Most Expensive Fish In The World Sells For Record $1.8 Million At Tokyo Auction

President of sushi restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai, Kiyoshi Kimura, displays a 222kg bluefin tuna at his main restaurant near Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market on January 5, 2013 (AFP Photo / Yoshikazu Tsuno)

– Big Fish: Tuna sells for record $1.8 million at Tokyo auction (RT, Jan 6, 2013):

It’s the most expensive fish in the world, and you’ll have to hurry to grab a bite of it: A huge bluefin tuna was sold for a record sum of nearly $1.8 million at a Tokyo fish market’s first auction of the year.

The enormous 221-kilogram fish was auctioned off at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, setting a new price record – nearly three times the one set last year. The tuna was caught off the coast of northeastern Japan, according to market official Ryoji Yagi.

The meat of the world’s most expensive fish will be used for sushi and sashimi, soon to be served in one of Tokyo’s restaurant chains.

Winning buyer Kiyoshi Kimura – head of Kiyomura Co., owner of Tokyo restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai – dubbed the price “a bit high,” Kyodo News agency reported. He did not specify the price the tuna would sell for in his restaurants.

Kimura is not a first-time record-setter either: Last year, he won a bid for a 269-kilogram bluefin tuna, paying about $736,000.

The Japanese eat 80 percent of all bluefin tuna caught worldwide; much the global catch is shipped to Japan for consumption.

The market’s fish auctions attract many people celebrating New Year’s in the country, and also help restaurant owners attract publicity.