Ocean Frontier Fertility: Bluefin Update: Additional Demand for Open Ocean Cultivation
My series on Ocean Frontier Fertility has previously discussed the strategic role of open ocean Bluefin tuna cultivation in opening the ocean as a frontier for population—itself strategic due to Euroman’s historic high fertility rates while opening frontiers for cultivation. Among the early drivers is a potential I did not mention, now reported by the New York Times:
In 2004, these fully farmed bluefin tuna were sold to an expectant nation.
“I’ve never met anyone who told me it tastes bad, though I know it’s hard to say that to my face,” said Mr. Kumai, who said he had never eaten wild bluefin.
Some sushi chefs here in Kushimoto sniff at the ranched bluefin, saying it yields a fatty meat that does not taste as good as the wild variety. Wild bluefin, migrating across oceans, tend to be lean. But Mr. Kumai’s couch potatoes are 10 percent lean and 90 percent fatty.
Because of decreasing stocks, Mr. Kumai’s bluefin is now sold only once a month at a Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo — for a third less than the wild kind. That fact annoyed Mr. Kumai.
A 30% price differential is quite adequate to drive the capitalization of very large “raceway” cages that allow the Bluefin to maintain migratory speeds. Such raceways would be most naturally open ocean structures thereby driving frontier development to the ocean deserts more rapidly.
