Talking about expensive tuna fish, it is Bluefin tuna that occupies the top position.
These warm-blooded bluefin tuna are the top predators in the ocean.
You must have a curiosity to know why this tuna is so expensive.
In this article, I have answered all the questions regarding this, so that you get to know the reason behind its being so overpriced.
Besides, you will also get to know why everyone seeks after it, and why this bluefin tuna is frequently rare.
Who Caught The 3 Million Dollar Tuna?
The 3 million dollar tuna caught by David Edwards, charters of West Cork.
He caught this tuna in South-West Ireland three miles from the South base in Courtmacsherry.
This 3 million dollar bluefin tuna is 8.5ft long, weighing 600lbs (270kg). It became larger than the average Atlantic Bluefin tuna which weighs 550lbs and length is 6.5ft.
After catching it, the tuna was released on water.
West Cork Charters put up on Facebook that,” the Bluefin Tuna to be caught, tagged and released on the South Coast of Ireland, 5-600lb in weight and 102 inches length.”
On Ireland’s south and west coasts, 14 boats took part in the program of catching and releasing to increase the numbers of bluefin Tuna dwindling stock.
Are Bluefin Tuna Rare?
There are many bluefin tuna in the ocean.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has completely exploited Pacific Bluefin tuna (the same tuna species sold in record quantities in Japan).
However, it’s the nominal concerning species that are classified.
Pacific Bluefin estimates that between 40% and 60% of the population has declined, according to the most recent stock assessment and fisheries assessment (SFE) conducted by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC).
The exporting and supply make it rare, that turns out the cost of bluefin tuna is high.
Why Is Bluefin Tuna so Expensive?
Bluefin Tuna is the only tuna that grows big in the world.
If you want to get some from this bluefin tuna, you have to pay high.
Let’s have a look for more reasons for the high price:
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Mainly because of its rare delicacy, it’s acutely expensive.
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Bluefin tuna is expensive for the place where you are buying from and the part of the fish which you want to eat.
Frequently, you can find Bluefin tuna in high-end sushi restaurants.
If we talk about part of the bluefin tuna, then you must know that the price differs vastly for a different portion.
Otoro is the fattiest and most expensive part.
Although Akami is the most common and most affordable part of the fish, it is yet more expensive in the local market than albacore.
A big grown-up tuna can weigh almost 450 pounds or more than this, and prices vary depending on various factors.
Moreover, the price depends on where you capture the fish, but you can’t consider it the cheapest.
On the East coast, in a pound, local bluefin will cost around $20 and $40, but in the North, you have to pay $200 a pound for exporting bluefin from japan.
The traveling and the whole process for making its way are undoubtedly higher in price.
All the luxurious fish auctioned in Japan.
Catching it in a good place, managing it excellently, for more wanted, and the satisfactory quality increases the price high and helps the fisherman to get more money.
There’s a culture in Japan that believes is the very first thing you are doing throughout the year is the most important thing, and it has an effect on the entire year.
So they sell the first tuna at a high price to ensure the price for the rest of the year.
Bluefin tuna recorded the highest price for 612-pound fish sold out at $3 million in Japan 2019, before that bluefin tuna sold in Japan 2013 at the cost of $1.8 million.
Probably it’s sold because of the publicity stunt and symbolic gesture.
What Was the Largest and Heaviest Bluefin Tuna Ever Caught?
An Atlantic giant bluefin tuna set the record for the biggest bluefin tuna even after 40 years.
Ken Fraser is also known as Grand Daddy for tuna catches.
He caught this Atlantic bluefin tuna in 1979 on October 26 in Aulds Cove off Nova Scotia, Canada.
Also, there was Capt. Eric Samson aboard Lady and Misty.
The International Game Fish Association ensures the world record bluefin tuna weighed 1496 pounds despite 10 hours of dehydration in the boat.
Fraser hooked this heaviest tuna in 45 minutes using a mackerel. It is the largest, longest, and heaviest bluefin tuna that has ever been seized.
What Is the Most Expensive Part of Bluefin Tuna, and Why?
Otoro is often the foremost expensive part of bluefin tuna. The fattiest part of the tuna outside the top and collar area is called Otoro.
Otoro is an alluring part of bluefin tuna. It comes from the abdomen.
The taste of this is usually pictured as marbled, an acutely rich, marbled, and molten feature within the mouth.
