April 10, 2014 — New York may someday get another sushi restaurant with an unusual owner: a Japanese university.
A-marine Kindai Co., a company started by Kinki University in western Japan, says it hopes to open a restaurant in the Big Apple to serve farm-raised Pacific bluefin tuna, although it is more a wish than a specific plan at this point. Kinki University and others promoting tuna farming say their methods can help meet booming demand for sushi world-wide while alleviating overfishing.
A public relations representative for the university said the institution’s tuna had already found popularity in American restaurants, leading to the idea of the university opening its own restaurant someday. “Iron Chef” personality and chef Masaharu Morimoto has served the fish at his eatery, she said.
Kinki University already has two restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka.
Japan harvested over 70% of the bluefin tuna caught in the Pacific in 2010, according to government data. In recent years, however, U.S. fish aficionados have also warmed to the taste of the fish’s fatty belly, known as toro.
A 50% rise in world tuna catches over the last two decades has raised concerns by international fisheries organizations about populations collapsing and sparked interest in farm fishing.
Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal