Here’s a handy rule-of-thumb for conservation-minded sushi lovers worried about accidentally eating bluefin tuna: if it’s not wildly expensive, its not bluefin.
In Japan, which consumes 80% of the Atlantic bluefin catch every year, a single, bite-sized morsel can easily set you back €20 ($28).
Five main species of tuna make up the annual worldwide catch of 4 million metric tons (MT) to 4.5 million MT, and bluefin — Thunnus thynnus — is less than 1% of the total, some 24,000 MT in 2008.
Chances are that the raw tuna in your €10 ($14) lunch platter — whether in London, Hong Kong, New York or Sydney — is either yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) or bigeye (Thunnus obesus). They make up 24% and 10% of the global tuna market, respectively.
The most common "chicken of the sea" is not, strictly speaking, even a member of the Thunnus family: skipjack, or Katsuwonus pelamis, accounts for 60% of all tuna caught each year, some 2.41 million MT.
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