A 191-kg bluefin tuna fetched 3.82 million yen in the first auction at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market Thursday morning as wholesale food markets reopened for the new year across Japan.
This year's highest successful bid, equivalent to about 20,000 yen per kg, was lower than with 5.85 million yen purchase of a 234-kg tuna in last year's first auction at the market, which is officially known as the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market.
The fish, caught off Aomori Prefecture, was just one of many tuna caught in domestic waters or shipped from fish farms in Spain, Turkey, Mexico and other places.
Tuna prices rose at the end of last year after stormy weather ruined many catches.
On Dec. 29, a 285-kg wild bluefin tuna fetched more than 11 million yen, or 39,000 yen per kg. But prices have since declined because the size of catches has been rising, market officials said.
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