Price of fresh tuna likely to be pushed up by Taliban war Rumours were rife last week that the price of fresh tuna FOB Indonesia was likely to rise due to the war against the Taliban, but such is its current popularity that consumers seem unlikely to question this. Fresh tuna is now the ninth most popular fish consumed in the UK according to the latest figures from Seafish, but the major supermarkets admit that it is much higher up their list. Both Marks and Spencer and Tesco confirm that chilled, pre-packed tuna has become their fourth best seller. While the Bluefin tuna is the most suitable for sushi and sashimi due to its high fat content, the Yellowfin and Albacore are better cooked. UK suppliers' most abundant source for yellowfin tuna are the waters around the Maldives and Sri Lanka, where fish are trawled using lines, rather than nets. A Tesco source pointed out that this method was sustainable and dolphin friendly. "It's strange, but the campaign about dolphin friendly catching methods was highly successful in getting people to check cans, but we find they rarely ask about the origins of fresh tuna," he said. Tuna was once only eaten in the Far East but the global trend for sushi consumption has led to world tuna catches doubling in the past 10 years to more than million tonnes, causing concern about remaining stocks. Bluefin ranching' whereby wild caught stocks are fattened in cages is well established in Australia, and is about to take off in the Mediterranean, but the real challenge will be to breed these fish. {{MEAT }}

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