BajaNomad - How are the Ensenada Tuna Corrals Doing?

How are the Ensenada Tuna Corrals Doing?

Gypsy Jan - 1-5-2010 at 03:53 PM

Giant tuna fetches $177,000 at Japan fish auction

By SHINO YUASA, Associated Press Writer Shino Yuasa, Associated Press Writer Tue Jan 5, 6:28 am ET

TOKYO – A giant bluefin tuna fetched 16.3 million yen ($177,000) in an auction Tuesday at the world's largest wholesale fish market in Japan.

"The 513-pound (233-kilogram) fish was the priciest since 2001 when a 440-pound (200 kilogram) tuna sold for a record 20.2 million yen ($220,000) at Tokyo's Tsukiji market.

The gargantuan tuna was bought and shared by the owners of two Japanese sushi restaurants and one Hong Kong-based sushi establishment, said a market representative on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

Caught off the coast of northern Japan, the big tuna was among 570 put up for auction Tuesday. About 40 percent of the auctioned fish came from abroad, including from Indonesia and Mexico, the representative said.

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood with Japanese eating 80 percent of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught. The two tuna species are the most sought after by sushi lovers.

However, tuna consumption in Japan has declined because of a prolonged economic slump as the world's second-largest economy struggles to shake off its worst recession since World War II.

"Consumers are shying away from eating tuna ... We are very worried about the trend," the market representative said.

Apart from falling demand for tuna, wholesalers are worried about growing calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in November slashed the quota for the 2010 catch by about one-third to 13,500 tons (12,250 metric tons) — a move criticized by environmentalists as not going far enough."

ELINVESTIG8R - 1-5-2010 at 03:57 PM

Every time I see them when I am on my way out of La Baja on the Quota Road I can't take my eye off of them. Those little circles wayyyy down there look cool!

DENNIS - 1-5-2010 at 04:01 PM

They're still here although they don't seem to be as active as in the past. There are eight or ten in front of my place that haven't been used for a couple of years. That's a good thing. The bait in the bay has been depleted to feed the big fish and as a consequence, other fish have gone elsewhere to feed and fishing sucks. You rarely hear the word, "Yellowtail" any more.

ELINVESTIG8R - 1-5-2010 at 04:05 PM

Dennis I remember taking some good size Halibut while shore fishing with my Fanta bottle nylon string rusty fishing hooks and spark plug weight on the beach side of Estero Beach. Is that a thing of the past?

fishbuck - 1-5-2010 at 04:12 PM

There was no where near as many at Salsipuedes when I went by there last friday. Maybe 20-30
Some did look active. Also there was a bait purse seiner achored nearby so they looked attended.
I just saw that big bluefin on Yahoo... wow!

Sharksbaja - 1-5-2010 at 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
Giant tuna fetches $177,000 at Japan fish auction

By SHINO YUASA, Associated Press Writer Shino Yuasa, Associated Press Writer Tue Jan 5, 6:28 am ET

TOKYO – A giant bluefin tuna fetched 16.3 million yen ($177,000) in an auction Tuesday at the world's largest wholesale fish market in Japan.

"The 513-pound (233-kilogram) fish was the priciest since 2001 when a 440-pound (200 kilogram) tuna sold for a record 20.2 million yen ($220,000) at Tokyo's Tsukiji market.

The gargantuan tuna was bought and shared by the owners of two Japanese sushi restaurants and one Hong Kong-based sushi establishment, said a market representative on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

Caught off the coast of northern Japan, the big tuna was among 570 put up for auction Tuesday. About 40 percent of the auctioned fish came from abroad, including from Indonesia and Mexico, the representative said.

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood with Japanese eating 80 percent of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught. The two tuna species are the most sought after by sushi lovers.

However, tuna consumption in Japan has declined because of a prolonged economic slump as the world's second-largest economy struggles to shake off its worst recession since World War II.

"Consumers are shying away from eating tuna ... We are very worried about the trend," the market representative said.

Apart from falling demand for tuna, wholesalers are worried about growing calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in November slashed the quota for the 2010 catch by about one-third to 13,500 tons (12,250 metric tons) — a move criticized by environmentalists as not going far enough."