Usually, Otoro is used to give a sweet taste to sashimi and nigiri dishes.
Otoro is best in winter after gaining tuna excess body fat. It does not endure very long in conditions so it’s always good to swallow fresh.
This fatty part is hardly found outside of Japan which makes it an expensive part of bluefin tuna.
What Is the Biggest Tuna Ever Caught by The Wicked Tuna Cast?
The Wicked Tuna cast caught many largest or biggest tuna.
Moreover, the price also reeled. In 2018 the Wicked tuna cast discussed their biggest tuna that they captured till time.
In this article, we already mentioned that Ken Fraser caught the biggest Atlantic tuna ever in Nova Scotia in 1979.
This tuna is a whopping 1,496 pounds in weight.
Paul Hebert catches a tuna that is very much close to Ken’s tuna.
Hebert catches a 1,287-pound weight tuna.
In 1977 on the same day, Paul’s father captured 1,174 pounds of tuna on the shore of Provincetown.
The tuna was around 126 inches in height.
Even Tyler McLaughlin caught a 1,269-pound tuna.
And TJ Ott crossed his troupe by seizing a 125-inch tuna with 1,250 pounds weight on the shore of Cape Cod.
Why Is Bluefin Tuna More Expensive Than Yellowfin Tuna and Their Difference?
Bluefin Tuna is the most expensive fish in the market because of its delicious fatty meat.
There is a part of the Tuna belly that is most desirable which is one kind of Sushi, known as Otoro.
It comes with an exceedingly high price for this fatty portion.
On the other hand, Yellowfin Tuna meat is very lean with a lighter taste, besides it’s considered a lower price in the market than bluefin tuna.
Difference Between Bluefin Tuna and Yellowfin Tuna
We are familiar with many tuna. Among all the Tuna Bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna are most well known.
Between these two tuna, several variations set them apart.
Bluefin tuna is bigger than all the species of tuna, whereas Yellowfin tuna is tinier than bluefin tuna.
Bluefin tuna pectoral fin is short but yellowfin tuna pectoral is long and its approach is slightly beyond the second dorsal fin.
Bluefin tuna weighs around 1000 pounds, also it grows to over 3 meters long.
On the other hand, yellowfin tuna weighs 400 pounds, plus it grows to over 2 meters.
Bluefin tuna body hues are blue and the tail is dark blue.
Yellowfin tuna hues are yellow and the tail is a fusion of yellow & gray.
Although both are warm-blooded, bluefins live in cool climates where yellowfins thrive in warm seawater.
Bluefin tuna is more commonly caught within the deep sea than yellowfin tuna, and yellowfin tuna are plenty within the open sea and near the drop-off area.
What’s the Most Expensive Bluefin Tuna Ever Caught on Record?
Kiyoshi Kimura is a Japanese sushi restaurant owner known as the “Tuna King”.
In January 2015, at Tokyo’s new fish market on Saturday, self-proclaimed Japanese Kiyoshi Kimura set a record by purchasing the giant tuna in the first auction of the new year.
Spending more than $3 million, he breaks his record of 155 million yen at the 2013 new year auction.
The owner even paid $632,000 for a bluefin tuna in 2017.
That is the second-highest-paid ever.
The $3 million bluefin tuna amount is double that of the 2013 auction tuna.
The record price tuna caught near northern Japan Aomori prefecture.
This endangered species giant tuna weighed 612 lbs or 278 pounds.
Kimura told reporters that he envisaged that the fish would be around 30 million and 50 million yen at the highest or maximum at 60 million yen, but it ceased up five times more.
He also added that the tuna was fresh and fat, which make it look tasty.
He believes spending $3.1 million is too much.
As per record, this $3 million bluefin tuna is the world’s most expensive and highest-paid tuna.
Is Bluefin Tuna Good to Eat?
As a part of a healthy diet eating tuna is a great choice.
You would possibly find eating bluefin tuna as the better choice.
It is a portion of delicious food that you will often find in sushi foods though you can’t find it in canned.
A bluefin tuna can have a very savory flavor when caught at the proper stage of maturity, which makes it very valuable.
In this fish, you will possibly get a healthy price tag, but it’s so worthwhile.
Now let’s get to know why one piece of bluefin tuna is good for health:
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Bluefin tuna contains about 40 milligrams of sodium per 3 ounces, which makes it a heart-healthy choice. As it’s low in sodium, it helps to stay low blood pressure.
