it

[whalebreath]

Just saw that this afternoon Matt,,,,imagine how pissed the commercial guy is when he finds out he got $18 a pound for it

That Tuna was caught in Japanese waters and Japanese Bluefin bring the highest prices, that Commercial fisherman will be well paid.

[Gmoney!]

the last part of the article talks about how the slow economy has helped reduced demand for bluefin in Japan, which is actually good for the fish population if that trend can continue.

You don't have to ask me I am cool with C&R of all these beautiful species, but every fisherman should have an opportunity to pose next to a big fish, as long as that fish is put to good use after.

G

[lilharcher]

G, sometimes I wonder if you are all there upstairs.......no one mentioned anything about recreational fishermen.......this was simply about the commercial over harvest of the BFT.......it is FACT that Japan, Portuguesse, and Spanish (to name a few) have been over harvesting for many years without any repercusions.....independant serveys have caught these flagged vessels dropping off their catch at sea to processors and not reporting their catch against the quota.......but that is another story.....

[Gmoney!]

Lol, I am all there foolio I just like to talk about myself sometimes haha.

We'll never be able to control other company's over harvesting but my point to you( no I wonder if u are all there hahaha) is that demand for these fish has declined and that could help this overharvesting issue.

All we can do is save the bluefin off our coasts but I'll tell you from what I have seen, we are doing a good better job than the others but cheaters will always be present.

You and I can only control our own actions not commercial ones, that is why I talked about what I would do.

[lilharcher]

no one asked you..............lol

[Gmoney!]

you put it on the web, you asked me and everyone else... it is right there in your first line, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Anyways, my point was to make sure you read the full thing and realized that the last part of the article discussed the decreased demand for these big blues and that in itself should help prevent these commercial guys from overfishing. They love to kill but only for money. If the demand is saturated they wont kill just for the hell of it...or maybe they will hoping they can find someone to buy.

[gringofrijolero]

How about rich guys overkilling tuna and wahoo so they can have it the "perfect freshness", and to reduce their CPF, ( cost per fish) on their 3million dollar sportfishers?
I have to agree with G. if you are not respecting the fish yourself, be it bft yft wahoo etc, can you really pass judgment on others?

[lilharcher]