Thanks Jan, more folks should be aware of Japans' insatiable appetite for seafood. They are/have been wreaking havoc all over the planet with their lust for it. :mad:

more ranting later.... :smug:

Bajahowodd - 1-5-2010 at 04:57 PM

I need some educating on this topic. No question that the Japanese have an insatiable appetite for fish. I have noticed those rings in the Pacific for a number of years, but was not aware that it was for tuna, let alone for Japanese consumption. One of the reasons that the Japanese eat so much seafood is that historically, they have a large population concentrated on a relatively small amount of land. That makes dedicating land for food production very expensive. So, just maybe if our marketing geniuses could convince the Japanese that Big Macs and Pizza Hut is the way to go, maybe we can save the fish. Silly me. So, should Japan be considered a failure for McDonald's and their brethren?

DENNIS - 1-5-2010 at 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ELINVESTI8
Dennis I remember taking some good size Halibut while shore fishing with my Fanta bottle nylon string rusty fishing hooks and spark plug weight on the beach side of Estero Beach. Is that a thing of the past?

I have a buddy who fishes the inland side of the Punta Banda spit two or three times a week and he gets a mess of Halibut every time. All sizes.

ELINVESTIG8R - 1-5-2010 at 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
I have a buddy who fishes the inland side of the Punta Banda spit two or three times a week and he gets a mess of Halibut every time. All sizes.

Dennis thanks for the reply. I may have to come down some weekend to relive my youth. I used to have a blast hand reeling them in! Once I caught the fish I'd start at the edge of the water and run up to the dirt cliff pulling the fish out onto the hard pack sand. One of the cook ladies that worked at Estero Beach took pity on me and would cook it for me to eat while I sold bait next door to the tourists.

Hi Sharks, Thank You for the Kudos

Gypsy Jan - 1-5-2010 at 05:18 PM

When I was a sprout, I aspired to be "Jacqueline Cousteau".

Then, I found out that PhD's in Marine Biology Science were hired for McDonald's wages and the work involved plunging headlong into major smelly and messy business.

I have never lost my love for the oceans and its biology.

GJ

DENNIS - 1-5-2010 at 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajahowodd
No question that the Japanese have an insatiable appetite for fish. I have noticed those rings in the Pacific for a number of years, but was not aware that it was for tuna, let alone for Japanese consumption.

The rings around here are for Tuna. Other areas have different fish. I've read that most Salmon packaged in stores is farm raised and I think that means fish pens.
Anyway, one would think there would be enough pens around Japan to satisfy their need for certain kinds of fish. Don't they have Blue Fin around Japan?

SteveD - 1-5-2010 at 05:29 PM

They must be having troubles getting bait fish for the tuna in the pens. Four times in the last two months we've seen the bait purse seiners Very close to shore, twice during the day north of Rosarito and twice at night just off Las Gaviotas.

The Japanese factory fishing boats go into areas and strip out everything. I glad their bid for their long-line fishing boats off the Pacific coast of Mexico was denided by then President Fox a few years ago.

What's the big deal?

Dave - 1-5-2010 at 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sharksbaja
Thanks Jan, more folks should be aware of Japans' insatiable appetite for seafood. They are/have been wreaking havoc all over the planet with their lust for it. :mad:

Japan is willing to pay for it. Mexico and other coastal countries are willing participants.

And while we're on the subject of seafood appetites:

Doesn't your business cater to it?

Woooosh - 1-5-2010 at 05:32 PM

Quote:

I don't know about the Halibut (same as Flounder?) bounty- but your fishing gear is up to date because every local I see around here uses that set-up using clams and mussels as bait.

[Edited on 1-6-2010 by Woooosh]

DENNIS - 1-5-2010 at 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh
I don't know about the Halibut (same as Flounder?)

Yeah...basically. A flat fish with teeth like a Pyranha.

BajaDanD - 1-5-2010 at 05:55 PM

The pen raised tuna are not the ones being sold at these auctions. Also farm raised Salmon is done differently. They are raised in fresh water fish farms from Eggs, like in a hatchery. Kept there until market. fed on fishmeal/ pellets. Tuna are caught at sea from Seiners they transfer the fish to pens at sea then tow the pen vary slowly aprox. 1knt to the holding/feeding pens near Ensenada. where they are transfered. At either end of this trip they remove fish that are too small or too big. They like them to all be the same size. They feed them by using bait fish caught locally until they reach a certin weight. They are however being sold mostly to Japan.

