Japanese Sushi Chain Buys One Bluefin Tuna For $736K

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Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the Japanese chain Sushi-Zanmai, bought a 593-pound bluefin tuna for $736,000, making it the most expensive single fish ever purchased. The previous record was held by a fish that went for $416,000. Why is bluefin tuna so expensive, you ask? Because there are only twelve of them left (there are more than twelve of them left) and governments have been placing strict limits on how many may be fished each season.

Anyway, Kimura says he bought the fish to cheer up his Japanese customers after last year's earthquake: "Japan has been through a lot the last year due to the disaster...Japan needs to hang in there." Sushi-Zanmai is selling pieces of the fish for $5.45 a pop til it runs out.

· A Single Fish Sells For Nearly Three-Quarters of a Million Dollars [AP]
· All Bluefin Tuna Coverage on Eater [-E-]