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 Tuna – Introduction |
| Tuna has other nicknames in Chinese. It is a kind of fish widely spread in the tropical sea waters of the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. It is also a highly migratory pelagic fish, active and often swim rapidly, keeps great vitality and rich nutrition, in addition, it has activities only in deep ocean, thus free from environmental pollution. IT has always been for one of those favorite foods in countries and regions of Europe, America, Japan, Taiwan etc. known as “pollution-free, green, healthy seafood treasures” |
| Tuna – Categories |
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Tuna has about 30 species which fall within three categories of Scombridae , swordfish and sailfish . Of all, six species are of high economic value. They are blue fin tuna, big eye tuna, yellow fin tuna, sword / swordfish, albacore and skipjack. The former 4 species are mostly used for Sashimi, and the latter 2 mainly used to produce canned tuna. Tuna meat is very special, very delicious to eat it raw.
More than 96% of the natural tuna catches is big eye tuna, yellow fin tuna and albacore tuna with very few blue fin tuna, which has become the main target of resource protection world wide.
Tuna meat has special good taste, especially the portion in the big blue fin belly, rich in fat, delicious and delicate, is the best sashimi raw materials.
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● Blue Fin Tuna
Blue fin tuna is the largest tuna species. It has fusiform body, large mouth, small eyes and short pectoral fins. The upper part is blue. The fish habitats in 50 meter deep water with water temperature 10 to 20 ℃. It can grow 3 meters long and as heavy as 500 kgs. Because of its rich abdominal fat, good taste and strong color, it is especially suitable for sashimi and sushi. |
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● Big Eye Tuna
Big eye tuna is a sturdy type of tuna. It has spindle type body, blue back, silvery white side and belly, long pectoral fins, reaching below the second dorsal. It habitats in 200 to 300 meters deep sea water. It can grow 1.5 to 2 meters long and weigh more than 100 kilograms. The meat is lean with less fat and meat color is bright shiny red, it is very good for sashimi. |
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● Yellow Fin Tuna
Yellow fin tuna is the most seen groups in tuna. It has fusiform body, blue-green back and body sides have grayish yellow ribbon points, with the first dorsal and pelvic fins are yellow. It habitats in sea water of 160 meters deep with water temperature from 20 to 30 ℃.It can grow 1 to 3 meters in length, and 40 to 60 kilograms in weight. The meat was pink in color, light in taste, suitable for sashimi and canned food. |
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● Albacore
Albacore is quite small tuna. It has dark blue body back, silvery white side and belly. Knife-like pectoral fins are very long, longer than its head. It habitats in sea water 90 to 150 meters deep with water temperature from 14 to 20 ℃.It can grow 1 to 1.5 meters in length and around 15 kgs in weight, some large ones can grow up to 50 kgs. The white colored meat is soft and is mainly used for sashimi and canned food. |
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● Skipjack
Skipjack is the smallest kind of tuna and also commonly known as a bomb fish. The body is fusiform like, thick, blue-brown dorsal abdomen white, 4 to 7 lateral longitudinal stripes, 8 to 9 small dorsal fins, crescent tail, fins are light gray. It habitats in the intersection of cold and warm water within 200 meters of water depth. the body length is about 0.4 to 0.5 meters, the large ones can grow more than 1 meter. It is widely used for canned food. |
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● Swordfish
Albacore is also a kind of tuna (FAO data).It has a edge-type body with the maxillary pitched long like a sharp sword. The back is dark brown, abdomen is silvery white, it is usually active in the medium and up layers of sea water, but can also swim to 500 to 800 meters deep water to trace food. It can grow to 3 to 5 meters in length and 300 kilograms in weight. It has delicious taste and rich nutrition, suitable for processing into tuna stakes, sashimi and canned food. |
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