Why is Tuna so expensive in Japan?

Question

this was taken from Yahoo News:
Fri Jan 5, 3:27 PM ET



TOKYO (AFP) - It may be the year of the pig, but the tuna is still king in Japan where a bluefin netted about 35,000 dollars -- more than a the price of a car -- in the first auction of 2007 at the Tsukiji fish market.

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The most expensive sale of the day at the world's largest fish market was a tuna weighing 206.6 kilograms (454.5 pounds) which fetched 4.13 million yen, or 20,000 yen per kilogram, before heading for sushi bars across the capital.

Japan eats a quarter of the world's tuna, more than any other country, but faces pressure from environmentalists who have blamed the global fad for Japanese food for bringing tuna numbers to the brink of extinction.

Answer 1

Here's the answer-blue fin tuna is expensive. It's expensive everywhere. One 600 pound tuna makes for a lot of sashimi so it just doesn't seem all that pricey at the retail level. Pound for pound, fugu is much more expensive. It's a very well managed species - quotas are very strict and they are in zero danger of extinction. The tuna you buy in a can for a buck is not blue fin. "Tuna"' is a vague appellation applied to numerous species. It's the less regulated species of "tuna" caught on the high seas and then frozen/canned that are in trouble. However the "rich japs feast on endagered species" is a handy line for enviromentalists/racists. Why anyone would listen to an ''enviromentalist" who doesn't know the difference between different species of tuna is beyond me. I seriously doubt that much of the tuna being consumed in the PRC is blue fin.

The blue fin sold at Tsukiji is caught off of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia with a rod and reel. Anglers pay through the nose to charter a tuna boat; but any fish that are caught belong to the boat, not the charter party. It's not as if the sports could take a 600 pound fish home with them in any case. Buyers come from Tsukiji during the fall fishing season and they make arrangements for the fish to get on the Halifax International-Narita cargo flight as soon as possible after landing. There is a holding pen in Nova Scotia where live tuna are kept so they can be sold at the maximum price for the New Years celebration. That's how the buyers always have tuna on hand for when demand peaks. As the fish are exported whole, if you have sashimi in NYC or London the fish may have actually been caught in the Atlantic, shipped to Tokyo and then re-exported.

Answer 2

1. Fish isn't CHEAP in Japan - even though it's a popular food.
2. There are many different types of tuna, some are easier to find = cheaper, and others more scarce = more expensive.
3. Much of the tuna caught with the intention of selling it to Japan has to be specially prepared after being caught. It can't be frozen and then thawed before being carefully gutted, because the bad taste and toxins from the guts will seep through into the flesh, making it bitter if cooked - or toxic if eaten raw. So it has to be carefully gutted before being frozen in such a way that it's suitable for sashimi after being defrosted.
4. Some parts of the fish are more 'posh' than others, allegedly because they make a better quality sashimi - although I would never know the difference!
; )
5. Lower catching quotas on some kinds of fish makes them scarcer, pushing up the prices.
6. If you think TUNA is expensive, why don't you try genuine Japanese beef steaks? Or venison sashimi?

BTW, instant noodles aren't actually expensive!
And anyway, if someone's suggesting that tuna is getting more expensive BECAUSE the Chinese people are now eating more of it - they're RIGHT! China exports tonnes of stuff to Japan, but when something that can only be obtained in limited amounts - like tuna - is kept for Chinese use instead of being exported to Japan, that means that the Japanese end up paying more for tuna. It's normal! A simple fact of life - and it's not a racist remark to state it as a fact, even when a Japanese newscaster says it on TV!

Edit; Your news article cut&paste is very interesting ... I might be more 'shocked' if it wasn't for the fact that my OWN country is being blamed for the shortage of cod in the North sea. This is despite the fact that other EU countries are fishing cod from those waters ...
Japan is not the only country catching tuna either, and considering the fact that much of the tuna consumed here is sold to Japan by OTHER countries ... who's to blame? If someone offers you a good deal on something you like, is it YOUR fault if you accept? Or is it the other guy's fault for offering it to you in the first place? Surely the responsibility should be shared? Anyway, 25% isn't so much - what about those psychos who are eating the OTHER 75%??!!!
; D

Answer 3

Probably because tuna doesn't go in the seas around Japan, so therefore they have to import it from a long distance; which would increase the prices.
Just a guess.

Answer 4

the tuna you eat in sushi can get expensive because there are different levels of quality. there is the regular maguro
chuutoro (medium fatty) and ootoro (fatty). The ootoro is the most tasty of the three and the most expensive. there are also cheap stores but in tokyo everything is expensive.

Answer 5

It's not just tuna. Everything in Japan's expensive!

Answer 6

There are tons of fishermen in Japan and they probally could sell it for cheaper but that means the fishermen wouldn't be able to sustain the high cost of living.

Answer 7

Why is everything so expensive in Japan?
but stop eating that stuff...go Veggi.

Answer 8

Yep, Yozora's right... go to Taiwan or China for not-so-expensive tuna sashimi ;)

Answer 9

because "the chinese eatting more tuna now a day" !!!
that was what i heard from the japanese news.
What an ignorance!

Answer 10

Because almost all other stuffs are as expensive, even instant noodles.