Saturday January 5, 2008 (Kyodo) _ Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market held the new year's first auction of tuna early Saturday, with a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna caught off Aomori Prefecture sold for a five-year high of 6.07 million yen amid tightening controls on catches and rising fuel costs for fishing boats.
A Hong Kong-based sushi restaurant chain owner won the bluefin tuna with the highest price in the auction. Its price per kg came to 22,000 yen.
The record-high price was 20.2 million yen, or 100,000 yen per kg, set in 2001 for a 202-kg tuna caught in the same waters off Oma, the northernmost town on Japan's main island.
"I've never heard the highest price in the first auction of a year came from a person in Hong Kong," an auction participant said. The Hong Kong sushi chain has opened a restaurant in Tokyo.
About 2,900 tuna caught at home and abroad were put on sale at the auction. After a bell rang to mark the start of the auction, loud voices announcing settlement prices were heard everywhere.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for Japan, the world's biggest tuna-consuming country, to secure a stable supply of the fish.
The international catch quota for bluefin and southern bluefin tuna has been gradually reduced to preserve tuna resources.
Higher fuel costs following the record-breaking advance in oil prices have forced an increasing number of Japanese fishing boats to discontinue tuna catches.
Tuna demand in other Asian countries, including rapidly growing China, is also rising rapidly.
On the Tsukiji market, prices of tuna caught overseas seas have risen an average 20-30 percent from a year before partly because imports of cultured tuna from Croatia, Spain and other countries have dropped sharply since last fall.
A Hong Kong-based sushi restaurant chain owner won the bluefin tuna with the highest price in the auction. Its price per kg came to 22,000 yen.
The record-high price was 20.2 million yen, or 100,000 yen per kg, set in 2001 for a 202-kg tuna caught in the same waters off Oma, the northernmost town on Japan's main island.
"I've never heard the highest price in the first auction of a year came from a person in Hong Kong," an auction participant said. The Hong Kong sushi chain has opened a restaurant in Tokyo.
About 2,900 tuna caught at home and abroad were put on sale at the auction. After a bell rang to mark the start of the auction, loud voices announcing settlement prices were heard everywhere.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for Japan, the world's biggest tuna-consuming country, to secure a stable supply of the fish.
The international catch quota for bluefin and southern bluefin tuna has been gradually reduced to preserve tuna resources.
Higher fuel costs following the record-breaking advance in oil prices have forced an increasing number of Japanese fishing boats to discontinue tuna catches.
Tuna demand in other Asian countries, including rapidly growing China, is also rising rapidly.
On the Tsukiji market, prices of tuna caught overseas seas have risen an average 20-30 percent from a year before partly because imports of cultured tuna from Croatia, Spain and other countries have dropped sharply since last fall.
KAGOSHIMA, Japan : Over the new year holidays, quality raw fish like tuna is a much sought-after festive delicacy in Japan. But a slash in the country's fishing quotas due to the shrinking tuna population is driving seafood producers to look at alternative ways to increase supply. A slice of otoro - the fattiest part of the tuna belly - is prized by the Japanese. Fans rave about its melt-in-the-mouth texture. The most expensive tuna is the bluefin, known as the diamond of the sea. Japan consumes some two-thirds of the world's catch. But as bluefin tuna numbers are dwindling, the country's annual fishing quotas have been reduced. Its quota for the southern bluefin tuna has been halved for five years. A United Nations agency warns that if strict measures are not taken to prevent over-fishing, the industry could collapse by 2050. To increase the supply of bluefin tuna, a team from fishing giant Maruha Corporate is seeking to breed the fish from eggs. Its farm is located on the island of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima prefecture. The area is regarded as ideal for bluefin tuna farming because the climate is mild. The lowest is 20 degrees Celsius, even during the winter time, and the highest at 30 degrees Celsius. Breeding bluefin tuna successfully requires not just ideal conditions, but also the latest fish cultivation technology and techniques. "The success rate of breeding blue-fin tuna from roe is between 5 and 10 percent. Raising bluefin tuna from fry yields a success rate of 30-40 percent," said Jun Onodera, manager of Amami Fish Farm. "We're trying to increase our production. The Maruha Group commands a 30-percent share of the domestic market for bluefin tuna. Our volume will go up, but our competitors are expanding too," said Masahiro Yoshitake, Aquaculturing Operations Department, Maruha Corporation. Maruho is Japan's top seafood producer. Three quarters of its sales come from its marine products division. Most of the tuna raised here goes to the Osaka and the Tokyo area. But they have also started to sell to major Asian cities such as Shanghai, Bangkok and Singapore as sushi boom in the region increases in demand. - CNA /ls
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