It said catch-size limits and catch reductions had contributed to “a rapid increase in the abundance of the stock” of the fish, while admitting that illegal fishing still exists.
Furthermore, the report’s outlook projected “increases for the next two years” in the spawning of Atlantic bluefin tuna.
The report quoted another independent review’s conclusion that, under the current models of management, “abundance [of the species] has increased and is likely to continue to increase given recent patterns of fishing”.
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Sanchez says innovative tuna “ranchers”, including his supplier, Balfego, have helped Atlantic bluefin tuna numbers grow.
The company uses a farming method that involves rounding up mature bluefins in large nets while letting younger tuna slip back out.
The stock are then maintained in pens in the open ocean, for harvest only on demand.
“They are basically dragged around without any invasive methods at all,” Sanchez says.
“What happens is in the springtime – April, May [the only two months when hunting is allowed] – the tuna come back into the Mediterranean by the Gibraltar Straits and the fishermen wait for them with deep nets basically in the shape of a sock. The fish … actually still reproduce as they arrive at the Spanish shore.
“The way Balfego fishes is the nets are connected to boats and can move in the water.”
The tuna are essentially herded in nets in a method called purse-seine fishing, and led up the Spanish coast to Balfego’s facility near Tarragona, in the northeast of the country near Barcelona. The netted pools there are in open water, 200 metres (650ft) wide and 40 metres deep.
“It takes two days and nights, like cowboys in the West moving their cattle. They can stay there for up to six years. The fish are only taken when they are needed. So it’s completely different from the fish-farming system people are used to,” Sanchez says.
Unlike commercially raised salmon, which start from eggs and are grown for mass production, bluefin tuna are massive animals – at least two metres long and weighing more than 200kg (440 pounds) when mature.
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Balfego only slaughters tuna that are at least 10 years old. They mature at four, so each fish has at least six years of reproductivity.
“Also, the Atlantic bluefins that swim back to the Mediterranean each spring are larger than their Pacific, Japanese cousins,” Sanchez says.
“They are also much cheaper. The real retail price per 200kg tuna would be HK$100,000 [US$12,800]. The prices at famous auctions in Japan are for Pacific bluefin which is on the brink of extinction, so the amount available is smaller every year.”
Huge demand for bluefin tuna in the 1980s and 90s led to a decline in global stocks.
As the appetite for sushi exploded from New York to Tokyo, Sanchez says the Japanese began looking into the European stocks of tuna. As a result, many a Spanish fisherman’s processing skills increased.Balfego might involve generations of Spanish fishermen, but Sanchez says it’s a company that is globally minded enough to have adopted many fish handling techniques from the Japanese.
For example, its tuna are killed using the ikejime method, with a spike inserted into the hindbrain and a wire down the spine. It is not only considered the most humane method, but it also prevents stress-related lactic acid from building up and affecting the meat.
“Nowadays, we know a lot about tuna thanks to Japanese culture, Japanese tradition. And that is obviously very popular in sushi preparations. Even though all the European countries had their own recipes, the Japanese helped us to understand we can eat it raw too,” Sanchez says.
He says that because the farmed bluefin tuna are kept in the open ocean and maintain the same diet as they would in the wild, there is little difference between the wild and the farmed product.
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Sanchez’s company Los Ibericos and Hong Kong hospitality group Silver Oak recently organised a bluefin cutting demonstration at Quiero Mas, a Spanish restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood, to showcase farmed tuna for chefs in the city.
Chefs Javier Perez and Alex Fargas did the butchering. The tuna was taken out of the water on Saturday, and arrived in Hong Kong the following Tuesday.The team will perform another tuna cutting session at PMQ, in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood, on October 14, as part of Hong Kong Spanish festival La Fiesta 2023.
Once on the brink of extinction, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, scientific name Thunnus thynnus, has been removed from various international conservation groups’ endangered species lists.
For 2023, Spain’s fishing quota for bluefin tuna allowed by the European Union increased 10 per cent to 6,800 tonnes.
Sanchez says the EU’s unified strategy, regulatory oversight and enforcement that extends across the continent helped nurture the tuna market back to health.
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“The good news is the recovery is possible and we have this power. And it doesn’t really take that long, but you need political will,” he says.
“The European Union was a very important body involved in the conservation of this species. They developed a policy based on sustainability, while guaranteeing that quotas were maintained.
“I think it has become the safest and most controlled fishing method in the world. We’re trying to continue this market, show the product’s real characteristics and let consumers know they can enjoy it in a responsible and healthy way.”
Sanchez says that not only is the Atlantic bluefin no longer endangered, but diners should be encouraged to eat more of it to protect the stock of other fish that are its prey.
“The bluefin has very few predators,” Sanchez says. “Only killer whales and us. When there are more bluefins, there are less of other species like mackerel and sardines. Sardines are almost extinct because there is a lot of tuna.
“If we don’t put the tuna in check, there will be no herring, no mackerel and no sardine.
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“We’re basically ensuring that biodiversity is happening. Quotas are actually going up, as we need fishermen to do their job more.”
Swimming with the fishes
At Balfego’s tuna pen in Spain, it’s possible to make a booking to swim with the fish.
“I’ve swum with the tunas three times,” Sanchez says. “It’s fantastic. You have to go early in the morning. It’s an hour drive from Barcelona. You get into the boat, 30 to 40km away.
“Then basically you just snorkel next to them. They throw sardines behind you, you turn around and see the fish coming in very fast. You can feel their vibration in the water.
“When they catch the fish, you see them snap but they never touch you. They have no interest in us. Then they just dive straight down.
“In the beginning, it’s really quite overwhelming and kind of scary, but obviously it’s incredible. You can really see the whole system of keeping them alive.”
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