Bluefin Tuna Off Aomori Prefecture Fetches 155 Million Yen in First Auction of the Year at Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo

It is the highest ever price fetched. The bluefin tuna was caught off the coast of Ooma, Aomori Prefecture. A nuclear power plant is being constructed in Ooma.

The construction was halted after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, but Yukio Edano, then-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, allowed the restart of construction at Ooi in September last year.

The town of Ooma is very famous for its excellent tuna, and part of the opposition to the nuclear power plant there is because of potential danger the exhaust water from the plant may pose to marine life.

Oh well. Aomori Prefecture is solidly an LDP territory, with Higashidori Nuclear Power Plant and Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant already in place. They want more nuclear subsidies. So what the prized tuna fish goes bust?

From Nikkei Shinbun (1/5/2012):

新春恒例の初セリが５日、東京・築地市場で開かれ、青森・大間産のクロマグロが１キロあたり70万円、１匹１億5540万円の史上最高値で競り落とされた。これまでの最高値は昨年の5649万円（キロ21万円）。落札者は昨年に続き、すし専門店「すしざんまい」を展開する喜代村（東京・中央）。

The first auction of the year was held at Tsukiji Market in Tokyo on January 5. Fluefin tuna caught in Ooma, Aomori fetched 700,000 yen [US$8,000] per kilogram, or 155.4 million yen [US$1.78 million] for the whole fish, the highest ever in history. Before this year, 56.49 million yen per fish (210,000 yen per kilo) was the highest. The winning bidder was the same as the last year's winning bidder, sushi shop Kiyomura (Chuo-ku, Tokyo) with "Sushizanmai" sushi chain.

This is the photo of the 155 million yen tuna (from Nikkei article above):

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