|
|
Saving sashimi
By Linda Platts
All is not lost, however. A former French Legionnaire, seafood magnate, and bold entrepreneur has come to the rescue. Hagen Stehr of South Australia plans to farm southern bluefin tuna, which has never been done successfully, to relieve pressure on wild stocks and increase his profits by avoiding the quotas imposed on wild tuna. Hagen has fished for many years along the tuna’s traditional migration route from Indonesia to the waters of southern Australia. As stocks dwindled, the catch was limited, and a quota system was introduced to distribute the fish among the operators. With an eye on the bottom line, fishers began to net their quota of tuna and tow it into the harbor, where the fish resided in outdoor pens and feasted on a diet of anchovies for several months. By the time they went to market, their weight had doubled and profits surged. Taking a new approach, Stehr is attempting to raise farm-bred tuna that do not have quota restrictions. He has meticulously replicated the tuna’s natural environment indoors. At his research and development firm, Clean Seas, select breeding stock weighing more than 350 pounds each endlessly circle a huge tank where the light, temperature, and currents simulate the changes they would normally encounter as they swim north to their spawning grounds. So far, the fish have spawned three times, believing they have made the journey to the warm waters off Indonesia. As the world population inches toward 7 billion, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says an additional 40 million tons of seafood will be needed in the next 20 years, and most of it will come from aquaculture. Assuming Stehr can successfully raise his small fish to adulthood, this risky enterprise could reap rich rewards going forward. For more information visit www.stehrgroup.net. |
|
E-mail
Print
The oily red flesh of southern bluefin tuna makes the finest sashimi on the planet. Long prized in Japan for its taste and texture, the growing worldwide palate for this fish may have helped speed its decline. It is estimated that wild stocks of bluefin are just 10 percent of what they were in the 1960s.
Comments
ajlau - 23 February 2010 19:21- Problems with aquaculture
- SOunds good but has this program concidered the threat that aqua culture presents to the rest of the system. Farm raised salmon has wreaked havoc on the native pacific salmon in the northwest USA. The nitrogen rich waste produced in concentrated farms have polluted the land while farm raised species have polluted the endemic species in the area. Im all for creative,privatly persued solutions but I belive we meed to think them through all the way.
scarlet - 16 November 2009 20:55- aquaculture
- We are the stewards of the world we live in, and cannot allow our need to destroy what is naturally there. It's time we did our part
lpbguy - 31 May 2009 12:28- aquaculture
- I think this is just fantastic--we can save wild populations of marine animals through creative methods of aquaculture. By tapping into the products value, this entrepreneur has ensured that it will remain plentiful because there is an incentive to do so.
Add new comment: