A 222-kilogram blue fin tuna fish was sold at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market for $ 1.8 million, at the annual New Year auction, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported. At $8,000 per kilo, the marbled, richly-flavored tuna is roughly eight times more expensive than silver.
“The price was a bit high,” said the winning bidder Kiyoshi Kimura; “But I hope we can encourage Japan by providing good tuna.” He operates the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, which claims to be Japan’s first 24-hour, 365-days-a-year sushi bar. Kimura said he planned to offer the fish to his customers. Tiny sushi slices of the prized fish can sell for up to $24. The Japanese consume up to 80% of the world’s declining tuna stock. Ever higher prices cause alarm among environmentalists fearing further depletion.This year’s price dwarfs last year’s record price of $646,000.
