Locky's English Playground: 7 Jan 2011

Friday, 7 January 2011

News & Animal: STOP EATING Bluefin Tunas NOW!!!!!

Dead Eyes Open
A bluefin tuna is is displayed after the first trading of the year at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on January 5. (GETTY IMAGES)

Every year, year after year, I write about how cruel people have been to the sea animals, such as the sharks and the tunas, but year after year, Hong Kong people keep eating. Who is to blame? Ricky Cheng, the owner of Itamae and Itacho Sushi restaurant? Or the blue-fin tuna lovers? For HK$3.07M and an over 20-year-old long-lived, rare-aged tuna fish is dead, eyes opened.

CNNGo reports that 'Taste of Japan chief Ricky Cheng said that he "does pay much attention to protecting the environment"^[1]'.

Protecting the environment? My foot!

People are too short-sighted when it comes to money, and too money-minded when it comes to tunas. Care none about the extinctions of other species. The slicing and the chopping, head and tail, it is almost unbearable to watch!

People do not realise or want to admit that taking away big fish from the ocean will only harm human beings one day. They do not want to stop the killing.

Fishermen do not want to admit that the tunas are dying out fast!

For Mr Yamamoto. the tuna
breeding project is a labour of love
Image from BBC News

Akito Yamamoto, a Japanese businessman, realises this and quickly moved to farming bluefins as a mean to make money as well as saving the wild bluefin populations -- killing two birds with one stone. He started his work of bluefin farming even before 2006 and even though breeding the fish is 'a labour of love', he continues with the business. Likewise the Sojitz Corporation of Japan runs a similar but much larger scale project since September 2008 in "Takashima in Matsuura City, site of Genkainada, one of the world’s
leading fishing grounds,"^[2]in Nagasaki Prefecture where the bluefin tunas have been grown "over the course of two years with the cooperation of local residents, fishing cooperatives, and the local government."^[2]Both Mr. Yamamoto and Sojitz deserve praises and I do hope that they succeed big time for this project! The first batch of farmed bluefins has already been shipped out on the 8th Dec 2010, let's hope that the public accepts it well!

Image from Sojitz Corporation

Starting a wild bluefin saving project is one milestone indeed, but the next big obstacle is the fish-eaters' stereotypical perception of farm fish. Farmed fish aren’t as tasty as the wild ones they say, so why stop catching them in the oceans. Putting it in Mr Yamamoto's opinion, "Farmed fish aren’t as tasty as the wild ones they say, so why stop catching them in the oceans." ^[3]

A Bloody Shame
Image from www.sustainablesushi.net

Image from WWF

What is the difference between wild-catch and farmed bluefin tuna? In Judith Yang's opinion, there is almost none! Then why can't there be more farmed bluefin tunas? Time and money.

Fishermen do not want to wait and neither do the tuna-lovers. As a normal citizen, what we can do is really boycott restaurants which sell these poor, on-the-verge-of-extinction bluefin tunas for now as proposed by the WWF.

Anyway, Itacho and Itamae Sushi aren't tasty anyway in my opinions. I like Sen-ryo much better and they don't sell Bluefins anymore and I don't eat the Yellowfins either! Thumbs up!

I have been a Bluefin Saver for a long time, what about you?

Click here to pledge as a Bluefin Saver too!

"Fish Can't Speak, But You Can!" -- WWF

Actually, FISH CAN TALK!!! They understand how humans are treating them, just that few are listening to them.

If you want to learn more about Tunas and their sustainability, YouTube has a whole channel by the TunaSustainability and there is a website called Sustainable Sushi by ICCAT, both are excellent resources for both knowledge and English learning. Learn them and teach your friends, families and the young generations! This is what I have been doing!

Vocabulary:

My foot! -- informal old-fashioned

used to mean that you do not believe what another person has just told you

unbearable -- (adj) too painful or unpleasant for you to continue to experience
milestone -- (n) [C] (UK also milepost)

an important event in the development or history of something or in someone's life

obstacle -- (n) [C]

something that blocks you so that movement, going forward or action are prevented or made more difficult

stereotypical -- (adj) disapproving

having the qualities that you expect a particular type of person to have

perception -- (n) [C] a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem
boycott -- (vb) [T]

to refuse to buy a product or take part in an activity as a way of expressing strong disapproval

informal

used to show approval of something

Friday, 7 January 2011

News & Animal: STOP EATING Bluefin Tunas NOW!!!!!

Thumbs up!

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