The King Of Sushi

Growing Demand For Sushi Is Having A Big Impact On The Bluefin Population

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on Jan. 13, 2008. It was updated on Sept. 4, 2008.

Sushi is becoming so popular these days, you can find it in grocery stores all over America. But it's distinctly Japanese, and the Japanese have turned sushi into a multibillion-dollar international business.

Sushi wouldn't be sushi without tuna, particularly bluefin tuna. It is so revered in Japan that they call it the" king of sushi."

But as correspondent Bob Simon reported last January, the bluefin is in deep trouble.

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Fresh bluefin tuna arrives in style at Tokyo's Narita airport every day, from all over the world. They are carefully packed in crates and unloaded onto palettes often less than 24 hours after being caught.

It's delivered on ice, in custom-made wooden boxes called "coffins," to the Tokyo fish market, which is called Tsukiji. It's the place where the world's top sushi chefs get their fish.

More fish flow through Tsukiji than any other market on earth. More money, too: $4 billion a year. In today's global economy, fishermen from around the world watch the prices set at Tsukiji, which enables them to figure out what their catch is worth.

Harvard anthropology professor Ted Bestor understands the movement of money and tuna. He's been studying Japanese sushi culture for the last 20 years. "This place is the nerve center of a global fishing industry," he explains.

"Sort of like a Wall Street of fish," Simon remarks.

"Yeah. It is. It is," Bestor agrees. "There's no futures market, no derivatives. But other than that, it's like the Wall Street of fish."

At four o'clock every morning, six days a week, the buyers arrive at the market's fresh tuna hall to check out what's on offer.

How do buyers tell what's good and not so good?

"Well, if you look over you can see them rolling the tuna over on their side, looking in the belly. They're looking for the fat content. They're looking for the color of the meat. They're x-raying the fish and then you'll see that they’ll take a little piece and they'll rub it between their thumb and forefingers. And that's to get a sense of the oil content," Bestor explains.

"So these guys must be the toughest customers in the world," Simon remarks.

"Absolutely," Bestor agrees. "They know their fish inside and out."

Bestor says the buyers also know the market inside out and are prepared to pay the highest price in the world.

The average price of a single bluefin tuna is anywhere between $2,000 and $20,000. It all depends on the size, the season, and their fat content - the fattier, the better.

Tsunenori Ida is one of the most respected buyers in the market. His family has been bidding on top quality bluefin for seven generations.

He's well versed in the auctioneers' lingo and he knows the signals. Within seconds, Ida has bid for and bought the most expensive tuna at today's auction, a 450 pounder for $8,500.

Ida is the master of the house of Hicho, a wholesaler supplying Tokyo's most exclusive sushi restaurants. He wields his blades like a latter day samurai.

Like everything in Japan, cutting apart the tuna is a ceremony. The fresh bluefin is massaged and stroked as befitting a king. The masters even have what they call "Maguro No Kaiwa," conversations with the tuna. Ida appeals to the fish to make him proud and give him their best.

The demand for the freshest bluefin tuna from the world's most exclusive restaurants is insatiable. So how is this global yen for bluefin satisfied? Well, globally, from the coast of Japan, the Gulf of Maine, Mexico or the Mediterranean.

[drivelphobe]

The Japanese don''t care about endangered species status if they eat it or use it. They kill whales like crazy, are reducing the population of blue fin tuna and continue to support the ivory poachers with the purchase of black market ivory.

I suggest McDonalds start offering a hot sandwich made of Crested Ibis or thin slices of Giant Salamander. Trinkets for the kids could be made of Macaque feathers and beaks as souvenirs. I hear fresh Ibis tartare is a favored dish amongst the redneck population. We could also start harvesting Giant Pandas if the Chinese don''t express some concern as well. Giant Panda barbecued ribs sound yummy.

Let''s see how the Japanese like the apples.

[nothoney-2009]

The fish in this story were treated like a commodity and very little was said about their amazing abilities and importance to marine ecosystems. The point of the story was not that we%u2019re fishing a species to extinction for the sake of taste, but %u201COh my, whatever will we do when there are no more bluefin? How will we get our precious sushi?%u201D %u201C60 Minutes%u201D completely missed the point in this report.

