Bluefin tuna await a buyer at Tungkang fishmarket in Pingtung County. (Jimmy Lin)

Following the end of the Tungkang Bluefin Tuna Festival on 14 July, the surviving bluefin tuna are leaving Taiwan's seas for the next destination on their far-ranging migrations. Where do bluefin go after they leave the waters off eastern Taiwan? Why do they return there punctually from April to July each year, to become the most valuable catch for Tungkang's fishermen? With the massive increase in bluefin catches in recent years, how must Taiwan repay the bounty of the seas?

When the first bluefin tuna of the year was landed at Pingtung County's Tungkang Harbor in April, competing bids from restaurateurs pushed the price of the 300-kilogram fish to a record NT$7600 per kilo, confirming the truth of the saying that a single bluefin can pay for a luxury car.

As the price of bluefin tuna has risen, the numbers caught have also increased. According to figures from the Taiwan Fisheries Research Institute, in 1990 Tungkang fishermen caught less than 200 bluefin, but by 2000 this figure had surpassed 10,000. In the past, bluefin were mostly exported to Japan. But the spending power of Taiwanese consumers has grown rapidly, and fishermen are no longer willing to be exploited by middlemen in the export market. In recent years, to attract tourists, local governments have also staged the "Tungkang Bluefin Tuna Festival" and the "Su-ao Fish Festival." Thus the bluefin tuna has reached unprecedented levels of price and popularity.