A bluefin tuna sold for a staggering $1.3 million at a predawn auction in Tokyo on Sunday, making it one of the most expensive tuna ever sold in sushi history.
The 608-pound fish, which weighs roughly as much as a typical male grizzly bear, was caught off the coast of Oma in Japan’s northern Aomori prefecture on Saturday morning, as reported by Japan’s Kyodo News agency. The tuna was purchased by the Onodera Group, a Michelin-starred Japanese sushi restaurant chain, for 207 million yen.
Tokyo’s Toyosu Market, one of the largest wholesale fish markets in the world, is known for its high-priced auctions, especially the first one of the year, which typically attracts extraordinary bids.
According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, the auction began shortly after 5 a.m., with both fresh and frozen tuna being sought after by bidders from Japan and abroad. This year, the prized tuna fetched more than $2,100 per pound, making each sashimi slice incredibly costly.
“It was as fat as a cow,” 73-year-old fisherman Masahiro Takeuchi shared with reporters in Oma, recalling his excitement upon seeing the giant tuna caught on a longline.
The Onodera Group, which has won the auction for five consecutive years, said it bought the tuna in partnership with seafood wholesaler Yamayuk. The fish will be made available on the sushi menus of 13 of Onodera’s restaurants.
Photographs from the event showed sushi chefs carefully preparing the massive fish into slices for customers at a Tokyo location of the Onodera chain.
Oma tuna, a variety of Pacific bluefin, is highly regarded by sushi chefs and is often called the “black diamond” of tuna. Its diet, which includes squid and fatty saury fish, and its cold-water habitat contribute to its ideal fat balance, making it a favorite ingredient for sashimi.
Typically, this tuna is caught in the Tsugaru Strait, where it migrates between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. The tuna are captured using traditional pole and line techniques rather than the more common trawling nets used for catching Pacific bluefin.
Oma is renowned for being “Japan’s Most Famous Tuna Town,” as advertised by its tourist board. In 2019, a 613-pound tuna from Oma set the record for the most expensive fish ever sold at the Tokyo market, reaching a price of $3.1 million.
Pacific bluefin tuna are among the largest and fastest fish in the world, known for their extraordinary migratory journey, traveling between the shores of Japan and California.
Japan, alongside other tuna-fishing nations, reached a historic agreement in 2017 to impose strict fishing quotas on the species after overfishing caused its population to drop to less than 3 percent of historical levels.
These international efforts appear to be paying off. According to the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, the Pacific bluefin population had recovered to nearly a quarter of its unfished levels by 2022, surpassing the target set for 2034.
NOAA Fisheries in the U.S. also reported that fishing limits have allowed younger fish to multiply and accelerated the species’ recovery.