[crabwriter]

This story could have taken place about a number of fisheries throughout the world. The collapse of the Bering Sea King, Bairdi, and Opilio crab stocks can be traced directly to the Japanese. Their greed and unrelenting quest to eliminate species to satisfy their palate was witnessed by all of us who fished it. Not to mention the U.S. bureaucracies created to keep this from happening. The Bering Sea is dying faster than the world''s climate is changing. As a 20 year veteran ex-crabber, all I can say is watch out, China is next is line at the buffet!

[inusmurf]

Has anybody ever done any research on the company that is spotting the Tuna?
According to American records this airplane (N53420) is a 1974 CESSNA 337G, registered to AIR CAROLINE INC on . This company is located at 3511 SILVERSIDE RD SUITE 105 in Wilmington, Delaware. This aircraft was issued an Airworthiness certificate by the FAA on 05/04/2005.

[mauramia-2009]

An utterly grotesque and savage way to treat these magnificent creatures, all to stuff down the Japanese palate.

[burtonway]

This story is SO pathetic because fish are being stockpiled like commodities for future reserve like currency. News Programs like 60 Minutes once had the responsability to REPORT stories like this.

NOW, Media Congloms and their BILLIONAIRE owners (Murdoch, Restone, et al) have the DUTY to act upon these, instead of STOCKPILING their billions for future waste. NOW is the time to act responsably towards saving these incredible animals that are here for the People and the generations of People.

FACEBOOK should also act upon this type of story to EXPOSE the gluttons and corporations that stockpile living treasures and convert them into EXTINCT currency. Wake up, People.

[bamabratt-2009]

Good report, these are endangered. Too bad they didn''t mention that Robert Deniro''s restaurant chain, Nobu, in London, is selling bluefin illegally and passing it off as yellowfin. It''s gotten impossible to look at 60 minutes objectively, it''s so left-biased. But DeNiro is a big liberal environmental guy, so of course they don''t mention it.

[lewiston14]

Well soon it will all be gone.

[hypnotoad72]

What about using tuna and salmon? A fish is a fish.

[wineberry]

The disappearance of the human species is probably the best thing that could happen for the animal, and perhaps plant species of the world.

[wineberry]

Well, I correct myself in saying the disappearance of the human species. What I should have said is the disappearance of money from the earth, for that is what is fueling most of the near extinction of wild animals from the planet, and eventually the extinction all of them. What will humans that are killing off animals for profit do then? Perhaps people were given dominion over the earth, but people kill living things that are more intelligent than they are on a daily basis. Someday nature will strike back in a big way.

[gerrycgc]

The extinction of Bluefin may not happen. As Tuna Steaks are now considered a High Mercury Fish. You should eat only occasionally because of the high mercury content. One day they could be considered toxic waste!

[gerrycgc]

The extinction of Bluefin may not happen. As Tuna Steaks are now considered a High Mercury Fish. You should eat only occasionally because of the high mercury content. One day they could be considered toxic waste!

[lynnk8]

I find it appalling, offensive and gringe whenever I hear people call "raw fish" sushi.... when Bob Simon did this report on Tuna, I finally had it! I would think that he would of looked up the word he was reporting on and make the correction to the world! Let''s get this straight Mr Simon and everyone else - "Sushi" is cooked RICE made with vinegar and usually wrapped with nori (but not always). "Sashimi" (pronounced: sa-she-me) is cut raw fish.

[superdem]

I saw a special on the Australian tuna fishing industry. They spot the schools from a plane, then the first boat motors into the school, throwing out live and frozen anchovies to keep the school clustered around this boat while a second ship lays a huge net all around the school. Then they catch one or two with a hook and line to gauge the average size, since tuna group together by size. If the tuna are the right size, they take the entire school alive, and put them into floating pens which are dragged around the ocean until they have their "quota" then the floating pens are dragged back home where the live tuna are "fattened up" - it was fascinating but I kept thinking - not a single fish got away, entire schools are captured, hundreds of thousands of these fish and none of them would ever reproduce. They were handled with kid gloves because even one bruise or injury to the fish rendered it almost worthless to the Japanese - yes, all these fish were destined for Japan to fetch these incredible prices. No wonder these fish are being driven to extinction.

[no_nonesense]

I posted a comment on 9/7. What happened to it? There was also a poster before me. It''s not here either.

[Dmaster911]

Although I don't like how fast we are depleting the fish population, sushi is extremely delicious. I am apart of a program called NaGISA, and our goal is to examine the causes behind the population changes in wildlife around the globe.

http://steakmeatsushi.com
http://www.nwfnagisa.com