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Bluefin tuna comprises around 1.4 grams of omega-three fatty acids in about 3 ounces of fish which are essential nutrients to decrease the danger of heart condition, alleviate inflammation, assist the brain function, prevent cancer, and help cache your skin healthy.
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Bluefin tuna contains vitamins A, B, E, and D. Moreover, it is present with minerals like Potassium, phosphorus, magnesium.
Why Is Eating Bluefin Tuna Bad?
The fact is everything has both good and bad effects. It’s not a change in bluefin tuna either.
By this time, we know why bluefin tuna is good to eat. Now, probably you are ken to know why it’s bad for your health.
If you want to lose weight you can’t consider bluefin tuna as a good way of diet.
Neither going to help to lose weight. It is comparatively aloft in fat and calories.
To consider the mercury problem, you have to know that bluefin tuna comprises high amounts of mercury.
Which will cause problems in the kidney and systema nervosum especially for pregnant women and children.
Bluefin tuna is served as Sushi, that’s rarely cooked.
Considering your health you must be aware of the reality that not being cooked is picking up the bacteria and parasites which is not healthy for you.
Moreover, the Environmental Defense Fund recommended that the use of the bluefin tuna be restrained or avoided altogether as the fish doesn’t change its toxicity after cooking.
Why Is Fresh Tuna Very Expensive but Canned Tuna Very Cheap?
In Japan, Bluefin Tuna is in high demand.
Such demanding fish always become expensive.
Since 1950 bluefin tuna’s popularity is high because the fishermen start using nylon nets.
Earlier in the article, we already see that bluefin tuna demand is high in Japanese sushi restaurants for its big fatty part.
There the chef and the innkeeper attend the auction for fresh-caught bluefin tuna.
By 2015 a precious bluefin was going to Japan for $ 50,000 to $70,000, a market that could not compete in most of America.
When Japanese need increases, very few bluefins get to the breeding stage, resulting in a vital population decrease, potentially through fishing.
Prices could increase excessively again if the bluefin population collapses.
Albacore(Whitetuna) or longfin tuna is acquainted with canned tuna.
Bluefin tuna is more spacious than canned tuna.
Canned tuna is not loaded that much during the boarding process on the dock the same day or another day.
The storage and transporting of canned tuna are cheap. Also, it can transit anywhere at any speed.
Wherever in fresh tuna, the resume is the opposite.
The Fresh tuna cost is very high when transporting, storing, keeping it cold, and selling.
Fresh tuna is shipped by the air and needs to reach in hours to the consumer.
You can’t keep it for weeks or months.
That makes fresh tuna expensive than canned tuna.
From a source, we found that in-season canned tuna(fresh albacore) cost 45% to 50% of yellowfin tuna in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The tuna almost weighs in a small portion sub 5oz/142g, and the selling price is $2-$4/can.
How Much Is a Bluefin Tuna Worth?
We found bluefin tuna for several pounds at different prices.
Every pound of tuna increases its price indiscriminately.
Usually, in the local market, you can buy tuna fish per pound for $40 to $200.
Here I figure out some prices of bluefin tuna in different pounds.
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In 1996, 250 pounds of tuna cost $44,100.
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In Japan average price of bluefin tuna is $10000, which is a lot for a fish that weighs 1000 pounds.
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Japanese sushi tycoon Kiyoshi Kimura paid $3.1m for 612lbs, per pound $1238.
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In Tokyo’s First Major Fish Auction of the Year, 600-Lb Bluefin Tuna Sells for $1.8 million.
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A group of fishers assumes that they can get $7000 for 700 pounds of tuna. They rate the tuna per pound at $10.
Final Thoughts
I hope after reading this article, you get a clear concept of what kind of fish the Bluefin tuna is and the reason for its high value and rare delicacy.
About Dawson Kutch
Dawson Kutch is a born and raised Alaskan who loves the outdoors and everything it has to offer. Kutch has been an avid hunter and fisher his entire life, and takes great pride in providing for himself and his family. While he enjoys spending time in the great outdoors, Kutch also has a passion for fashion and loves to stay up-to-date on the latest trends. In his free time, Kutch enjoys spending time with his wife and one young daughter. He is always looking to learn more and better himself, both as a writer and as a person.
