Bluefin Tuna is considered a delicacy across the world. It has won the hearts of millions of people from everywhere. It is so large and beautiful that it becomes difficult to take away eyes from it. The meaty texture it has makes people fall in love with it even more. However, its prices are more astonishing. Let us know ‘Why Is Bluefin Tuna So Expensive?’.
Why is Bluefin Tuna So Expensive?
Bluefin Tuna is also referred to by the names like Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Northern Bluefin Tuna, or Giant Bluefin Tuna. We can find them easily in the western or eastern Atlantic ocean or Mediterranean sea it is valuable. Its high value makes it costly. A single fish has sold for more than $1.75 million and its value and its demand by the chefs who prefer it due to its meat quality cause fishers to focus mainly on catching a Bluefin Tunawhenever they are near the western or eastern Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean sea.
Features of Bluefin Tuna
It is known to have a lot of fat content. Its value does not only depends upon its size, weight or age, it also depends upon where you catch it and then where you buy it. It can live up to 26 years and has an average lifespan of 15 years. It can lay around 540 million eggs each season. Its overfishing has resulted in a reduction in its numbers.
Why Do Restaurants Prefer Bluefin Tuna?
Most restaurants in Japan prefer to have Bluefin Tuna meat in their kitchen as its fatty meat forms the best part for delicacies like sushi, sashimi and Tuna streak. The most strategic location from where we find the fish costs more for it. It costs around $200 per pound. As per a piece of news, in 2019, a Bluefin Tuna which weighed around 600 pounds was sold for $300 million in Tokyo.
We can find Bluefin Tuna all over the Atlantic ocean, Pacific ocean and Indian ocean, but there are only more than a million Bluefin Tunas left across the world.
Availability Of Bluefin Tuna
The fishers use the best techniques for catching the fish and making their day but as more fishers try to catch this fish,it is lessened in number and hence its value increases even more.
The meaty texture has formed the reason why people love it so much and why it is so valuable. It looks very good and big that people love watching it.
Quality Of Bluefin Tuna
The quality of meat this fish has is incomparable and due to its quality only chefs prefer it over any other meat. With this high demand for high-quality fish, its supply has fallen as the fish is disappearing also the fact that it ages soon adds to the answer to why this fish is so expensive!Fishers can find rare and heavy Tuna only if it has lived long as it has to live long enough to become that heavy and enormous. Its size adds up to its value.
However, it is rare to find such large and heavy Bluefin Tuna as it is disappearing at an alarming rate. It is hard to find such large fish. It means that an enormous Bluefin Tuna costs more than a smaller one!
What are the threats to Bluefin Tuna?
People love fish as delicacies a lot which has proved to be a threat to the Bluefin Tuna in the Atlantic ocean. Many times certain warnings have been made on how fast this species is getting reduced and in no time it will get extinct. Mostly Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is preferred as cuisine for the people of Japan.
- As per a study, it is known that approx 80% of Bluefin Tuna caught in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are consumed by Japan alone. Japanese started eating Tuna sushi and Tuna sashimi in the 1840s. This was the time when started witnessing the declining levels of the Bluefin Tuna fish in the oceans.
- World Wide Fund For Nature is constantly working for more than 10 years intending to protect and preserve Bluefin Tuna fish across the world. According to them if we could stop overfishing somehow, then we can control the reduction in the number of Bluefin Tuna fish easily. Since 2013, the Blufin Tuna fish in the pacific ocean or the Pacific World Wide Fund has listed Bluefin Tuna fish as overfished.
- There came a report in 2017 which said that this fish is no more on the verge of extinction. There are 63 species of Bluefin Tuna and 15 of them are gradually decreasing in population. The most endangered species of this fish is thought to be the southern Bluefin Tuna. it is considered critically endangered. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is considered endangered and Pacific Bluefin Tuna is vulnerable!
According to FAO and SOFIA, 33.1% of the fish population is overfished, 59.9% of the fish population is fished and just 7% of the fish population is under fished.
The threats are alarming and need to be controlled!
What are the steps in which we can contribute to protecting Bluefin Tuna?
● Always go for certified sustainable seafood.
● Learn how to reduce food wastage and ways in which you can cook and then store any seafood.
● Understand the need for preservation and make the next generation understand this too.
● Working in campaigns individually and promoting it to make people aware and participate in it is a good option in terms of protection and preservation of Bluefin Tuna fish.
Conclusion
Bluefin Tuna is way more expensive than any other fish in the world and that makes it more popular. It is getting rare and this is the reason it is so expensive. Even demands are also high for it and these demands add to the reason for overfishing of this fish which makes it more valuable and expensive. We need to do something to control overfishing not only for reducing its prices but also to conserve a part of nature that is on the verge of extinction. The prices of Bluefin Tuna fish will keep increasing if do not understand the need for conservation.
Frequently asked questions
●Which organisation is working for the preservation?
World Wide Fund For Nature is making great efforts to control overfishing and protect the species for the next generations.
●What are the places where catching Bluefin Tuna is banned?
Japan has banned catching Tuna of fewer than 30 kilograms, it is banned in the United Kingdom wholly, other countries like Cyprus, France, Italy and Greece have put a ban on fishing of this fish.
●How many Bluefin Tuna are fished per year?
About 40,000 metric tons.
●When can its prices fall?
Its prices can lower only when it is large in number and for this, we need to control overfishing.
