What’s In A Fish?
Written by Major Tom
Filed under: Earth & Environment, Current Events
June 11, 2007
I’ve just caught my eye on this headlined article about the recent plan of the European Union to curtail or even impede the fishing of bluefin tuna in the european side of the Atlantic and towards the Mediterranean seas where most of them actually thrive.
This move is apparently the result of environmentalists’ reports that stocks of the highly-priced tuna specie is fast dwindling and would soon be extinct if fishing for such would not be drastically brought down to unprecedented (low) levels.
Tsk..tsk…we used to worry solely of dolphins and whales disappearing from our seas, (along with for-rich-only sturgeons in the Black Sea) but now, the luscious tuna would soon be on our list. Statistics shows that bluefin may not be the only tuna specie that would be at risk of extinction but also the more prevalent ones like the yellowfin and skipjack, two species that the Philippines is a major exporter of—about half-a-billion dollars worth of shipment to the United States and Japan.
In a year, the entire catch of tuna reaches nearly 3 Million tons and with such gargantuan magnitude, environmentalists from the WWF sees intense overfishing and cries out the need for a general limit to fishing quotas across the globe.
I wonder if this present tuna debacle would soon affect the rack prices of my favorite Century Tuna’s over at my favorite grocery store just a block away. Over the years, I have seen the steady rice of canned tuna to nearly double of what it had cost some five years ago. It used to be around somewhere 17 bucks per pop but now, it can go as high as 30 pesos. I often squirm seeing those ever-changing white sticker price tags pasted on them tuna cans.
I could say that I am a tuna fanatic and I want to eat it uncooked, with chunks and chunks of it dipped in savory oil or brine, and steamy rice on the side. Forget about chickenjoys or mcburgers, but when I feel the need for real hearty meal, I’d just be hiking off to that grocery store I had mentioned above and eat to my heart’s delight.
An uncle once told me that in America, tunas are merely consumed as cat food. I wonder if this is true. Do you think that American cats are so privileged kind that them mewwing lots had made Uncle Sam as this nation’s number one importer of tuna products? I don’t think so.
Apparently, the ever-growing demand for Japanese concoctions called sushi and sashimi are behind the present overfishing issue of tunas from the world’s ocean. Japan consumes nearly a quarter of the world’s tuna catch.
Japanese appetite for raw fish now not only becomes responsible for the whale extinction scare, but also of the present threat to tuna’s dwindling stock in the seas.
Tsk..tsk..all I can say is that “God save the tuna in our seas”.
That’s sad. Is there no way that these big time fishermen-exporters would farm this fish? I mean just the fry and release them to the sea when they grow. I’m not so sure if they can be farmed. But in that way, their number won’t deminish.
lol…i also do that Major Tom. But I do it with corned beef. It tastes better straight from the can! Those century tuna is good enough eaten.
Comment by ipanema — June 12, 2007 @ 3:56 am
To ipanema: I’ve read just awhile ago, although I forgot now the site, that in Australia, some fishers there are farming tuna in wide net pens, but only the specie that is highly priced per pound, a rarer specie which the Japanese are so fond of. Farming tunas in general would be unlikely at this time I bet since commercial fishers are wont to catch tons and tons of it to make real good money. I don’t know if they can have the volume thru net pens farming.
Yep, coorned beef is just as well luscious when eaten uncooked, as toppings on a day-old rice. But it depends on the brand—Purefoods I think taste just like Libby’s while others doesn’t taste good when raw.
Comment by Major Tom — June 12, 2007 @ 8:36 am
I think the concern is more on irresponsible fishing trawlers taking dolphins mixing its meat into the canned tuna. There are canned tuna producers that explicitly put the label ” this can does not contain dolphin meat “.
I don’t think tuna fishing will ever go away. There’s just way too much demand for tuna sandwich LOL
Canned tunas here can be bought for anywhere between 65 cents to 1 dollar. Out of the can mixed with mayo, salt and pepper, a teaspon of sweet pickle relish - scoop it on pita bread or all wheat sliced bread and top it with lettuce leaves.. I could eat tuna sandwich for breakfast, lunch and dinner LOL 
Comment by bw — June 14, 2007 @ 12:42 am
To BW: Gee, now I wonder if ever I had already eaten dolphins unknowingly. That’s why some tuna cans I have opened before taste a little funny; making me ponder why the tuna meat seems a little pungent on this particular can.
Thanks for the tuna sandwich hint—on how to make the mixture—coz despite that i loved eaying tuna and tuna sandwich so very much, I haven’t had any idea how to make it on my own.
Comment by Major Tom — June 14, 2007 @ 11:38 am