A bear - sized Thunnus thynnus tunny has been sell at a Tokyo grocery for ¥ 207 million ( $ 1.3 million ) , boasting enough fishy flesh to create a sashimi phonograph record that could satisfy an integral shoal of sharks .
The 276 - kilo ( 608 - pound ) fish was auctioned at the Toyosu Market , the largest sweeping Pisces the Fishes marketplace in the world , and bought by bidder from the Onodera Group . This multifaceted tummy manoeuvre several intellectual nourishment services , admit school meal programs , although the prized tuna will terminate up in their fancy sushi restaurants across Japan and beyond .
The Ichiban ( first ) auction of the yr at Tokyo ’s Toyosu Market , known as " Hatsu - Seri " , is a major event for purveyor of pricey seafood . Traditionally held on the morning of January 5 , it ’s a lively and dynamic event in which cry out bidders vie for elephantine bluefin tuna , which often fetches exceptionally high prices .
This class is the sixth metre ( 2018 , 2021 , 2022 , 2023 , and 2024 ) that Onodera has won the year ’s first tunny auction . However , they missed out on thehighest bidon disc when a 278 - kilogram ( 612 - pound ) tuna sell for ¥ 333.6 million ( $ 3.1 million ) in 2019 .
Bluefin tuna is an vertex predator of the sea that can grow to immense size through their vast appetite and hunting skills . There are three species of bluefin tuna : Pacific ( Thunnus orientalis ) , Southern ( Thunnus maccoyii ) , and Atlantic ( Thunnus thynnus ) , the latter of which is the magnanimous .
revere for their “ rich and buttery ” taste , bluefins are significantly gravid than the other species of tuna – like Albacore , skipjack , and yellowfin tuna – that you’lltypically find in transcribed tuna .
It ’s estimated that Japan eat roughly 70 to 80 per centum of the world ’s Pacific Thunnus thynnus tuna , according to theWWF . Needless to say , this insatiate appetency for the Pisces has led to terrible overfishing . An assessmentby the International Scientific Committee for Tuna found that overfishing has extinguish the Pacific bluefin population , reducing it by 97.4 per centum . In other intelligence , the current population represents a simple 2.6 per centum of its original abundance .
There are some ray of hope , though . In 2021 , theIUCNgave an update on the species ’ preservation status , moving Atlantic bluefin tuna from Endangered to Least Concern , while the Southern bluefin tunny move from Critically Endangered to Endangered .
Still , it ’s evident that much of the world ’s sportfishing practicesremain unsustainable , taking a dreaded toll on the health of many marine species populations .
