Tuna sells for Y9.63 million at Tsukiji fish market

Monday 05th January, 12:00 PM JST

TOKYO —

A tuna caught off Oma, Aomori Prefecture, was on Monday sold for 9.63 million yen at the Tsukiji fish market’s first auction of the new year.

The 128-kg tuna was bid for by buyers from Japanese and Hong Kong sushi restaurants who later divided the tuna into two, marking the highest price in the past eight years. According to market officials, 2,775 tuna, weighing more than 100 kg, were auctioned.

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Latest 15 of 17 Total Comments Show All

Heda_Madness at 01:53 PM JST - 5th January

Given that one tuna was sold for 9.63 million and there are at least 100,000 tuna in the ocean then I think the answer has to be a lot.

May be the way to beat the credit crunch is to do a bit of tuna fishing?
some14some at 02:03 PM JST - 5th January

May be Aomori people are rich, in other areas it was sold below last year price.
GG2141 at 02:06 PM JST - 5th January

A 325kg tuna was caught off the NZ coast in 2007. So the oceans are not empty...yet.
PepinGalarga at 02:27 PM JST - 5th January

Tuna caught in NZ or practically any other area would never fetch these prices.

at $350 a pound the economics are mind boggling. This is wholesale price, imagine how expensive the Ootoro Suchi would be per piece...
bakabaka at 03:02 PM JST - 5th January

For those who doubt the impending scarcity of tuna, please read this http://www.japanfocus.org/JMcCurry__DMcNeill-JapansKingofFishFaces_Extinction
Sarge at 05:52 PM JST - 5th January

"the highest price in the past eight years"

Recession? What recession?
Sarge at 05:56 PM JST - 5th January

"Are they allowing tourists in again?"

Not yet. The ban is for one month.

I'm going to eat as much tuna as I can from now until the price goes up out of my reach, which isn't that much farther.
bamboohat at 08:54 PM JST - 5th January

so how come the cans of tuna I buy are so cheap?
USARonin at 08:55 PM JST - 5th January

Bamboohat, because a delicious amount of it is dolphin.
neverknow2 at 09:08 PM JST - 5th January

at $350 a pound the economics are mind boggling. This is wholesale price, imagine how expensive the Ootoro Suchi would be per piece...

Still, the shops that sell this fish will have long lines out the front!
samsarks at 11:08 PM JST - 5th January

couldnt have been much since people wanna show their pockets out.baka
LIBERTAS at 03:47 AM JST - 6th January

That's a LOT of cat food!
borscht at 07:57 AM JST - 6th January

Unless the tuna was mislabeled as being from off Aomori. Hey, it could happen.
holyman at 07:17 AM JST - 7th January

fish is worth more than human life, maybe best to lnvest in fish rather than saving the economy
mansen at 02:13 PM JST - 9th January

First auction year sale in Tsukiji is always for the show. No Tuna is worth that much, not even Bluefin. Truth is ,tuna price has dropped drastically. I remember the days when tsukiji had 1000-1500 pcs in the market and the prices were still fair. Now if you have over 500 pcs, the market would crash. FYI- the price for a pc of fish sold at the auction will end up 4-5times more by the time we buy it in the supermaket or eat it in a restaurant.