Bluefin tuna is a sushi favorite but it comes with a hefty environmental price. "This is not the perfect fish," the producers of the food series The Perennial Plate explain, introducing their latest episode (below). "It can hardly be considered sustainable (they eat a lot of other fish) ... [and] we are dangerously close to killing the last of the wild bluefin tuna."

Traveling across Japan in its third season, the series makes a stop at Kinki University's Fisheries Laboratory to learn about the pros and cons of farm-raised tuna. "I don't regard myself as a conservationist," the fishery's rep says. "Maybe a middle-aged man who loves raising fish." He takes pride in his work but says even people who cultivate tuna only eat it "once or twice a year." According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, however, it's best to avoid it altogether.

The Perennial Plate was created by Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine, a two-person producer/shooter/editor team. Check out more episodes from the series on the Atlantic Video channel, and don't miss the kaleidoscopic introduction to their Japan series below. 

For more information about The Perennial Plate, visit http://www.theperennialplate.com/.