No other fish is as treasured a catch than the bluefin tuna. Sushi lovers the world over have long valued this large predatory fish, and in some markets they fetch as much as $20,000. The Japanese alone consume as much as 80% of the world’s bluefin tuna catch, and the fish is a mainstay of thousands of restaurant supplies.
As the popularity of sushi has risen in the past decade, so has the insatiable demand for bluefin tuna. And because this large predatory fish travels as much as 17,000 miles to hunt food and spawn, many countries have active bluefin fishing fleets. This, of course, makes it almost impossible to regulate the catch as each country elbows for higher quotas.
The consequence is that the bluefin is facing extinction as early as 2012. The member countries of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) met in March of 2010 and, led by Japan, who stands to lose the most from a fishing ban, voted down a complete ban of bluefin tuna fishing.
Although an official ban was not enacted, a growin gnumber of consumers, trade groups, and restaurants around the world are voluntarily passing on bluefin as a way to reduce demand for the struggling species.
More exciting, however, is the work of a long-time fisherman in Australia. Hagen Stehr became a millionaire harvesting bluefins in the vast Pacific to Australia’s east. Now he is trying to save the species by breeding them in captivity, and he’s put up $48 million to make it happen. Earlier this year his company, Clean Seas, successfully fertilized bluefin tuna eggs. Now the fish have grown into fingerlings and are feeding in a huge indoor tank in southern Australia.
Many thought it wasn’t possible to breed the bluefin in captivity, especially since their predatory nature means they tend to eat their own young. But Clean Seas has found a way, and they hope to be putting 250,000 bluefin fingerlings in the ocean by 2015.
The prospect of a sustainable bluefin tuna catch is good news for environmentalists and businesses alike. If Clean Seas has its way, restaurants can serve delicious bluefin across the world, guilt-free.
