Horse for tuna swap

Last month in Tokyo Kelly took this photo of the menu showing horse tongue sashimi, in a very nice restaurant where we were having dinner together.

I had already red a few months ago that with the depletion of tuna stocks [causing supply shortage and rocketting prices], Japanese chefs were turning to horse meat as a substitute. I'm not sure how the taste of horse meat compares to tuna, but I think the horse-for-tuna on-going swap talks very well of the dramatic nature of the current ocean biodiversity meltdown.

Talking of Japan and marine biodiversity, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin report in Japanese on the Tokyo Pew Whale Symposium we organized last month, is now available on their website.

UNEP have also just published In Dead Water, a new report warning that Life in the ocean is greatly endangered due to the combined effects of climate change impacts, unsustainable fishing practices, ocean acidification, urban and agriculuture run-offs and alien invasive species.