ABTA Salem NH, 5 January 2012 - The astounding news of the sale of a 754 pound
bluefin tuna for US $740,000 (¥ 56.49 million) auctioned today at Tsukiji Market in
Tokyo is guaranteed, as in past years, to make headlines worldwide. This singular
event which has taken place in early January for the last few years is the focus of
intense interest by bluefin fishermen, environmental groups and fishery
management organizations worldwide.
Environmentalists claim that the bluefin tuna is being driven to extinction directly
as a result of the outrageously high prices paid for bluefin in Tokyo. It is commonly
believed that the price paid for this fish is indicative of the prices paid at other times
during the year.
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has established
recently that ex vessel price levels for Atlantic bluefin tuna are now and in recent
years have been about $9 per pound to the fishermen, not $981 per pound for the
fish that was auctioned in Tokyo today. To put this price in perspective, $9 per
pound is less than is typically paid for sea scallops.”, states Rich Ruais, Executive
Director for the American Bluefin Tuna Association.
At this time of year and with the current Yen/US Dollar exchange rate a typical price
paid in Tokyo for bluefin tuna is about ¥ 2,700 per kilogram. Therefore a fish of this
size would normally sell for about ¥ 925,000 or about US $11,900.
In past years, the “bidding-up” of the price of one fish was done as a publicity stunt
by two restaurants, one in Hong Kong and the other in Japan, who bid together and
shared the fish. In this year, a Japanese restaurateur has undertaken to “bid-up” the
price of one bluefin as a gift to the Japanese people for the hardship they have
endured in the last year.
Mr. Ruais continues, “The media is largely responsible for the popular
misconception that catching bluefin tuna is like winning the lottery. Nothing could
be further from the truth. Our Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery is an artisanal fishery of
small vessels in which every fish is caught one at a time and by hand. It is the most
highly regulated bluefin fishery in the world.”
For further information, contact Ralph Pratt at (781) 589-0815 or Rich Ruais at
(603-490-4715 cell) (603-898-8862 office).