big fish, big price

Tuna, so yummy yet such a guilty pleasure.  Yes I feel bad supporting an unsustainable branch of the fishing industry but raw tuna is just so good.  Nine months ago I wouldn't eat raw fish of any kind...things change.  Anyhow, the story continues...

While the deliveries arrived, I got busy scraping.  Expecting to use a knife to salvage the thin layers of tuna from the skin, I was surprised when presented with a well-used, slightly dented metal spoon instead.  Every bit of tuna is used: the best sections are sold as whole steaks while the rest is parceled as sashimi blocks or pieces.  When making sushi rolls, one pound of tuna or hamachi pieces is enough to fill ten rolls.

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For sashimi grade tuna, fat content determines quality and consequently, price.  The highest concentration is found in the tuna belly or toro meat, which goes for $45 per pound. The center or akami cuts are less oily, yielding the reddest meat thanks to the protein, myoglobin. 

As a big fish at the top of the food chain, tunas also top list of mercury-tainted seafood.  The 2004 consumer advisory by the Food and Drug Administration with the Environmental Protection Agency stresses the benefits of seafood as a source of essential proteins and omega-3 fatty acids.  For fish with elevated levels of mercury like bluefin tuna, lingcod and opah, the Environmental Defense Fund suggests substitutes like mahi mahi, US catfish, Pacific halibut or Canadian albacore.

While the debate continues over the sustainability of tuna fishing, maguro remains a lucrative force in the global market.  January of this year saw the record-breaking sale of a 593-pound bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market for $736,000.