Tunamergency
Years ago I went to the Tokyo Fish Market locally known as Tsukiji. While it’s scale is impressive, what is absolutely overwhelming is the size of the bluefin tuna auction. Imagine 20 rows of tuna laid nose to tail and spanning 2-3 football fields. By 8am all of these fish have been auctioned off and are being carted away to various restaurants throughout Japan. Now imagine that this happens every day, 7 days a week. You leave thinking that the blue fin tuna is screwed. And it is. There is just no way that nature can provide for that kind of appetite.
Don’t get me wrong, I love eating fish, especially bluefin, but shortly after my visit to Tsukiji, I added bluefin to the list of fish that I no longer eat. In 1970, there were 295,000 tons of bluefin in the world’s oceans. Today there are 136,000 tons, and that number is falling fast. Thankfully, many stores and restaurants that sell fish are no longer carrying tuna. Let’s support those establishments. Below is a list of the eco-conscious retailers helping to protect what is left of bluefin tuna, as well as a number of restaurants that are still selling it.
Stores:
-Whole Foods banned the sale of bluefin nationwide.
-The Lobster Place in Chelsea and Wild Edibles both stopped carrying the fish.
Restaurants that say they no longer serve it:
-Matsuri
-BLT Fish
-Haru
-The Sushisamba Chain stopped selling the fish last week, and plans to outfit kitchen staffers with “No Blue” branded hats.
Restaurants that still do:
-Nobu
-Megu
-Masa
-Blue Ribbon
-Morimoto
Right now the global catch quota is still twice the level needed to recover the stock, and that doesn’t include the annual European illegal catch. We need to stop eating bluefin tuna before we no longer have a choice.
