Bluefin Tuna: Europe Announces Breakthrough In Breeding

nytimes.com:

Scientists in Europe have bred Atlantic bluefin tuna in captivity, and without using hormones, potentially boosting stocks of a fish that has become endangered because of huge demand for sashimi and sushi in Japan and other countries.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[AxelDC]

08:47 AM on 08/30/2010

Yum!!!

[tc399]

11:28 PM on 08/29/2010

That's a picture of salmon. Why am I not surprised?

[jsarets]

10:15 PM on 08/29/2010

We don't breed lions and tigers for food, and we shouldn't breed bluefin tuna for food for the same reason. We shouldn't be eating top predators. Their life cycles are too long and their feed conversion ratios are terribly inefficient. They are essential for regulating the populations of prey species that can become invasive pests without a sufficient population of predators. We have to eat lower on the food chain, or else we're going to destroy the environment while failing to produce enough food.

[AxelDC]

08:48 AM on 08/30/2010

Lions and tigers will kill you. I doubt the tuna will.

If we bred lions and tigers for food, they wouldn't be in danger of extinction. The modern cow only exists because humans eat it. They wouldn't survive two days in the wild.

[h23154]

09:04 AM on 08/30/2010

I agree. We should eat plankton.

[darkmark]

10:09 PM on 08/29/2010

gone vegan

[PlayTOE]

04:37 PM on 08/29/2010

Farmed fish are an obvious step in feeding ourselves.
Could we even imagine supplying the world with sausages and ham by hunting wild boar?

[AxelDC]

08:49 AM on 08/30/2010

Especially if BP is going to destroy our oceans.

[OneTop]

03:26 PM on 08/29/2010

I wonder if they could manage to add a twist of lemon as well ?

[owltattoo]

05:14 PM on 08/29/2010

It's not something to make light of. People always seem so concerned when the endangered animal has fur or a cute face. Sure, blue-finned tuna aren't cuddly or cute. They don't have the appeal of a spotted owl or wolf.

But they are amazing animals and aerodynamic marvels if you've ever seen them swim and hunt. Some figures put them becoming extinct within three years due to the current practice of herding these tuna into holding pens and slaughtering them before they get a chance to breed. I hope the farming efforts will be successful, but combined with continuing efforts to stop the fishing methods that are putting wild populations at risk of disappearing from the planet.

Please, let's stop only being interested in those animals we can hug. Fish are important, too. I can't imagine making some glib comment about efforts to reintroduce the wolf. Seriously.

[AxelDC]

08:54 AM on 08/30/2010

Wolves will tear your arms off if you try to eat them.

The point of this is to save wild tuna by breeding them on farms. You aren't going to save them by scolding those who like to eat them.

[astroup]

02:46 PM on 08/29/2010

Are you listening starkist? I smell me some bluefinned tuna salad sandwhiches.

[flashblitzen]

12:50 PM on 08/29/2010

Mmmmm. More luxury foods. What is it with humans and their bizarre appetite for things. It's almost as if when things are endangered or rare, they somehow test better.

Are they cloning rhinos for elle macphereson yet?

[AxelDC]

08:50 AM on 08/30/2010

Maybe they are endangered because they taste good.