$527 a pound !!

[Jaxfishgyd]

754-Pound Tuna Sells for Record $396,000 in TokyoJan 5, 2011 –
Lauren Frayer
Contributor
A giant bluefin tuna sold for a record $396,000 today in the first auction of the year at Tokyo's fish market.

At 32.49 million Japanese yen, it's the highest price any fish has ever sold for since the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market started keeping track in 1999.

The fish weighs 754 pounds, so the auction price breaks down to about $527 per pound of meat.

A 754-pound bluefin tuna was sold at the first auction of the year Wednesday at Tokyo's fish market, fetching a record 32.49 million yen."It was an exceptionally large fish," market spokesman Yutaka Hasegawa told MSNBC. "But we were all surprised by the price."

Bluefin tuna is prized by sushi aficionados, and the fish sold today was considered "excellent quality," caught off Hokkaido in northern Japan, a Tokyo restaurant owner behind the winning bid told CNN. Yosuke Imada, owner of the upscale Kyubei sushi restaurant, will split the fish with his co-bidder, a Hong Kong-based sushi chain.

With its opening bell just before dawn, the Tokyo fish market's first auction of the year is considered symbolic and lucky, and it often fetches record prices. The bluefin's record sale today also reflects increasing demand across Asia for high-quality tuna meat, especially in Japan and in China's growing market.

"There's a real mood of celebration with the start of the new year, and that helped push the price higher," another Tokyo fish market spokesman told Reuters.

Bluefin tuna is especially prized in Japan, the world's biggest consumer of seafood. Japan consumes more than half of the world's bluefin catch each year.

But environmental groups say the practice is unethical and hurts the ocean's ecosystem. Bluefin tuna are huge, sophisticated animals with well-developed brains and nervous systems. Overfishing has led to a dwindling bluefin population, driving up prices and triggering many governments to impose quotas and restrictions on fishing.

[Boatsb]

It better be so fresh it's still living for that kind of money.

[Avenger]

Sounds like a bargain compared to the real cost of most of the fish I catch.

[Tim Powell]

It better be so fresh it's still living for that kind of money.

We have to have a permit here in N.C. purchased on line from the feds and another to sell. The things are mean they will strip a 80wide if you are not careful. We have been catching them here between Hatteras and capelookout for about 6 years. The coast gard regulary check boats during the season when they enter the inlet at Morehead city the Beauford inlet. I am not sure about this year but seems that last year just one per boat per day. Not sure about the limit this year but there is a size limit.
Two years ago there were plenty around this year and last year kinda slim.
just a little info Tim

[Walter P]

Scrod nailed it..... I stopped fishing years ago because I started doing the math and the cost per lb of fish was obscene. Now my boat stays cleaner with no fish guts and smells. With that being said I still am astounded by how much they love fish in Japan.

Walt

[Jaxfishgyd]

We were trolling on the East side of the gulfstream in 1999(85 miles offshore) when one hit a trolled rig on a "50 wide" outfit.... stripped all the line in a matter of seconds...... Still have dreams of that trip.... One of the things I will always remember was the smell of the drag, it was that hot........
Then had to take the reel in for repairs.....
We had caught 3 wahoo earlier up to 84 lbs and they were nothing compared to the bluefin .........Least we got to see it hit..... look like a bomb going off and it hit the short rigger......

[Passages]

Scrod nailed it..... I stopped fishing years ago because I started doing the math and the cost per lb of fish was obscene. Now my boat stays cleaner with no fish guts and smells. With that being said I still am astounded by how much they love fish in Japan.

Walt

Have to agree with Walt & Scrod.
i recall a trip when my Dad was in town. It was off season but he wanted to fish anyway. Caught 1 striper and 1 blue. Bout 7 lbs each. $600.00 in fuel, 14 of fish gross, prob 6 pounds of net edibleness.

Let's see 6 goes into 600....ah, better not do the math.

[Glory]

A bunch of years ago we were having dinner with a friend, Micheal an avid fisherman. He said he "I figured it out this year bluefish cost $3,000 a pound".

I laughted, his wife "It was not funny"

JM

[Nonchalant1]

I have been to that fishmarket in Tokyo. It's called Tsukigi and is the only huge fishmarket in Tokyo. The HUGE tunas are all laid out on a warehouse floor by type and size with lots of bidders picking at their sawed off tails to check quality. All the action is between 6 AM and 7 AM for tuna. Bluefins go for the highest prices and freshly caught bluefins are scarce since most are flash frozen when caught and kept in the boat until it comes back in to port. It is an incredible place to visit.

A friend in Sarasota once designed and built "water coffins" to keep his Northeast Coast bluefin catches perfect with no bruising so he could sell them to the Japanese for big bucks. Later, he just made the coffins and sold them to other fishermen after the big tuna became to hard to catch.

[34Hatt]

I just don't get their all crazy!
I prefer a good yellowfin over bluefin!
Guess I am just a cheap date