$400,000 for a Fish?

What’s with the $400,000 bluefin tuna that just sold at a new year’s auction in Tokyo? Nothing. This recurring headline of extravagantly priced tuna is one of those news items that leaves you with less knowledge than you had before you heard about it. That’s because the only reason any bidder at the Tokyo auction ever pays…

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Help Save the Endangered Bluefin

Discover the delights of an old-fashioned, traditional Japanese sushi menu that prizes the more authentic sushi fish–and skips the endangered tunas pushed by the globalized, industrial fishing and restaurant industries–by attending one of my historical sushi dinners. Bluefin tuna and the risks faced by this majestic fish from overfishing were the subject of a recent…

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Tuna in Trouble

If Atlantic bluefin tuna becomes an endangered species, that’s big news. That will wake a lot of people up. There I go, quoting myself again, this time from an AP article that’s been running on ABC News and numerous other outlets: “Sushi-Loving Japan Fears Push for Tuna Export Ban.” This is a difficult issue, because…

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Bluefin Tuna: Tigers of the Sea

This a slide from the A/V presentation that I show with my lectures. I tell the audience a bit about the amazing bluefin tuna, and then explain what is happening with the overfishing of this majestic beast, and then I ask, “Would you eat a tiger burger?”

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Catching bluefin tuna with a kayak

Catching bluefin tuna with a kayak Hey, I have an idea: all fishermen around the world can only catch things with kayaks. No more factory trawlers, no more high-tech depth sounders and plotters, just you, your rod, and your kayak. Solves the overfishing dilemma right there.

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The Surprising History of Tuna in Japan

Today, bluefin tuna is considered the pinnacle of fine sushi, especially bluefin toro–the fatty belly cuts of the fish. This is kind of funny, because just a few decades ago the Japanese considered toro such a disgusting part of the tuna that the only people who would eat it were impoverished manual laborers. And prior…

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Japan National Broadcasting’s International Morning News reports on my efforts to educate Americans about the plight of the bluefin tuna and show them the many other types of delicious sushi that are more traditional. (Aired Nov. 2, 2009; selections.)

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Smarter Sushi = More Authentic Sushi

Big things are happening this summer for a big fish. If conservationists get their way, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, a majestic swimmer that’s long been overharvested for the sushi trade, may soon receive protection as an endangered species. Many sushi lovers are understandably upset, because they don’t want to give up their favorite meal. But…

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