$736,000 Tuna Time in Japan

Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain was Japan's Big Sugar Daddy this past week when he purchased the worlds most expensive Bluefin Tuna at Tsujiki Market in Tokyo. The 593 lb beast was caught off the coast of Northern Japan in an area called Oma. Oma was ravaged by last years Tsunami. 

This fish was a whopper and the meat was luscious grade 1+ with beautiful red coloring and a high fat content. Even still, $1,293 US buckaroos per lb, yes PER LB is not considered the real market value for such an animal. Celebrity hoopla surrounding the first tuna auction of the year influenced the astronomic selling price. High roller Kiyoshi also stated that purchasing this $736,000 tuna was his way of contributing positively to the Japanese economy. Pieces of this tuna sashimi were sold at $5.45 on Thursday, a fraction of their market value. 

Watch this awesome video where a very pleased fish cutter uses what appears to be a samurai sword to divvy up the fish. Prepare yourself for some dramatic Japanese hooting and hollering!

DID YOU KNOW?

Tunas, like sharks and mackerels are WARM BLOODED fishes. The warm sanguini regulates their body temp making it possible for them to travel throughout a diverse range of water temperatures.

EVER WONDER how the experts grade tuna? Check out this informational link about tuna quality grading systems.

BLOOD RED WITH FATTY TISSUE, DEEELISH!

BREAKING NEWS: Carlos Rafael Interview

Lucky, lucky me! I just had a one on one interview with Commercial Fisherman Carlos Rafael.

Carlos' fishing crew recently had the mixed fortune of wrangling an 881lb Bluefin Tuna into their nets. Although he had permits for said fish, because he did not catch it on a hook and line, he had to surrender his catch to the Feds and NOAA. Needless to say he was NOT pleased.

Carlos is originally from Portugal but lives in Massachusetts. He owns a fleet of 42 fishing vessels that he sends off for 7-8 day trips to collect northeastern ground fish such as Dabs, Cod, Grey Flounder and more. Carlos buys most of his boats from Texas and Louisiana and he fixes them into seaworthy shape.

The type of fishing that Carlos does is similar to what my father used to do and they know each other. SMALL WORLD, that of the FISH PEOPLE.

Carlos told me that the tuna was sold for approximately 9$ per lb.
 9 x 881= $7,629 dollar fish
$4,395 went to the Feds (who gave the proceeds to NOAA). $3,234 went to the fish broker.

I asked Carlos if anything positive came from this experience and he said "YES ABSOLUTELY!"
So much attention has been drawn to the issue that NOAA is going to have to reassess the rules.
During the last 10 years the rules surrounding bluefins have been altered heavily in favor of environmentalists. Carlos feels that all of the work the fishermen put in to alter the rules to preserve their own well being were changed during this time period.  He hopes that the rules will be reconsidered once again. Nevertheless Carlos now plans to sell his tuna permits.


If you want to stay in tune with rules and regulations regarding bluefins, if you want to stay abreast of Carlos' story then tune into Saving Seafood RSS. Saving Seafood is a compilation of current articles about commercial fishing composed by a man named Bob in DC who is lobbying for fisherman's rights.

Carlos Rafael and his Catch Heard 'Round the World

Less than a week ago, the story of Cape Cod commercial fisherman Carlos Rafael and his 881 pound bluefin tuna went from local headline to full-blown international controversy.  The serendipitous beast became entangled in his net while his crew was groundfishing for bottom dwellers off the coast of Cape Cod. Unfortunately for Rafael, catching bluefin in a net instead of on a line is illegal. Upon the fishing vessel's return to shore, the feds confiscated his potential money-maker. A similarly sized tuna was recently sold on the Japanese market for upwards of $300,000. In an update this morning, Monica Allen from NOAA reported that the fish, whose condition was said to have been deteriorated by contact with the net, was sold at a mere $5,000 by federal agents. Of those $5,000 Rafael received none.

Carlos Rafael and his world famous tuna.

To get an idea of how this news spread virally read this fascinating excerpt from Saving Seafood RSS:

"The news broke on Monday. By Tuesday, the story had hit the AP wire and was headlining in papers from coast to coast, from the Boston Globe to the San Francisco Chronicle. It went overseas for appearances in the UK's Daily Mirror and the Emirates 24/7 in Dubai. It bounced through the blogosphere, from the Drudge Report and the Outdoor Life Magazine blog to online news venues like Yahoo!, where it was Tuesday's top story. As of Wednesday, a Google search with the fisherman's name and the word "tuna" generates more than 150,000 results."


And that my friends is a tale of modern technology...