ELINVESTIG8R - 1-5-2010 at 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

After almost 40 some years some things just don't change. Just goes to show if it aint broke don't fix it. Or something like that.

Conservation!!!

toneart - 1-5-2010 at 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave

Quote:

Japan is willing to pay for it. Mexico and other coastal countries are willing participants.

And while we're on the subject of seafood appetites:

Doesn't your business cater to it?

Conservation is the important issue. NOT the market. Of COURSE Japan is willing to pay for it. Of COURSE Mexico is a willing participant. Mexico is doing a terrible job in The Sea of Cortez at enforcing conservation laws. I don't really know about the Pacific side.

And.....while we are at it.....population control is not being practiced very well either.

Conservation=more fish for the long term.
Population Control(education, contraceptives)=fewer people eating more fish for the long term.

You and I are allowed to eat fish, Dave, where it is available, and Sharks is allowed to serve it. However,prices should reflect scarcity.

I remember several years ago there was a campaign on to publicize endangered species of fish, and folks were asked to boycott them by not buying. If enough people boycotted buying those on the list, it could impact the fishermen who exploit those fish. Maybe they would think about trying another line of work. I would like to see this again.

It is a matter of conscience.

:light:

Don Alley - 1-5-2010 at 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaDanD
... They feed them by using bait fish caught locally until they reach a certin weight. ...

I've read that tuna pens in Australia are fed a mix of local fish, and dead fish brought from as far away as California. Perhaps the Ensenada pens could, if needed, reach far for forage fish.

Oh, also, someone asked about the availability of bluefin tuna near Japan. There are bluefin from Japan to the Phillipines. South of that, the southern bluefin, which the Japanese have a taste for as well, are seriously depleted, thanks in large part to the Japanese not honoring their agreements:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1765413.htm

Quote:

Bluefin tuna plundering catches up with Japan
By Gillian Bradford for AM

While federal Cabinet ponders the conservation of resources and productivity on the land, Japan has been caught out cheating on the world's ocean resources.

It has been dragged into line by other fishing nations after it was found to have plundered the world's stocks of southern bluefin tuna.

A report by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin found Japan had illegally caught up to $6 billion worth of the fish over the past 20 years.

The report also found if Japan had stuck to its allocated catch, the stock of southern bluefin would be at least five times larger.

While the Federal Government says Japan's overcatch is "almost unforgivable", it does accept Japan has finally mended its ways.

Since the mid 1980s, Japan has defied every country that has tried to stop it illegally fishing southern blue fin tuna.

According to Australia's Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz, Japan has now owned up to taking well over 100,000 tonnes above its quota of one of the world's most expensive fish.

"It is substantial, it was a very very large sum of money," he said.

"Whether it's one billion, four billion or six billion it is, in anybody's language, an horrendous overcatch."

The International Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna has now ordered Japan pay the price for its years of over fishing.

Its annual quota will be more than halved to 3,000 tonnes while other fishing nations including Australia get to keep their existing limits.

Mr Abetz says while Japan has refused to cooperate in the past, he believes it can now be trusted to stick to its new limit.

"Given that there is an acknowledgment on their part that there has been a substantial overcatch, their willingness now to halve their allocated quota is recompense for that which has occurred in the past. I think we can be confident that we are now moving into an era of genuine cooperation in relation to tuna fishery," he said.

"We've got to accept them at their word.

"But the most important breakthrough was the Japanese acknowledgment that there had been an overcatch and now their acceptance of taking a substantial penalty that is indicative of a country that is willing to acknowledge that things went wrong, they do have to make up, and I think in those circumstances we can be relatively certain that they will cooperate.

"The new Japanese Government has done the right thing and agreed to take this cut.

"What previous Japanese governments may or may not have done is a matter for speculation, albeit very disappointing that the overcatch that did occur, occurred for so many years.

"But I'm more concerned about looking to the future to ensure that we have a sustainable southern blue fin tuna fishery and I think on the figures that have been agreed we can be confident that the fish stock will recuperate further."

He says there is no need for the species to go on the protected list.

"I don't think there is any scientific evidence that this is a fishery that is in requirement of a complete ban on fishing," he said.

"But clearly, like all of our wild fisheries, it needs to be managed in a sustainable manner. And when we're talking a migratory fish stock, that traverse various boundaries and go into international waters, it's vitally important that the countries involved cooperate.

