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Giant tuna
sells for $177,000 at Japan fish auction!
TOKYO_ A giant bluefin tuna
sold for16.3 million yen ($177,000)
in an auction Tuesday at the world's largest wholesale
fish market in Japan.
The 513-pound (233-kilogram) fish was the priciest
since 2001 when a 440-pound (200 kilogram) tuna sold for a
record 20.2 million yen ($220,000) at Tokyo's
Tsukiji market.
The gargantuan tuna was bought
and shared by the owners
of two Japanese sushi restaurants and one
Hong Kong-based sushi establishment,
said a market representative
on condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to disclose
the information.
Caught off
the coast of northern Japan, the big tuna was among
570 put up for auction Tuesday.
About 40 percent of the auctioned fish came
from abroad,
*including from
Indonesia and Mexico,
the representative said.
Japan is the world's biggest consumer
of seafood with Japanese
eating 80 percent of the Atlantic
and Pacific bluefins caught.
The two tuna species are the
most sought after by sushi lovers.
However, tuna consumption in
Japan has declined because of
a prolonged economic slump as
the world's second-largest economy struggles
to shake off its worst
recession since World War II.
"Consumers are shying away from
eating tuna ... We are very worried about the trend,"
the market representative said.
*Apart
from falling demand for tuna, wholesalers are worried
about growing calls for
tighter fishing rules
amid declining tuna stocks.
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