Tuna's End

Tuna's End is a VERY long article in the New York Times, written by Paul Greenberg, on the eventual extinction of blue fin tuna. It is adapted from his book “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food”

Japan unapologetically consumes 80% of the world's blue fin tuna, so have to be included in the "who to blame" list.

The usually reserved and polite Japanese take on a smug and ignorant tone when this issue of over fishing of blue fin is brought up - as if they are all-seeing and all-knowing. They are likely to throw a tantrum like a three year old, or better, a thirteen year old who feels victimized by a mother that just doesn't understand her need to have her tongue pierced.

What used to be very rare and expensive is now on every corner and in every grocery store. The same for beef and dairy - used to be special. Now it is everywhere. No halos over the heads of the beef industry - but that's a story for another time.

So, just a reminder to the Japanese, remember to take your "ECO" bag when you buy your bluefin tuna at the supermarket, you wouldn't want to hurt the planet by using one more plastic bag. Though, you should note that the sashimi they will buy from the grocery store is housed in plastic and then placed in a small plastic bag before it is placed in their ECO shopping bag.

Read the NY Times article: Tuna's End

It is interesting to read the comments written by readers of the NY Times - compared with other publications. Seems that knuckle draggers are less likely to read the NYT and wouldn't read such a long article. The comments tend to be quite long - takes a long time to write - and informed.


I live in Japan. It is an insulated world here. While people are outwardly humble, there is an underlying smugness.
I would love to hear people in government in Japan stand up and support what the countries of the world are saying. They won't. It is a pompous and greedy place. The world won't tell Japan what to do.

The future is so easy to see. The shock that is coming to the Japanese will be just like their penalty kick loss in the world cup - from let's happy, happy to a bitter wake up to reality.