You have reached this page because you wanted to see a recipe that included Tuna.
We have removed access to that recipe from this website because Tuna is now classified as an endangered species by everyone except those nations and companies driven by greed and nationalistic pride and ego.
Bluefin Tuna in its natural habitat. This is what you are killing and eating when you order and eat tuna either at home or in a restaurant. Most of these creatures are caught illegally and soon there will be none left.
Bluefin are the largest tuna and can live up to 40 years. They migrate across oceans and can dive more than 4,000 feet. Bluefin tuna are made for speed: built like torpedoes, have retractable fins and their eyes are set flush to their body. They are tremendous predators from the moment they hatch, seeking out schools of fish like herring, mackerel and even eels. They hunt by sight and have the sharpest vision of any bony fish. There are three species of bluefin: Atlantic (the largest and most endangered), Pacific, and Southern. Most catches of the Atlantic bluefin tuna are taken from the Mediterranean Sea, which is the most important bluefin tuna fishery in the world.
The Atlantic bluefin is a highly sought-after delicacy for sushi and sashimi in Asia—a single fish has sold for over USD$1.75 million in the Tokyo Fish Market! Driven by such high prices, fishermen use even more refined techniques to catch tuna. And the fish are disappearing as a result. Although tuna do provide food and livelihoods for people, they are more than just seafood. Tuna are a top predator in the marine food chain, maintaining a balance in the ocean environment. With them gone soon you will be eating jellyfish.
Tuna Overfishing
Bluefin tuna populations have declined severely from overfishing and illegal fishing over the past few decades –not just Atlantic bluefin tuna, but also Pacific bluefin tuna and Southern bluefin tuna. Population declines have been largely driven by the demand for this fish in high end sushi markets.
Pirate Fishing
Illegal fishing of Atlantic bluefin is a big problem and the fishery has been plagued by lack of enforcement and control.
Back in 2011 this is what was said.
Five out of the eight tuna species are at risk of extinction, conservationists warned today, as they called for urgent action to tackle over-fishing.
The latest assessment for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) showed that three species are threatened with global extinction, while two more will be under threat without action to help them.
A study, published in the journal Science, which looks at all “scombrid” fish, which include tuna and mackerel, and billfishes, which include swordfish and marlins, found that seven of the 61 known species were under threat.
The study said some of the species were heavily over-fished, with little interest in conserving them because of the high commercial value of the catch.
There were also difficulties in regulating the multinational fisheries which exploit the stocks.
IUCN experts warned that all three bluefin tuna species – southern, Atlantic and Pacific – were susceptible to collapse because of pressure from fishing for the high-value fish.
Southern bluefin tuna are already critically endangered, the highest category of risk, and Atlantic bluefin are endangered, the assessment for the IUCN red list of threatened species found.
Bigeye tuna are vulnerable to extinction, while yellowfin and albacore tuna are close to being under threat, or will be threatened with extinction if conservation measures are not put in place to turn their fortunes around.
Among other species, blue and white marlin were both assessed as being vulnerable to extinction, putting them in the third of the three most serious categories for threatened species and at risk of dying out globally.
Dr Kent Carpenter, manager of IUCN’s marine biodiversity unit and an author of the study, said: “All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure.
“The southern bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery.
“If no changes are made to current fishing practices, the western Atlantic bluefin stocks are at risk of collapse as they are showing little sign that the population is rebuilding following a significant reduction in the 1970s.”
Most of the economically valuable species such as tuna are at the top of the marine food chain, and their decline could have negative impacts on other species.
They are also long-lived, with slower reproductive rates which means populations take longer to recover.
Back in 2010, proposals were made to have Atlantic bluefin tuna listed as endangered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), temporarily stopping the trade in the species.
But attempts to list bluefin tuna, a sushi delicacy in Japan and elsewhere, as an “appendix I” species were defeated by a large majority of countries at the Cites meeting in March 2010.
The published study said the only way to save southern and Atlantic bluefin tuna was to shut down the fisheries until stocks were rebuilt, although to do so would encourage illegal fishing.
Strong deterrents would be needed, such as controlling international trade in tuna through the Cites scheme, the scientists suggested.
Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy director of the IUCN’s global species programme, said: “Temporarily shutting down tuna fisheries would only be a part of a much-needed recovery programme.
“Scientific finding should not be discarded in order to maintain short-term profit. Marine life and jobs for future generations are both at stake.”
Here we are in 2015 and still people eat Tuna and we as a family and company have decided that we will no longer support the Tuna overfishing by encouraging people to eat Tuna by showing Tuna recipes on this and our other websites.
Wasabi works just as well with other non-endangered fish such as Salmon or Tilipia. Try some, you might actually like them. 🙂
p.s. I understand that one Japanese company has stockpiled in excess of 20 tonnes of canned Tuna as a speculation investment. They are hoping that Tuna will go extinct and the price per can of Tuna will go through the roof and they will make Billions of dollars. That is disgusting and an indication of how low societies values have fallen – we can destroy an important food source in exchange for a piece of paper (money) that has no food value at all. 🙁
I suspect that there is more than one company doing this.
