Tuna sells for record $3 million in auction at Tokyo's new fish market

Kiyomura Co's President Kiyoshi Kimura (C), who runs a chain of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai, poses as he prepares to cut a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid at the Toyosu fish market's first tuna auction this year at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

TOKYO (Reuters) - The owner of a Japanese sushi restaurant chain on Saturday set a record by paying more than $3 million for a bluefin tuna in the year's first auction at Tokyo's new fish market, exceeding his own record price of 2013.

Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns the Sushizanmai chain, paid 333.6 million yen ($3.1 million) for the 278-kg (613-lb) fish caught off the coast of northern Japan's Aomori prefecture, or double what he had paid six years ago.

A customer takes pictures of a sushi roll made with meat from a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid at the Toyosu fish market's first tuna auction this year, at Sushi Zanmai restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"The tuna looks so tasty and very fresh, but I think I did too much," Kimura told reporters outside the market later.

"I expected it would be between 30 million and 50 million yen, or 60 million yen at the highest, but it ended up five times more."

Saturday's event was the first New Year auction of the Toyosu market, after the famed Tsukiji fish market shut last year to provide temporary parking for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

Meat from a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid at the Toyosu fish market's first tuna auction this year is pictured at Sushi Zanmai restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Kimura had held the record for top price paid for a single fish at the new year's auction for six straight years until 2017. But last year, the owner of a different fish restaurant chain paid the highest price.

After the auction, the fish was taken to one of Sushizanmai's branches located in the old market of Tsukiji.

    Tuna is prized around the world for its use in sushi, but experts warn growing demand has made it an endangered species.

Kiyomura Co's President Kiyoshi Kimura (C), who runs a chain of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai, cuts a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid at the Toyosu fish market's first tuna auction this year, at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

(Writing by Junko Fujita; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Kiyomura Co's President Kiyoshi Kimura, who runs a chain of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai, tastes meat from a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid at the Toyosu fish market's first tuna auction this year, at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Kiyomura Co's President Kiyoshi Kimura (C), who runs a chain of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai, poses with a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid at the Toyosu fish market's first tuna auction this year at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Journalists film a 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid is pictured in front of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

A 278kg bluefin tuna, priced with a 333,600,000 yen bid is pictured in front of sushi restaurants Sushi Zanmai in Tokyo, Japan, January 5, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon