754lb Tuna Fetches Record $396,000 in Japan
- Posted on January 6, 2011 at 7:17am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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TOKYO (AP) — A giant bluefin tuna fetched a record 32.49 million yen, or nearly $396,000, in Tokyo on Wednesday, in the first auction of the year at the world’s largest wholesale fish market.
The price for the 754-pound (342-kilogram) tuna beat the previous record set in 2001 when a 445-pound (202-kilogram) fish sold for 20.2 million yen, a spokesman for Tsukiji market said.
“It was an exceptionally large fish,” said the official, Yutaka Hasegawa. “But we were all surprised by the price.”
The massive tuna was bought and shared by the same duo that won the bidding for last year’s top fish: the owners of Kyubey, an upscale sushi restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza district, and Itamae Sushi, a casual, Hong Kong-based chain.
Reporters thronged Hong Kong entrepreneur Ricky Cheng after his big win, which reflects the growing popularity of sushi around the world, particularly in Asia.
“I was nervous when I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, but I am relieved now,” he said after the auction, which began shortly after 5 a.m.
The giant tuna, caught off the coast of northern Japan, was among 538 shipped in from around the world for Wednesday’s auction.
The record-setting price translates to a whopping 95,000 yen per kilogram, or about $526 per pound.
Japan is the world’s biggest consumer of seafood, with Japanese eating 80 percent of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefins caught. The two tuna species are the most sought-after by sushi lovers.
Fatty bluefin — called “o-toro” here — can sell for 2,000 yen ($24) per piece at high-end Tokyo sushi restaurants.
Japanese wholesalers, however, face growing calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks worldwide.
In November, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas voted to cut the bluefin fishing quota in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean from 13,500 to 12,900 metric tons annually — about a 4 percent reduction. It also agreed on measures to try to improve enforcement of quotas on bluefin.
The decision was strongly criticized by environmental groups, which hoped to see bluefin fishing slashed or suspended.
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AR485
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 2:08pmRIP Charlie!
Report Post »Speak without Fear
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 7:19amPIGLOUSY……..is green with envy. Watch out……she will claim that is hers.
Report Post »IVillageIdiot
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:10pmThat…. is about 1.5 houses…. swimming around…..
How difficult are those to catch?
Report Post »Constitutional
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:06pmAfter the tuna purchase, an enterprising Japanese bystander might have sold them a 50 million yen jar of mayo.
Report Post »kissmyasthma77
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 5:37pmWow
Report Post »eMinistry
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 2:01pmWow!! Who said inflation?? Hahahahlol…it made me feel like going out for Sushi…Yum!!
Report Post »catndahat
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 12:34pmMassive mercury levels…
Report Post »Sgt.Crust
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:10amCharlie is moving up in the world, where is my fishing pole??!!
Report Post »Sgt.Crust
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 11:04amCharlie is moving up in the world, where is my fishing rod??!!
Report Post »sjohn70037
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:31amGee, more “real” “significant” news. I can tell a HuffPo is running things already. Who is in charge of content on this site? Megan Kelly?
Report Post »clipper
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 6:56pmMegyn idiot.
Report Post »hughglass
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:43amLooks to me like more advertisnig than anything else. My math says if 90% is saleable and a $24.00 “piece” weighs an ounce, the retail value of this guy on a plate, in a “high end” sushi retsaurant is about $260,000! What am I missing? Math has never been my strong suit.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 3:36pmI may have fuzzier math cause I came up with like $10k per pound at $30 a slice……
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:23amSorry Charlie, Star-Kist doesn’t want tuna with good taste… It wants tuna that tastes good!
Report Post »clipper@work
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:45amHoly mackeral,time to buy a tuna fishing boat.
Report Post »shorthanded12
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:36amBetter hope none of that tuna hits the U.S. shores, TAX Cheat Geithner will be at the docks collecting pre tax on it…LOL
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 7:37amPacking stuff and going fishing!
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:19amIf we can just get the Japanese to start eating sushi made from bass, we can all be stinking rich!! And I can then deduct the expense of my bass boat as a business expense!…
Report Post »harleydude
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 7:35amthey’re going to make a killing from the sushi in that fish. um um good.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 3:34pmabout $10k per pound!
Report Post »YellowFin
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 4:01pmHow much for a yellowfin tuna?
Report Post »YellowFin
Posted on January 7, 2011 at 9:59pmOK, no one wants to embarrass me, thank you.
I already know, the only thing a yellowfin is good for is to be placed in a can.
I sure wish I could have been a bluefin. I could have been a contender! sigh!
Report Post »conservativeme
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 7:30amThere is just something fishy about that . . .
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:15amHmm….a fish sell for this much?!! Guess my wife will soon be hoping I go fishing all the time, instead of complaining so much…..Life is good!!!!
Report Post »mtnclimberjim
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:21amI caught a Steel Head yesterday, does that count?
Report Post »Xcori8r
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 9:02amJackpot! The wife put a tuna fish on toast sandwich in the brown bag today. I ought to get enough for this thing on Ebay for a trip to Vegas.
Whoa! There’s an image of Jesus on the toast. Make that a trip to Macau.
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:37amLet me grab my pole and line while chartering a big boat; riches of the tuna kind, here I come…
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm
Report Post »Cliff
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 10:55ammmmmmmmmm yummy Toro!!!!! I love toro!!!!
I pay about 10-15.00 for Toro negiri which is two slices on rice… best taste and texture IMHO.
Toro Sashimi would be no rice and about 5 slices and that runs about 30.00+ depending where you buy. It is best to get it in season which is winter time… as toro is the fatty meat on the belly of the tuna. During the winter the tuna gets fatter to combat the cold and … OMG did I say I love Toro!!! Anyways, the red meat tuna is Maguro and I do not like that so it depends on your taste… if you have never tried it, you must. and also if you do not like cooked fish, you should try sushi as it is different in taste and texture (I hate cooked fish)!!! now I am going to have sushi for lunch!!! :)
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 3:36pmThe liberal jerks worry about the small amount of green house gas we put out while countries like China/Japan/India/Russia/Cuba/UAE rape our planet and are praised.
Report Post »SusanKoble
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 8:29pmA fish that big has to have lots of mercury in it. Perhaps they are going to extract the mercury to make light bulbs or something….
Report Post »GeauxAlready
Posted on January 6, 2011 at 7:24amWonder how much I could get for a fat lady on a little scooter? I swear I only saw the wheels, I don’t know how the scooter was moving.
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