The European Union (EU) has joined a worldwide ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna because the species has been over-fished. Unfortunately for sushi lovers, especially in Japan, raw tuna may be hard to acquire and unethical to consume as a result. The Guardian explains:
Raw tuna is a key ingredient in sushi and sashimi in Japan, the world’s main purchaser of bluefin. Although the ban would not prevent the fish from being caught, it would end the trade between European fishing fleets and Japan, where about 80% of captured bluefin ends up.
“This is like telling the US to stop eating beef,” said Kimio Amano, a 36-year-old broker at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo who joined about 100 other dealers – many clad in work boots and shiny waterproof overalls – to chant slogans calling for better use of the ocean’s resources.
Amano’s analogy is flawed, since cattle are part of agribusiness and not wild creatures. I don’t support the cattle industry’s practices of inhumane treatment. I do understand Amano is trying to make a cultural not environmental analogy; however, I would think the Japanese would also want to protect this species important to their diet.