A bluefin tuna has fetched a record 1.76 million US dollars at a Tokyo auction on Saturday, nearly three times the previous high set last year.

Kiyoshi Kimura, of the restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai, snapped up the 222-kilo (488-pound) bluefin tuna on January 5, 2013 for a record-breaking $1.8 million in the year's first auction at Japan's Tsukiji fish market.

The over 220-kilogram tuna was caught off northeastern Japan and transported to Tokyo's huge Tsukiji fish market. The winning bidder, Kiyoshi Kimura operates the Sushi-Zanmai restaurant chain.

Kimura also set the previous record of nearly 650 thousand US dollar at last year's New Year's auction. He served the fish to customers on Saturday, at a price working out to more than 8 thousand US dollars per kilogram.

The Japanese consume 80 percent of the bluefin tuna caught worldwide, and much of the global catch is shipped to Japan. But bluefin tuna stocks have fallen globally over the past 15 years because of overfishing.

Although there has been some improvement in recent years, experts say the outlook for the species is still fragile.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)