Tuna goes for $323,000 at Tokyo fish market's final New Year auction
Kiyomura Co's President Kiyoshi Kimura (C), who runs a chain of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai, poses with a 190 kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 30.4 million yen bid at the fish market's first tuna auction this year at his sushi restaurant outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
TOKYO (Reuters) - In the final New Year's auction at Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market on Friday, the owner of an international sushi restaurant shelled out more than $300,000 for a prime bluefin tuna and said he was "very happy" with the result.
The world's largest fish market, one of Tokyo's most popular tourist sites, is set to relocate later this year to clear the way for a road needed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
A wholesaler checks the quality of frozen tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Hiroshi Onodera, the president of LEOC Co. Ltd which owns the "Ginza Onodera" restaurant chain, paid 36.45 million yen ($323,195) for a 405-kg (890 lb) premium Pacific bluefin tuna - around 90,000 yen per kg.
The price was just over half that of last year's winning bid of 72 million yen and well below the record 155 million yen paid in 2013.
"I've tried to win in the auction since last year, so I'm really happy," said Onodera, whose company has restaurants in New York and Singapore as well as in Japan. "This is especially true because it's the last year in Tsukiji."
A fishmonger cuts a 405 kg bluefin tuna in front of their store outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Tuna is prized around the world for its use in sushi, but experts warn growing demand has made it an endangered species.
"The high price paid today for a single Pacific bluefin tuna should not distract from the dire status of the species, which has been depleted by more than 97 percent by years of overfishing," said Jamie Gibbon, a Pacific bluefin tuna expert for the Pew Charitable Trusts, in a statement.
"If countries continue to exceed their catch limits...the very survival of the species will be threatened."
People pose for photos with a 405 kg bluefin tuna (C) and other tuna fish at a shrine outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
The 80-year-old Tsukiji market draws tens of thousands of visitors a year to its warren of stalls with exotic species of fish and fresh sushi, part of a tourism boom that is a key part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic revival plan.
"This will truly be the final auction here, so I made sure I came to watch," said Mitsuko Yamaguchi, the 61-year-old owner of a seafood store.
A fishmonger cuts a 405 kg bluefin tuna in front of their store outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
(Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Kim Coghill)
People pose for photos with a 405 kg bluefin tuna (C) and other tuna fish at a shrine outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiLEOC Co's Chairman, CEO and President Hiroshi Onodera (L of three men in the centre), who runs a chain of sushi restaurants, poses with a 405 kg bluefin tuna outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiWholesalers check the quality of fresh tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiAn auctioneer raises his hand as he starts the New Year's auction of the frozen tuna at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiA wholesaler checks the quality of frozen tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiAuctioneers raise their hands as they start the New Year's auction of the frozen tuna while wholesalers check the quality of frozen tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiWholesalers gather as they check the quality of fresh tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiWholesalers check the quality of fresh tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiWholesalers greet as they check the quality of fresh tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiA wholesaler checks the quality of frozen tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiShinto priests bow in prayer during a Shinto ritual ceremony for a 405 kg bluefin tuna (C) and other tuna fish at a shrine outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiA 405 kg bluefin tuna (C) is seen at a shrine outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiShinto priests bow in prayer during a Shinto ritual ceremony for a 405 kg bluefin tuna (C) and other tuna fish at a shrine outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiA wholesaler checks the quality of a fresh tuna displayed at the Tsukiji fish market before the New Year's auction in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru HanaiFishmongers hold a 405 kg bluefin tuna as they cut it in front of their store outside Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
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