Tokyo’s mighty Tsukiji fish market has a deeply unsettling sight has been visible on the trading floor as highly prized tuna lie unsold. It is said that systemically, culturally and economically, the unsold, crimson-fleshed fish simply should not be there. It is said that the market, which, for decades, has operated at something close to perfection — with supply and demand beautifully matched as prices whip around to reflect the buying cycles of restaurants, supermarkets and, ultimately, the average Tokyo consumer.
The fact behind such scenario has been a seemingly unshakable truism — that Japanese will reliably vacuum up every last mouthful of tuna that goes on sale at Tsukiji, usually raw and always with gusto. It is no doubt that Japan has to face plenty of criticism from around the world for its overfishing of tuna. As a result 20 percent of the tuna on auction at Tsukiji is now unsold at the end of the auction sessions suggests that Japan’s suppliers have simply caught way too much.
Another is the systemic problem that fishery technology has allowed the tuna to become more commoditised than the Japanese sushi market was equipped to accept. The monstrous “super-freezers” that allow Tuna to be kept for extended periods but still fresh on thawing have allowed Japanese corporations to store far greater stocks than any reasonable demand projection would require.