Everyone seems to have an opinion on this issue, but it looks like the grand majority is rooting for team Carlos. I believe that he should have been able to keep his lucky catch. I support the 100% Catch Rule: Whatever you catch in your net during a haul, you keep. This rule would prevent the wasting of fish that is "undesirable." Fish caught it a net, especially small species or baby fish, are often crushed by water pressure and other fish joining the bundle. If said fish are smaller than legal size limit, out of season, or worth less money than the others, they are thrown overboard only to die from injuries upon release. On the other hand, you have circumstances like that of Carlos Rafael where clearly the 100% Catch Rule would have worked in his favor.

The elusive bluefin: Perhaps the most controversial fish in the sea,

I am working on getting a brief interview with Carlos himself.  Stay tuned for updates!


Thanks MIKA GILMORE (Architect from Boston) for being the first to bring this article to my attention.

Tuna or BEef?

Tuna of course.

We have only had local Bluefin in a couple of times so far this season. They are usually larger, more fatty and have darker meat than the Bigeye and Yellowfin. The Bigeye and Yellowfin are nearly impossible to distinguish from each other.

TUNA in. Turn on. Drop out...Striped Bass

Scombridea: Make TUNA TARTAR, not WAR.

Summertime is GROOVY! It makes me want to drive an old crusty van out to Montauk, throwing the peace sign to passersby as I cruise along. Summer is about letting loose, which explains why TUNA is becoming more ubiquitous than the topless at Fort Tildon. Pass the sunscreen!



Edi and Andy at Tildy

 Summertime means that you can cop a Budweiser and a mystery hotdog at a stranger's rooftop party in BK and nobody gives a shit. Free hugs and hotdogs, dude! Summer is surf, summer is sand, summer is LOCALLY CAUGHT SCOMBRIDEA. Albacore, bluefin, big-eye and yellow-fin, oh yeah, did I mention Spanish mackerel? They are all swimming up the East Coast together, in unison, because they are all brothers, man! This rainbow-family of fish are sooo good. They are going to BLOW YOUR MIND!

I feel like I'm forgetting something...Oh yeah, MY STRIPED BASS ORDER!

STRIPED BASS, another totally FAR OUT species is also readily available and a great choice for your menus. You already know this so follow your heart, feel the love, and buy some of our local line caught Striped Bass.

Remember what a wise band once said:

"If you can't be with the fish you love, love the fish your with."
- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Striper.

Eels and Bluefin 9/15/10

The Enchanted Eels of Electric Lady Land.

Below are some fascinating notes regarding said eels.

Eels are catadromous animals, meaning they live in rivers and spawn in the ocean. This would be considered the opposite of the anadromous salmon who lives in the ocean and spawns in the river.

Eels are very elusive creatures. No one has ever reported seeing eel reproduction in the wild.

Baby eels are referred to as elvers.
I really like this name. I shall name my first born child Elver.
"Hey Elver! Go fetch yer momma a sam-wich!" Indeed, it has a handsome ring to it.

Tips on filleting the animal:
Some recommend nailing the eel to the cutting board by putting a spike through its head, and skinning/filleting the eel while it's anchored to the board. For those of you who do not enjoy impaling and spearing sea monsters through the noggin, we can fillet it here at Pierless.

Our green eel comes from Saint-Anne-de-Porteneuf, Quebec. Weighing in at 2-3lb each, they measure a solid yard in length. Our eels are frozen and slippery with a 40% meat yield. This meat to carcass ratio is higher than that of the striped bass, one of the eel’s most feared predators.

Eel blood is a neurotoxin that when injected into a young rabbit will send it into convulsions, causing instant death. So definitely do not attempt to eat raw eel.

Buying eel for 7.95/lb, you might as well consider yourself a haggler and a smartypants.
In 1997 5,000 pounds of the prized Japanese glass eel sold for $16,500 USD per kilo. These eels were more valuable than gold!

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Addressing concerns in regards to the bluefin tuna.

Bluefin tuna has been overfished in the Mediterranean for the last 20 years. The strict regulation created to prevent the overfishing of this species in the Mediterranean was ignored. European fishing fleets managed to deplete the stocks by 90% during this time.

On the other hand, Americans have sustainably managed and harvested bluefin tuna stocks for the last 15 years. Here in the US of A, the bluefin tuna fishery has never been banned completely.

Our tuna comes from ye' old Cape Cod, MA.

No offense to our friends across the pond, but you should boycott the Euro bluefin fishery and not the real American bluefin fishery. 

Go ‘Merica!

Heck Yeah!

Bluefin is delightful to eat.  It is also very healthy, packed with selenium, Omega-3 fatty acids and good cholesterol. Because of it’s high fat content, bluefin is especially prized as sushi or sashimi.
Higher fat content = higher quality product = eaten raw = happy customers = Cha-ching = Goodtimes

Three Cheers for Cape Cod Bluefin Tuna Tartar!