Europe Announces New Step Towards Farming Endangered, Delicious Bluefin Tuna
Tuna at the Tsukiji Market John Mahoney The rich, creamy red meat of the bluefin tuna is prized almost to a cultish degree -- at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, a single majestic specimen can sell for over $100,000 -- and as a result the species is severely overfished and endangered. Farming the fish, which might offer a solution, has proven remarkably difficult. After years of experimentation with sexy mood lighting, Australia's Clean Seas company only managed to get them to breed in captivity by injecting them with spear guns full of reproductive hormones. Now, a European initiative has announced an alternative. The Selfdott project reports the first success breeding Atlantic bluefin tuna in floating cages without the use of hormones. True, the hatchlings all died within months, but the fish experts are confident that a change of diet will fix that next time. Fish farming has the potential to offset...