A giant bluefin tuna sold for more than $37,000 in the first auction of the year at a Tokyo fish market on Monday, as Japan faces growing pressure to cut back on consumption of the threatened fish. The 180.4-kilogram (380-pound) tuna, caught off Japan's northern region of Aomori, fetched a winning bid of ¥4.51 million ($37,480), said an official at the Tsukiji fish market. The bid marked the second consecutive decline at the annual new year sales, after a record 155.4 million yen was paid in 2013—driven by a bidding war led by a Hong Kong restaurant chain—for a slightly larger fish of similar quality. Monday's winner, Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the firm behind the popular Sushi-Zanmai restaurant chain, said he was "surprised to win the bid at such a low price."

Bluefin tuna sells for $37,000 in Tokyo new year auction. (2015, January 6). Manila Bulletin, p. B6.