Pacific Bluefin Tuna in Trouble, Scientists Say

Populations of bluefin tuna in the western Pacific Ocean are down by nearly 97 percent from pre-fishing levels, according to a stock assessment by researchers.

"We found the Pacific bluefin stock is being overfished," said Steve Teo, a fisheries biologist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., who was involved in the assessment.

The news comes a few days after an enormous, 489-pound (222-kilogram) tuna fetched $1.76 million at a Japanese auction, the Associated Press reported. Strong demand for tuna, primarily for use in sushi, has driven increased harvesting of the fish. Over the past 15 years, its population in the western Pacific has steadily declined and is now at or near an all-time low, Teo told LiveScience.

Continued: http://www.livescience.com/26215-pacific-bluefin-tuna-in-decline.html

Glow in the dark sushi made from genetically modified fish becomes the latest food craze to hit America

Sushi that glows in the dark has become the latest must try food craze across America.

Inspired by genetically modified fish first bred for scientific research, a video showing how to make the glowing sushi has become a huge hit online.

The recipes use glofish, a brand of genetically modified (GM) fluorescent zebrafish sold by Yorktown Technologies, which are available to buy in pet shops.

The modified fish were originally bred to help detect environmental pollutants.

By adding a natural fluorescence gene to the fish, scientists planned to create fish that glowed when rivers became contaminated.

First researchers perfected a fish that constantly glowed, which was then bred and sold in pet shops.

The fish are available in a choice of bizarre colours - Starfire Red, Electric Green, Sunburst Orange, Cosmic Blue and Galactic Purple.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2116218/Glow-dark-sushi-genetically-modified-fish-latest-food-craze-America.html#ixzz1pTZB6L00 

Sushi-hungry Japan sells monster tuna

A monster tuna caught off Japan turned heads at a Tokyo fish market Friday, where the 445 kilogram (981 pound) bluefin -- the biggest caught here since 1986 -- sold for 3.2 million yen (36,700 dollars).

"Many of the people who work at the market have never seen a tuna that big," said an official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which runs the Tsukiji fish market, the world's biggest seafood market.

The fish, which was auctioned at 7,200 yen per kilogram, had already been gutted and cleaned of its gills, meaning it must have weighed more when it was caught off Nagasaki prefecture this week, the official said.

"It is extremely rare to see a tuna heavier than 400 kilograms," he said.

The biggest Japanese tuna sold at Tsukiji was a 496-kilogram beast caught in April 1986 -- but the biggest tuna from the world's oceans to be sold here was a Canadian fish caught in 1995 weighing 497 kilograms.

Decades of overfishing have seen global tuna stocks crash, pushing some Western nations to call for a trade ban on endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin catch, a highly prized sushi ingredient, known in Japan as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs as the "black diamond" because of its scarcity.

A piece of "otoro" or fatty underbelly can cost 2,000 yen (22 dollars) at high-end Tokyo restaurants.

http://news.ph.msn.com/weird-news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4223047