Tuna farming getting a boost

Toro is not really that great...I think people could live without eating bluefin tuna...put a 5 year moratorium on all blue fin fishing globally, and we might see a recovery in the fish stocks...Need to cull some of the dolphin population too...I have seen super pods of more than 100 dolphin moving through the oceans and totally decimating congregated schools of small tuna

good article JT, I hope more people read it.

In typical Japanese fashion, they are only concerned with feeding themselves. They should be breeding farmed fish to restock wild populations, but there is no profit in that, is there?

Tuna raised like chickens or cows?

Hell, chickens and cows shouldn't be raised like chickens and cows.

tuna must swim continuously at up to 80 kph to absorb oxygen through their gills.

So they can't be raised like chickens, crammed in tiny cages 40 to a square metre.

"Toro is not really that great..."

That all really depends on individual tastes, don't you think? I enjoy tuna quite a bit.

"In typical Japanese fashion, they are only concerned with feeding themselves."

Umm... I think concern for feeding oneself is a human one, not necessarily a Japanese one, hence the vast super-ranches of South America and the conveyor-belt chicken ranches of North America.

This article is good news in that it shows progress. Suffice to say that if people can find a way to continue to eat fish in a sustainable way, that bodes well for natural populations.

In Japan, they are called “hon-maguro,” which translates roughly as “true tuna.”

but 生マグロ is best as otoro

Tuna raised like chickens or cows? Hell, chickens and cows shouldn't be raised like chickens and cows. tuna must swim continuously at up to 80 kph to absorb oxygen through their gills. So they can't be raised like chickens, crammed in tiny cages 40 to a square metre.

Very well said!

Thousands of tuna, their silver bellies bloated with fat

Metabo!

As the world’s love affair with raw fish depletes wild tuna populations..

The world? Seriously?

In the first three months of 2009 Japan consumed 69,096 Metric Tons of Fresh Tuna (a good chuck of it imported). In all of 2008 the US consumed 12,300 Metric Tons of Fresh Tuna. Europe is just a fraction of the US. The vast majority of world eats canned tuna. Usually small Skipjack Tuna which aren't on the verge of collapse. Japan is the problem with Tuna.

tuna must swim continuously at up to 80 kph to absorb oxygen through their gills.

Nice statement, albeit incorrect. Did you not read the article stating they are producing farmed tuna that grow twice as fast as ocean tuna? Thus, making your statement totally incorrect.

The 'statement' was copy-pasted from the article, which Yes I did read. Pity you didn't read to the end of my post (one more line) and realise that I was commenting on the comparison of tuna farming with chicken farming, where the birds are stacked on top of each other in tiny cages where they can barely move. I do not consider factory farming to be any kind of 'step forward'.

No wonder you get disillusioned.

Disillusioned,

"Did you not read the article...?"

From the article:

"Unlike other fish, which can pump oxygen better through their mouths, tuna must swim continuously at up to 80 kph to absorb oxygen through their gills."

Oh, the irony.

mmmmm....otoro,meguro,ahi....eat ne?

Challenge is better than no try. I think that someday people would eat tuna cultured only.

Another environmental disaster. Tuna are not cows; they are predators. In order to "farm" them, they have to go out and plunder small fish stocks. In addition, they have have dump tons of chemicals in these cages to kill parasites.

Same stupidity as with salmon "farming" which is another environmental disaster.