Sushi king pays record $3.1m for endangered bluefin tuna in Japan

A record $3.1 m (£2.4 m) has been paid for a giant bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s new fish market, which replaced the world-famous Tsukiji late last year, reports The Guardian.

The winning bid for the prized but endangered species at the predawn auction was more than double the 2013 annual New Year auction. The 278 kg fish (612 pounds) was caught off Japan’s northern coast.

It was paid by sushi tycoon Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs the popular Sushi Zanmai chain. Kimura’s Kiyomura Corp has often won the annual auction in the past. Japanese broadcaster NHK showed a beaming Kimura saying that he was surprised by the high price of tuna this year.

A record $3.1 m (£2.4 m) has been paid for a giant bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s new fish market, which replaced the world-famous Tsukiji late last year. The winning bid for the prized but endangered species at the predawn auction was more than double the 2013 annual New Year auction.

The 278 kg fish (612 pounds) was caught off Japan’s northern coast.

It was paid by sushi tycoon Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs the popular Sushi Zanmai chain. Kimura’s Kiyomura Corp has often won the annual auction in the past.

Japanese broadcaster NHK showed a beaming Kimura saying that he was surprised by the high price of tuna this year.

But he added: “The quality of the tuna I bought is the best.”

The auction prices are way above usual for bluefin tuna. The fish normally sells for up to $40 a pound, but the price rises to over $200 a pound near the year’s end, especially for prized catches from Oma in northern Japan.

Japanese are the biggest consumers of the torpedo-shaped bluefin tuna, and surging consumption here and overseas has led to overfishing of the species. Experts warn it faces possible extinction, with stocks of Pacific bluefin depleted by 96 percent from their pre-industrial levels.

“The celebration surrounding the annual Pacific bluefin auction hides how deeply in trouble this species really is,” said Jamie Gibbon, associate manager for global tuna conservation at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

There are signs of progress toward protecting the bluefin, and Japan and other governments have backed plans to rebuild Pacific bluefin stocks, with a target of 20 percent of historic levels by 2034.

Last year’s auction was the last at Tsukiji before the market shifted to a new facility on a former gas plant site on Tokyo Bay. The move was delayed repeatedly due to concerns over soil contamination.