"And I think it's a big plus for regional fishing management organisations right around the world, they can now be seen as working robustly and effectively for the management and long term protection of the various fish stocks."

bajabass - 1-5-2010 at 06:35 PM

Being penned restricts their normal pelagic wandering. Being basically hand fed and confined, they become fatty/oily, raising the value of the meat. They are stripping baitfish up and down the coast to feed those fish. I watch the bait seiners every day and night from my house in La Mision. They get right up on the beach at times. They also feed them all the by product from the fish plants in El Sauzal. There is no way to feasible prove it, but I know the fishing in the kelps between Baja Mar and Cantamar has steadily been on the decline for the past 6-8 years. I have always released 90% of the fish I catch, but the numbers and quality have dropped, big time! Some people are getting rich, and the local guys that have fished the area for generations are getting screwed, again. They are having to fish harder, longer, and further away, for less fish. Hum, big increase in pangas and small boats being used to smuggle dope. More valuable cargo, no fish, starve or eat????

Sharksbaja - 1-5-2010 at 08:50 PM

Before I answer Dave let me say that those pens have done their job. They will just let them go when the fishery is depleted like in so many other places.

Besides the damage done to the seafloor, the damage incurred by depleting competitive baitfishes and the fact that the animals are purse seined in an area exclusive but not limited to,seasonal returning tuna, many other animals come into play as well.

We have discussed this tragedy before at length. We reckoned that these problems would occur and they have at the chagrin of the authorities.

The pattern of neglecting such fisheries by the entities charged with monitoring these operations is all too familiar. With that said, i don't see much changing in mindset.

It was refreshing to hear that Pam is still an active spokesperson willing to risk whatever. She is a conscientious business owner who understand the necessicity of enforcement and activism.

Dave, while it's difficult not to sound like a hypocrit while owning a seafood place I will say that when situations arise like the last 3 years of low salmon returns, I make adjustments such as not serving salmon for those years.

Today however, salmon runs are strong and plentiful so I opted to serve it guilt-free this summer. I wish that other countries would put more pressure on high-seas harvesting.

Shark, tuna, Patagonian toothfish, certain rockfishes, all billfish are at high risk. That's why we don't sell them. It gets dicey sometimes but I've learned to adapt to what is available and still try to be halfassed PC.

Tuna fattening sucks!

BajaBruno - 1-5-2010 at 09:24 PM

I got out my little calculator and I believe that bluefin in Japan sold for $345 per pound. How do you make a profit buying fish at $345 a pound? Japanese sushi must be veeeery spendy.

BajaDanD - 1-5-2010 at 11:28 PM

$345 per pound and thats before cleaning there are lot of bone and guts there. wonder what that fish weighs out after cleaning and of that how much is usable as sushi.

tuna pens

timmurphy - 1-6-2010 at 07:17 AM

the tuna pens suck.Our beach at La Bufadora was ruined years ago when the pens came.The ecosystem rapidly declined with the waste products,sludge,deisel and trash.The visual is sad also...we call it "little San Pedro Harbor" now.Aquaculture is fine,however,not at the expense of the enviornment.Oh yea...fished the area for 30 yrs.Now it sucks.

ElFaro - 1-6-2010 at 08:46 AM

This topic was kicked around last year?...and I mentioned back then that the migratory bird populations around Estero Beach estuary and backwaters seemed to have rapidly dropped off over the last 5 years. I thought it might be from local over harvesting of bait fish for the pens.

Also I remember reading in a thread on this board or maybe on the "Bloodydecks" forum last year of some fisherman who were delayed at a check point down in Baja Sur heading north and were talking to a trucker who was hauling dead bait fish net harvested off of the East Cape for the pens off Ensenada. Seemed to be a large scale operation going on. Anyone else remember reading that?

This Thread Reminds Me

Bajahowodd - 1-6-2010 at 03:00 PM

Does anyone recall how ubiquitous Orange Roughy was about a decade ago? Suppliers are always looking to find fish that can be sold at a popular price. According to the Australian Marine Conservation Society, the Australian Orange Roughy fishery wasn't even discovered until the mid-1990s. It was estimated that by 2008, the there was only 10% of the original biomass left.

DanO - 1-6-2010 at 08:15 PM

There were some of those pens off of La Bocana de Santo Tomas for a couple of years, but the big storms last year tore them up. They have not been replaced.