In The Sushi Economy, Sasha Issenberg details the world of sushi and each and every complex part that happens behind the scenes, and proves how sushi greatly effected the modern world of globalized food and shipping. Issenberg explain how without sushi, the world would not have many of the amazing forms of shipping that it does today. For example, he explains how with the rising demand for tuna, new innovations were needed to catch and ship the tuna. Because of the high demand, new fishing boats with on board tuna processors and packaging of the fish was created to help the meat arrive plentiful, safe, and sound. The book is told from multiple points of view, ranging from Issenburg himself, to sushi chefs, to tuna auction bidders at the Tsukiji market. Each source is very credible and the information is very accurate, and not biased or unfair in anyway. This does not go as a surprise, considering the fact that Sasha Issenburg is a rebound author known to go to every extent available to secure the correct information. He visited almost every place mention throughout the book to secure the information, research, and interviews first hand. Issenberg goes to every extent possible to obtain the best information he can to prove is point of sushi and its effect on the global food market.
The only bit of information that Issenberg does not address is sushi's negative effects on the ecosystem of the oceans. With tuna demands rising, this means that tuna is being caught at a higher and higher rate, causing tuna to become for and more rare. Although this does drive market prices for tuna up, which is good for the global sushi economy, it is bad for the oceans ecosystems. The Atlantic bluefin tuna is the largest and most popular tuna, but also rapidly becoming the most endangered type of tuna and even one of the top endangered types of fish. Many bluefin are taken from the Mediterranean Sea, which is the most important bluefin tuna fishery in the world. According to The Huffington Post in 2013, it was discovered that in the Northern Pacific Ocean, bluefin tuna population stocks had dropped an astonishing 96% when compared to unfished levels. Equally concerning though is the fact that 90% of these caught fish were younger tuna that had not yet reproduced. This means that many of the tuna that are caught do not even have any offspring, making tuna disappear at twice the rate they should be. Some bluefin tuna are selling for over 1 million dollars, which reflects its scarcity and also the continued high demand for its tasty fatty flesh, or the toro in Japanese. Although the scarcity and valuableness of bluefin tuna may be good for the global tuna market, it is actually bad for the long run because if nothing is done to help the bluefin tuna repopulate and but restrictions on fishing, there may be no more tuna left to fish in the very near future.
The video above goes into great detail of how severely low tuna populations are dwindling, and how if action is not taken soon, many sushi menus could never have tuna on them again.