Will bluefin tuna survive our insatiable appetite for status and taste?
By Katharine Mieszkowski Jul. 27, 2009 | This environmental crisis has everything: world-renowned chefs and Hollywood celebrities in an intercontinental food fight over the fate of one of the world’s great predators, the bluefin tuna. Pound-for-pound, bluefin is the most valuable fish in the world, prized as a delicacy at the finest sushi bars. But after decades of overfishing, this magnificent fish, which can grow to weigh three-quarters of a ton, has been so severely depleted that it swims on the brink of oblivion. Yet its prized buttery flesh is still on the menu at Nobu, the celebrated high-end sushi chain, which is co-owned by Robert De Niro, and has 24 restaurants in 13 countries. With demand for the rare tuna showing no signs of abating, the market for it has grown more feverish. At the highest level of bluefin mania, a single fish that weighed 444 pounds was sold at auction for $174,000 in 2001. Since the tuna jackpot can be so huge, it’s no surprise that the weak regulations t
