Record amount for bluefin tuna
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A GIANT bluefin tuna fetched a record 32.49 million yen (US$395,923) in Tokyo yesterday, in the first auction of the year at the world's largest wholesale fish market.
The price for the 342-kilogram tuna beat the record set in 2001 when a 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 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, owner of Itamae Sushi, after his big win, which reflects the growing popularity of sushi around the world.
"I was nervous when I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, but I am relieved now," he said after the auction, which began shortly after 5am.
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" in Japan - can sell for 2,000 yen per piece at high-end Tokyo sushi restaurants.
Japanese wholesalers, however, face calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks worldwide.
The price for the 342-kilogram tuna beat the record set in 2001 when a 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 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, owner of Itamae Sushi, after his big win, which reflects the growing popularity of sushi around the world.
"I was nervous when I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, but I am relieved now," he said after the auction, which began shortly after 5am.
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" in Japan - can sell for 2,000 yen per piece at high-end Tokyo sushi restaurants.
Japanese wholesalers, however, face calls for tighter fishing rules amid declining tuna stocks worldwide.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
