A Japanese sushi company left the first auction of the New Year in Tokyo with a fish the size of a motorcycle, paying $1.3 million for the huge catch.
The buyer, Onodera Group, bought the 608-pound tuna Sunday at Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo. The company shared the news across its social media profiles and in a news release.
The buyer said online that the company has bought the first tuna at the auction for the past five years.
The buyer, Onodera Group, is part of Onodera Food Services, which runs Ginza Onodera and has 20 stores in three countries. Some of the company’s stores are located in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and even Honolulu in Hawaii and Houston, Texas.
According to Onodera Group, the million dollar tuna will be served at 13 Ginza Onodera restaurants in two countries. The tuna will also be served at 20 restaurants in three countries, including Sushi Ginza Onodera Main Branch and Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera Main Branch in Tokyo.
The first-auction tuna will also be available at Sushi Ginza Onodera Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto and one of the company’s newer conveyor belt facilities, Onodera Group said.
There are multiple species of bluefin tuna, including the Pacific bluefin tuna, the Atlantic bluefin tuna and the southern bluefin tuna, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature or the IUCN.
The fish can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds and measure 6 to 10 feet long, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Global organizations have been working for years to protect the species due to overfishing. However, the IUCN has reclassified the fish after populations showed signs of improvement.
According to the IUCN, the change is likely due to “countries enforcing more sustainable fishing quotas and successfully combating illegal fishing.”
In 2021, bluefin tuna classifications were adjusted due to these improvements. The Atlantic bluefin tuna was moved from “endangered” to “least concern,” while the southern bluefin tuna moved from “critically endangered” to “endangered.”
The Pacific bluefin tuna moved from “vulnerable” to “near threatened” due and was noted as being “severely depleted at less than 5% of its original biomass,” the IUCN said at the time.
These classifications remain the same today, according to the IUCN’s website.
The buyers won the tuna at a widely-known fish market called the Toyosu Market, operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The auctions were previously held at the Tsukiji Market but organizers switched locations in October 2018 to Toyosu due to changing needs among producers, retailers and customers, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
The new market in Tokyo is almost twice the size of the old one and it is known as the biggest market in the world, the organization said.
While sharing the news about the million dollar tuna, Onodera Group thanked those who made the buy happen.
“We received tremendous cooperation from Yukitaka Yamaguchi, president of Toyosu wholesaler Yamayuki,” the company said. “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to him.”
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her atsdmartin@usatoday.com.
