A bluefin tuna sold for a record $736,000 in Japan, which nearly doubled last year’s top price.
The tuna is used for making what is considered the best sushi. This year’s winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns a sushi restaurant chain, according to Australia’s News Limited.
The tuna weighed 539 pounds and is also the record sale by weight, making it $1,365 per pound.
“The flesh is colored in magnificent red and the quality of fat is very good,” Kimura told News Limited. “It is very delicious. The taste is unbeatable.”
Last year, a Hong Kong sushi restaurant owner won the previous record tuna. Kimura said, “I wanted to win the best tuna so that Japanese customers, not overseas, can enjoy it.”
Japan eats three-quarters of all global bluefin tuna caught each year. However, overfishing in recent years has prompted some Western countries to call for a ban on the fishing of the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.
