Tuna auctioned at New Year's auction in Tokyo for 128,000 euros

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The head of the 211 bluefin tuna, which was auctioned for 128,000 euros

Photo: ISSEI KATO / REUTERS

A bluefin tuna was auctioned in Tokyo for 16.8 million yen, around 128,000 euros.

With the first auction in 2022, the dealers celebrate the start of the new financial year.

It is the first time in six years that a tuna fetched less than 20 million yen, local media reported.

Two years ago a tuna reached a record price of around 2.7 million euros.

But then the coronavirus struck.

This year's auction on the Toyosu market also took place on Wednesday under the impression of the ongoing pandemic.

The 211 kilogram fish was caught in Oma, one of the best tuna fishing areas in the country, on the northern tip of the main island of Honshu.

The price achieved is around EUR 610 per kilogram.

The fish was bought from a wholesale company.

"I want to use everyone's strength to get through the new year," a company representative was quoted as saying.

The relatively high prices at the annual New Years auction in Tokyo are not so much due to the quality of the fish.

Rather, the whole thing is a clever PR campaign that the local media also report on every year.

Nowhere else in the world is bluefin tuna eaten as much as in Japan.

Overfishing, which has long been criticized - especially abroad - has resulted in the species being severely endangered.

kha / dpa