From The Washington Post:
By Simon Denyer and
Akiko Kashiwagi
January 5 at 4:00 AM
TOKYO – A bluefin tuna sold for a record $3.1 million at the first auction of the year at Tokyo's new fish market on Saturday, but behind the celebrations hides a worrying tale of overfishing and dwindling stocks.
Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns the Sushi Zanmai restaurant chain, paid 333.6 million yen for the 613-lb (278-kg) fish at the first auction of the year, and the first to be held at Tokyo's new Toyosu fish market after last year's the move from the famous Tsukiji market.
The price at the predawn auction was nearly 10 times higher than the price paid at last year's auction — albeit for a considerably smaller fish — and roughly double the previous record, also set by Kimura, in 2013. There was an intense bidding war with a rival buyer who had won last year.
The winner said he was "very satisfied with the quality" of the fish, but admitted he had paid much more than he had expected.