TOKYO – A bluefin tuna sold for a record $1.76 million at a Tokyo auction Saturday, nearly three times the previous high set last year.

In the year’s first auction at the Tsukiji fish market, the 489-pound tuna caught off northeastern Japan sold for 155.4 million yen, a market official said.

The fish’s tender pink and red meat is prized for sushi and sashimi, but bluefin tuna stocks have fallen globally over the past 15 years amid overfishing.

The winning bidder, Kiyoshi Kimura, president of Kiyomura Co., which operates the Sushi-Zanmai restaurant chain, said he was planning to serve the fish to customers later Saturday.

 


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