In Mixed Catch, NF Senior Editor Linc Bedrosian spotlights a wide range of commercial fishing-related news items from coast to coast.
Tuesday, 08 January 2013
They say you can't put a price on happiness. But Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Japan's Sushi-Zanmai restaurant chain, has given it a shot.
Kimura was the winning bidder for a 488-pound bluefin tuna, caught off Japan's northern city of Oma, in the first auction of 2013 at Japan's famed Tsukiji fish market, ponying up a record-setting $1.8 million for the privilege.
In the process, he shattered his own record, which he set last year, purchasing a 593-pound bluefin caught off northeastern Japan, for a mere $736,000. That 2012 purchase sailed past the previous record set in 2011, when a 754-pound bluefin was claimed for $396,000.
"I wanted to meet expectations of my customers who said they wanted to eat Japan's best tuna," Kimura told the Jiji Press. No doubt. The country consumes three-quarters of the world's bluefin catch.
But Kimura wants to do more than satisfy consumer demand for bluefin. "With this good tuna," Kimura added, "I hope to cheer up Japan."
Kimura also sought to boost morale last year after the devastating March 2011 tsunami. He stated last year that he couldn't let a bluefin caught in Japanese waters be sold to another country.
Normally, based on the purchase price, a single slice of bluefin sushi would cost a diner about $342, or 30,000 yen. However, Kimura reportedly plans to sell slices at a much more affordable price of $5 a slice.
That substantial a price reduction should make bluefin tuna lovers in Japan very happy indeed.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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