Posts Tagged ‘tuna’

3 Japanese injured after Sea Shepherd acid attack

Three Japanese whalers have suffered minor injuries after yet another violent attack from the radical animal rights group Sea Shepherd:

The protest boats, which sail under Dutch and Togolese flags, had earlier targeted its factory ship the Nisshin Maru – nicknamed “the floating abbatoir” by Sea Shepherd activitists – and had been following it for several days in the lead up to the skirmish yesterday afternoon.

“The Dutch and Togolese ships continued for several hours their attack launching many butyric-acid projectiles and smoke bombs against the Nisshin Maru,” the institute said in a statement.

The Bob Barker repeatedly fired a high-power illegal laser weapon against the Japanese crew. The Bob Barker also came directly across the bow of the Nisshin Maru deploying wire hawsers intended to sabotage its rudder and propeller.

“At about 2300 hours, three of the Shonan Maru No. 2 sailors who were readying to prevent any activist illegal boarding became victims of the Sea Shepherd projectiles, receiving acid-splash chemical injury to their eyes and face.”

Sea Shepherd have said that they are throwing “harmless” rancid butter that is “not toxic.” While it may not be as terrible as other chemicals, a check of MSDS data reveals it to be harmful and toxic:

Harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Corrosive. Extremely unpleasant smell may cause nausea. Liquid may burn skin and eyes. Readily absorbed through the skin. Severe skin, eye and respiratory irritant.

Here’s how FTV news covered the story yesterday:

We are shown some footage of recent Sea Shepherd attacks on the Japanese whaling fleet, including one clip in which a Sea Shepherd member laughs with glee as his ship collides with a Japanese vessel. FTV also mentions the laser attacks, the stringing of wires to block ships, and the dangerous use of a mini helicopter.

Hilariously, a clip of Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson denying that they ever threw acid at the Japanese whalers is played while we are shown a photo of Watson doing just that. The results of a Japanese government study confirmed that the bottles being thrown at the Japanese did indeed contain harmful acid.

The second half of the report moves on to Sea Shepherd’s recent declaration of war on “illegal” bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean. As if to openly take a piss on Sea Shepherd, FTV has one of its reporters eat bluefin tuna as she talks about the issue. After she comments on how great it tastes, the narrator explains that Japan, which consumes most of the bluefin tuna caught in the world’s oceans, would be in trouble if the Mediterranean supply was cut off. Europe is leaning towards support of a ban on the trade in bluefin tuna, but it is apparently not yet illegal.

When the report finishes, one of the news anchors in the studio shows her frustration by saying that the Sea Shepherd people really are “like terrorists” in their disregard for international law.

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Bride and groom cut tuna instead of wedding cake

Who needs a wedding cake when you’ve got a bigass tuna to cut instead:

A company in Kanagawa prefecture has offered tuna-cutting marriage ceremonies for about 10 years now. This particular couple has purchased a 100kg BigEye tuna for their guests. They don’t reveal the cost of this particular fish, but they do say that minimum plan costs about 3,000 yen X 50 guests (150,000 yen).

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• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Tuna conflict off the coast of Aomori

The Yomiuri reports that conflict has erupted off the coast of Aomori Prefecture between fisherman who use traditional hook-and-line fishing methods and commercial fishing boats that engage in longline fishing:

The problems have arisen in areas where longline fishing is banned to protect the traditional rod-and-line method.

A prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen can be imposed on repeated violators under the Fisheries Law.

In August, one of about 80 longline fishing boats belonging to the local fisheries co-op in Omamachi, based in the Shimokita Peninsula area, was chased and surrounded by dozens of rod-and-line fishing boats belonging to a local co-op of the Tsugaru Peninsula.

On Oct. 10, about a dozen rod-and-line boats surrounded a longline fishing vessel and cut its lines. In addition, fishermen on the rod-and-line boats used radio messages to demand in strong terms that the longline vessel leave the area.

Since the money to be made catching and selling bluefin tuna is far more than the 500,000 yen fine, longline fishing boats continue to regularly violate the banned zone. Local rod-and-line fishermen worry that the increased haul from the longline boats will drive down prices and damage their special Oma Maguro brand.

55,700 Dollars for Bluefish Tuna

Fishermen across the globe are driving the Bluefish Tuna towards extinction, making the first tuna auction of 2008 a record-breaker for Japan:

A Hong Kong sushi restaurant owner Saturday paid a record 55,700 dollars for a massive bluefin tuna in the first auction of the year at the world’s largest fish market in Tokyo, an official and media reports said.

The 276-kilogram (607-pound) bluefin tuna — caught off Japan’s northern region of Aomori — sold for 6.07 million yen (55,706 dollars) or 22,000 yen (about 202 dollars) per kilo, an official at the Tsukiji fish market said.

The final price was a record for Japan and nearly two million yen more than the previous year, he added.

[...]

The Tsukiji market sold a total of 2,904 bluefin tuna or 176.6 tonnes Saturday, down from 3,268 or 178.6 tonnes at last year’s opening auction.

The Most Popular Canned Foods

What are the world’s most popular canned foods? A Japanese TV show reveals the top 3:

And the winners are:

1. Tuna
2. Peaches
3. Corn

If one were to line up all the cans of tuna consumed each year, they could circle the earth quite a few times. (Apparently there are still some tuna fish left in the ocean after all this consumption.)