From Quartz:
Japanese sushi chain Kiyomura paid a record 155.4 million yen (US$1.76 million) for a single bluefin tuna at an auction in Tokyo on Friday, outbidding a Hong Kong-based competitor in a sign of the fish’s ever-more-expensive future.
The buyer, Kiyoshi Kimura, acknowledged that the price was “a bit high.” It was nearly three times the previous record at Tsukiji, the world’s largest fish market, where most of Japan’s sushi is sourced. Friday’s tuna auction was the first of the year, attracting heavy publicity, so the sale prices are inflated.
Nevertheless, the auction reflects a basic supply-and-demand problem: bluefin tuna populations are dwindling as Japan’s appetite for otoro sushi, taken from the tuna’s belly, continues to grow. Japanese consume 80% of the world’s bluefin tuna, though demand from high-end restaurants in the United States and Europe is also increasing. Environmentalists have long argued for stricter regulation of bluefin tuna fishing....MORE
June 2009
Mitsubishi Tries a Corner in World's Bluefin Tuna Market
I can't recall another attempted corner in an endangered species, usually the perps sell as soon as possible.July 2009
Mitsubishi freezing fish to sell later as stock numbers plummet toward extinction
How to Break a Market Corner: Breeding Breakthrough Helps Sushi Baron Create Sustainable Tuna
As a follow-up to "Mitsubishi Tries a Corner in World's Bluefin Tuna Market" comes news that may bring sorrow and sadness to Mitsubishi.
(and is reminiscent of a scene from January 1980*)....
...*In January 1980, as the Hunt Brothers were gunning the price of silver toward it's historic high, the CEO of one of the world's largest trading firms said "Those boys don't know what deep pockets are", rather an amazing statement when talking about billionaires.
Within 48 hours both U.S. silver futures exchanges had gone "Liquidation only", the corner was broken and the Hunt's had lost their fortunes.May 2010
I'll leave it to you to guess the CEO.
Sushi: "European Researchers Advance Toward Farming Endangered Bluefin Tuna"