Fisherman’s Fortune: The $736,700 Tuna
By: 'Like Winning the Lotto'
While the $736,700 Bluefin was an exceptional find, such fish bring in an impressive haul only when they're handled in the right way.
On August 3, Irish fisherman Tom Kennedy caught a Bluefin off the coastal town of Dingle. It didn’t quite measure up to the Oma catch, but it was pretty impressive nonetheless, weighing in at 308 pounds.
Unfortunately, he was unable to sell his catch in Japan and live off the proceeds. Japanese regulations require that any fish to be used in sushi must be frozen within 20 minutes of being caught, which Kennedy sadly failed to do.
Kevin Flannery, director of the Dingle Oceanworld aquarium, told The Irish Sun that Kennedy now stood to earn only "a few hundred Euro," and would have been singing a happier tune if he had been able to sell it in Japan. "It would be like winning the lotto," Flannery said. "Bluefin tuna is the most expensive commercially caught fish."
Flannery tried to put a happy face on the scenario, saying that Japan’s loss was now Ireland’s gain. Local fish and chips shops would have plenty of delicious Bluefin on hand to enjoy for the entire week.
Black Market Delicacy
As the discriminating gourmand is no doubt aware, the beluga sturgeon from the Caspian Sea is the source of beluga caviar, a luxury commodity that’s synonymous with high-end elegance. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as "critically endangered," the highest-risk category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and the caviar was banned in the United States by the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2005.