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A rare bluefin tuna was sold in Japan for a record-breaking (and mind-boggling) $155.4 million yen (about $1.79 million U.S. dollars) this weekend at an auction held at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji fish market.
According to Business Insider, the giant 489-pound tuna was caught off northeastern Japan before joining hundreds of other tuna on the auction block. Doing a little simple math, that comes out to about $3,660 per pound of tuna, not factoring in the non-usable and less-valuable parts of the tuna.
The tuna was purchased by Japanese restaurateur Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns and operates the Sushi-Zanmai chain, called one of the best sushi restaurants in Japan by CNN. Kimura broke his own record for purchasing the most expensive tuna. Last year, the businessman purchased a tuna for a then-record $736,000.
Bluefin tuna are on the Montery Bay Aquarium’s
“avoid” list for both being overfished, leaving the bluefin population
severely depleted, and for the tuna being known to contain “elevated
levels of mercury and PCBs” in its flesh.
Still, bluefin tuna is considered a delicacy, especially in Japan, where about 80% of this rare fish is consumed.
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