Farming The Bluefin Tuna, Tiger Of The Ocean, Is Not Without A Price

[Captain Obvious]

I know traditionalists prefer wild caught for a number of reasons, quality and nutritional value but sustainability is a considerable concern. Farming needs to supplement the wild stock in our diet. Has to.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/30/336339179/farming-the-bluefin-tuna-tiger-of-the-ocean-is-not-without-a-price


In a windowless laboratory in downtown Baltimore, some tiny, translucent fish larvae are swimming about in glass-walled tanks.

They are infant bluefin tuna. Scientists in this laboratory are trying to grasp what they call the holy grail of aquaculture: raising this powerful fish, so prized by sushi lovers, entirely in captivity. But the effort is fraught with challenges.

When I visited, I couldn't see the larvae at first. They look incredibly fragile and helpless, just drifting in the tanks' water currents. But they're already gobbling up microscopic marine animals, which in turn are living on algae.

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/07/29/tunatanks_wide-617dba4e0d254ac55e1e82039b54a962ec7aed2b-s4-c85.jpg

[Paperback Writer]

I'd try it. I'm not too fond of eating mercury and radiation with my tuna.

[Peter1469]

They are going to have to spend a lot of money keeping the fish farms clean of fish waste and fish food waste.

[Mister D]

I'd try it. I'm not too fond of eating mercury and radiation with my tuna.

I prefer wild caught but it's hard to find out if it's from a sustainable fishery. This humane diet of mine is a lot easier when it comes to terrestrial critters. Anyway, I read that mercury levels are much lower in shellfish. I've been into scallops lately.

[Heyduke]

When I moved to Arcata, California, there were zero sushi restaurants. By the late 1990's, they were proliferating. Now, there is a sushi joint in every neighborhood. And that's just great. I love sushi. It's the closest thing I can get to a raw herring in the Netherlands (herring here comes pickled in jars).

But, by the law of unintended consequences, there has been an unspoken downside to the sushi trend. Demand for specialty fishes has devastated certain populations of sea life.

It just goes to show that every monetized product comes with an environmental cost, even if it's a Save-the Whales t-shirt made out of organic cotton. Even if it's a shade-grown organic blend of coffee driven here on a bicycle, it comes attached with an environmental cost.

[Chloe]

Blue fins are endangered due to extreme overfishing. The amount of effort and money being used to farm them like this should be put towards the conservation of the wild population in my opinion along with increased heavy fines an penalties for serving that fish in restaurants and in markets. The fines should then also be used to protect them better in the wild. Also the amount of food needed to sustain farmed bluefin would cause more harm than good for all involved.

[PolWatch]

Laws regarding fishing for blue fin tuna in the US are very strict because of the overfishing you mention. They are now caught one at a time, manually. Unfortunately, its other countries that are not following the same rules for this species. I think Japan and their fishing factory ships are still overfishing them in international water...same as for shark fishing (where they cut off the fins & throw the sharks back to die).

[waltky]

Overfishing in Senegal leaves industry in crisis...
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/images/smilies/eek.gif
Overfishing Leaves an Industry in Crisis in Senegal
June 07, 2017 — It was almost sunset as fishermen guided their boats back onto the beach at Joal, Senegal, after a long day at sea. At first glance, it looks as though they'd collected a good day's haul, but their nets were full of small sardinella, known locally as yaabooy.


Fisherman Mamdou Lamine had caught just one bucket of mackerel. He held one up next to a yaabooy to show how much bigger it was — and there are many more yaabooy than mackerel these days, he said. Furthermore, A local favorite, grouper, called thiof in Senegal, is getting harder to find. The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says more than half of West Africa's fisheries are dangerously depleted. Local officials in Senegal say it's the foreign-owned industrial boats that have depleted fish stocks and destroyed marine habitats. When fishermen at Joal set off on trips, they have to carry more fuel to reach waters farther away, and the added fuel costs cut into their earnings.

Longer trips, more fuel

Saff Sall was heading to Guinea-Bissau, about 200 kilometers south, in search of the elusive thiof. He said the fish are found among rocks, but that there are no more rocks because they have all been destroyed by the big industrial boats. That's why they have to go to Guinea-Bissau to search for fish. Before, Senegalese fishermen had to spend only a week at sea to have all the fish they needed, he said, but now they have to spend twice as long to catch what they need.


https://gdb.voanews.com/86DBAD5C-7FAF-4CF5-8026-184444F38169_w650_r0_s.jpg
Overfishing in West African waters has depleted stocks of high-quality fish, such as a local grouper known as thiof in Senegal. Thiof is revered in the cuisine and culture. Joal, Senegal

Under-regulated fishing by locals has also contributed to the problem, said Joal Fishing Wharf chief of operations El Hadji Faye. He said the government was making an effort, but the situation was very complicated. He said that in the Senegalese city of Saint Louis, for example, each neighborhood has a designated day it can fish. But in Joal, they do not do that yet. Every day, he said, all the fishermen go to sea. Sometimes when a lot of them go, they bring back a lot of fish and the price is not good.

Economic staple

Fish are the backbone of the town's economy. The day's catch is taken to the local smokehouse, turned into fish meal for export abroad or sold fresh at the market, where knife-wielding female vendors prep the fish for sale. Business is tough even for vendors with the rare large fish. Scarcity has driven up the prices. The price of thiof per kilogram has doubled in the past five years, local officials said. Fish vendor Rose Ndour said that maybe those in the industry would do other work — if there were better jobs available. The impact of overfishing is felt in households. The wife of the fishing wharf manager, Coumba Ndiaye, said that for the family's evening Ramadan meal, she had to make due with sardinella because she could not get an affordable thiof at the market.


https://gdb.voanews.com/7DA92B6A-1466-4F97-B86F-35D72F6BEC9F_w650_r1_s.jpg
No Good Fish in the Sea: Overfishing in Senegal

She made thieboudienne, Senegal's national dish. Its name literally translates to "fish and rice." But for a good thieboudienne, you need good fish like dorade or thiof. The fish are a part of Senegal's culture. Ndiaye said that "when someone says your husband is 'thiofee,' they are comparing him to thiof. The thiof is beautiful and noble. The thiof is classy." The children sat on their parents' knees as the family ate around the large shared bowl of thieboudienne. The fishermen would return to the sea the next day to try their luck again.

https://www.voanews.com/a/overfishing-leaves-industry-crisis-senegal/3891172.html

[Private Pickle]

Blue fins are endangered due to extreme overfishing. The amount of effort and money being used to farm them like this should be put towards the conservation of the wild population in my opinion along with increased heavy fines an penalties for serving that fish in restaurants and in markets. The fines should then also be used to protect them better in the wild. Also the amount of food needed to sustain farmed bluefin would cause more harm than good for all involved.
Yeah but tuna is tasty...