Tuna sells for record $1.7m
TOKYO - A tuna was sold for a record 155.4 million yen (1.76 million US dollars) Saturday in the first auction of this year at the Tokyo Tsukiji fish market.
- Published: 5/01/2013 at 10:36 AM
- Newspaper section: breakingnews
Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Sushi Zanmai, a major restaurant chain, bought the 222-kilogramme bluefin tuna, valued at 700,000 yen per kilogramme.
"It was a little bit expensive," Kimura was quoted by the Kyodo News agency. "But I hope we can encourage Japan by providing good tuna.”
The tuna caught off Japan's northern prefecture of Aomori beat the previous record, set a year ago when the same buyer paid 56.49 million yen for a 269-kilogramme fish.
Japanese are the world's major consumers of bluefin tuna and its overfishing has drawn international criticism.
About the author
- Writer: dpa
- Position: News agency