$$$ Million dollar tuna

These tuna are frozen solid.This gentleman owns the largest chain of sushi restaurants in Japan and its his custom to purchase the first Bluefin of the new year. Last year he paid 1.5 mil.

$4900 per pound.

All Tuna for commercial consumption are flash frozen to kill parasites and bacteria. Be it Montauk or Wanchese, by the time they hit the cargo plane they're frozen solid tuna bricks. Most people think that their eating "fresh tuna" when consuming sushi but that's not the case.

Oops! What do I know? After a Google go round, not ALL sushi tuna is frozen afterall but rather 50 to 60 % of tuna are frozen for trips abroad to balance the supply and demand of the market. I was a believer in the frozen myth for health reasons i.e. parasites etc. from numerous chefs aboard yachts. Oh well, I correct myself for posterity's sake... Long live fresh sushi!!

when I fished Montauk, Carl Darenburg made me tow them back to sea after they took s picture....guess they had no flavor then...

It’s mostly cultural symbolism, the fish must come from local waters, it is not anything extraordinary to warrant that price but it will be an ‘honor” to pay to eat that fish.

Kind of like showing off.,...

In the US, fish destined for sushi have to be flash frozen like you say in order to be sold in a sushi market. Other countries may be different. Fish just destined for the fish market to be sold for cooking don't fall under this standard and generally are not flash frozen before being sold.

Quick way to eliminate a species.

When you see videos of that famous fish auction market in Tokyo the tuna carcasses displayed on those wheeled trolley's are so deeply frozen that they literally smoke.
It makes sense to freeze a product that has a limited refrigerated "fresh" shelf life. Eradicating parasites by freezing makes sense also & that's what I was told by numerous chefs aboard yachts but I have no experience to back that claim up.

The FDA has a whole set of rules and regulations for it that are far too lengthy to post, but includes times and temperatures etc.

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/UCM252393.pdf


Here's one for Manitoba, but excludes tuna from the freezing process:

• Seafood products to be served raw must:  Have been frozen at a temperature of –20°C (-4°F) for 7 days or  below –35°C (-31°F) for 15 hours, to destroy parasites that might be present unless:  The fish was aquaculture-raised and fed formulated feed that contained no live parasites infective to the fish, OR  The product is confirmed as tuna of the species Yellowfin, Bluefin, Bigeye, Albacore, or Blackfin

https://www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/environmentalhealth/protection/docs/sushi.pdf

The $/pound values that the guys see on the Wicked Tuna show are estimates only and are subject to the actual wholesale auction price in Tokyo.

The fisherman rarely get the full price the TV show "sells" to the audience.

After this thread every boat in the northeast will be charted to go tuna fishing new years eve 2020.

As stated before, it's kind of a publicity stunt. There is a good luck element to buying the first fish of the New year at the Tsukiji market as well . Brings prosperity. Nothing much to do with the fish itself.