Tuna

Tuna is arguably the most popular offering at sushi bars. Many customers like slices of blood-red fish slathered in a spicy wasabi sauce. Others prefer the more simple nigiri style, which is sliced tuna over rice. But now a public health advocacy group is warning about the safety of tuna sushi and questioning the Food and Drug Administration's system of monitoring the mercury levels in fish, based on tests on a small sample of such delicacies at Los Angeles restaurants. The group, GotMercury.

The Food and Drug Administration will look into a newspaper report that some canned light tuna contains a species with potentially higher mercury levels, the agency said. A recent Chicago Tribune series reported finding that some cans of light tuna, which generally was made with skipjack, included yellowfin tuna and were not labeled that way. The newspaper cited the U.S.

UNDER a high overcast 80 miles southwest of San Diego, Capt. Tommy Holland shouts "throw bait, throw bait" as he pulls back the throttle and the Gallilean drifts to a stop. The black screen of the fathometer above him is bright with a flurry of green and orange flecks -- a school of albacore, a very big school. Deckhand David Grudzien climbs the bait tanks at the stern and tosses nets full of writhing sardines into the calm blue ocean, hoping to entice the thick-bodied tuna to surface.

Tom Rogers, a retired advertising copywriter whose beret- and sunglasses-wearing hipster tuna became an icon of pop culture, died June 24 in Charlottesville, Va., where he lived with his son's family. The 87-year-old Rogers drowned while swimming alone in the family's backyard pool. Charlie the Tuna was the likably obtuse deep-sea striver who never lived up to the taste standards of Starkist Tuna. ("Sorry, Charlie. Starkist wants tuna that tastes good, not tuna with good taste."

It's a joyous circus when the Royal Polaris returns to San Diego Harbor after 22 days at sea loaded with yellowfin tuna. Fish tied tails-up to the stern are arrayed like a turkey's fan tail, their curved second dorsal and pectoral fins glint translucent yellow in morning light. Fifteen tuna exceed 200 pounds, a trophy-class fish.

Skipper MARKUS Medak is on a hot streak. Since Labor Day, he has hauled anglers from San Diego to tuna grounds off northern Baja to slay about 100 yellowfin tuna or yellowtail daily. The New Lo-An rumbles all night under a round moon obscured by clouds. Some anglers snore in bunks, others too excited to sleep play cards or rig tackle, until the skipper cuts the diesel engines and sets the boat adrift west of Ensenada.

Dear SOS: Luna Park serves the best Mediterranean tuna salad sandwich -- so good, in fact, that my boyfriend and I call the restaurant Luna Tuna. I was hoping you could winkle the recipe out of the chef for me. Susan Lee Los Angeles Dear Susan: You're right. The sandwich is exceptional. There's no mayo; instead, imported tuna is combined with sunny Mediterranean ingredients, then layered on grilled ciabatta with an arugula-fennel salad. Total time: 35 minutes Servings: 8 Note: Italian tuna is available at Italian delis and specialty food markets.

ONE REPORT SHOUTS, "Tuna! Tuna! Tuna!" Another calls it the best week for yellowfin in two years and exclaims, "We probably caught more tuna in the last few days than in the last two years combined." I telephone a third East Cape fleet operator for verification and he's speechless -- his mouth stuffed with sashimi. Rancho Leonero Resort owner John Ireland confirms the tuna invasion that began two weeks ago in the southern Gulf of California is one of the most prolific in recent memory.

Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer sued the nation's three largest producers of canned tuna Monday, accusing them of failing to warn consumers about dangerous levels of mercury in their albacore and light tuna. Lockyer said Tri-Union Seafoods (which makes Chicken of the Sea), Del Monte (which makes Starkist) and Bumble Bee Seafoods have failed to provide the warnings required under Proposition 65, the landmark toxics-control initiative enacted by California voters in 1986. Responding to the suit, the U.S.

The federal government plans to warn pregnant women, nursing mothers and even those thinking of getting pregnant to limit their consumption of tuna as part of a broader advisory concerning the dangers of eating fish and shellfish with elevated levels of harmful mercury.