[paulcole]

> A single tuna is tens of thousand, if not hundreds of thousands on the market.

If you take out the early season prices that are essentially a buyer showing off how much money they have, even “tens of thousands” becomes somewhat of a fantasy.

There’s a reason why tuna fishermen aren’t driving Bentleys.

[ricardobayes]

I lived in a place where they fished it, and definitely not rewarded adequately. They used a really beat up 30+ year old boat at the crack of dawn, to first catch some other fish that is used to bait the tuna. I would be surprised after it's said and done that they got more than a few thousand for the tuna, in the end. It's a really dirty and smelly job paying peanuts.

[paulcole]

Yes and it’s because, like I said, that the idea of a single tuna being worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars is fantasy — not reality. But many people believe it to be true because of a TV show they saw or something they heard on NPR.

[myshpa]

https://bluefina.com/bluefin-tuna-price-why-the-cost-is-wort...

It’s true that in 2019, a 612-pound bluefin tuna sold for an incredible $3 million at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji fish market. While this is not a typical price, it shows how prized bluefin tuna is as the very best tuna fish out there.

The bluefin tuna price that restaurants and customers pay depends on several factors. These include where the fish is from, the company you buy it from, and how sustainable it is.

First of all, it’s completely different from the average tuna that you buy canned at the supermarket. That type of tuna is albacore tuna. A typical adult albacore weighs 80lb.

Contrast that with the record-breaking bluefin tuna that sold a the Tokyo fish market in 2019. That whopping example weighed 612lb!

Clearly, they are different species and take a very different amount of time to grow to maturity. In fact, they are very slow-growing. It’s also impossible to breed bluefin tuna in captivity.

> https://themostexpensive.org/most-expensive-tuna/

Here Are the Top 5 Most Expensive Types of Tuna in the World:

Types of Tuna - Max Weight - Used For - Max Price

Bluefin - 1,472lbs - Sushi - $5,000 per pound

Bigeye - 462lbs - Steaks & sushi - $42 per pound

Yellowfin - 427lbs - Canned, steaks & sushi - $35 per pound

Skipjack - 73lbs - Canned & steaks - $23 per pound

Albacore - 88lbs - Canned & steaks - $22 per pound

> https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/2021-tuna-retailer-sc...

The sustainability of many of the world’s capture fisheries continues to be hampered by overexploitation, overcapacity, ineffective management, harmful subsidies, by-catch…and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, with ongoing habitat degradation and loss of gear creating further pressures on the marine environment.” – UN World Ocean Assessment

"Stock depletion, lack of recovery, and associated loss of value are often driven by fisheries managers’ prioritization of short-term profits over the long-term health of fish populations.” – PEW

“All over the world, human and labor rights violations and abuses in the sector have been documented, and despite commendable efforts by many governments and the industry, there are still too many cases of unacceptable practices taking place. These occur not only in developing countries but also in the developed world, and at all stages along value chains.” – UN FAO

[paulcole]

I’m really at a loss as to what point of mine you’re trying to refute.

> While this is not a typical price, it shows how prized bluefin tuna is as the very best tuna fish out there.

You need to look at the typical price rather than some one-off maximum.

> Bluefin - 1,472lbs - Sushi - $5,000 per pound

This is nonsense. They essentially are listing the largest bluefin tuna ever caught and using the highest price per pound ever and combining the two.

What does the typical bluefin tuna bring in for the fishing boat? It’s several orders of magnitude away from $5,000 per pound. And remember that’s dressed weight, not the weight of the fish when it’s caught.

[myshpa]

> I’m really at a loss as to what point of mine you’re trying to refute.

I was interested in your proclamation that

> the idea of a single tuna being worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars is fantasy

It seems it's not a fantasy, and that it will become more and more common. That's what mitsubishi is betting on, and in essence what we've seen in Futurama's episode A Fishful of Dollars.

> You need to look at the typical price rather than some one-off maximum

Not if we're trying to determine if "a single tuna being worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars" is fantasy or not.

> They essentially are listing the largest bluefin tuna ever caught and using the highest price per pound ever

The table header (and referenced article) clearly states that those are "Max weight" and "Max price". Records.

> It’s several orders of magnitude away from $5,000 per pound

Sure. Even the OP you're reacting to is stating that prices are starting at $20 per pound. The same prices are in the article I've provided. That fishermen don't get as much is a sad reality of our system, so not at all surprising.

[paulcole]

> It seems it's not a fantasy, and that it will become more and more common

It is not fantasy if you believe that your Powerball ticket is worth $1,000,000,000 because 1 Powerball ticket is worth $1,000,000,000.