World-famous Tokyo fish market holds final auction

At the historic market's final pre-dawn New Year's auction on Friday, a bidder paid more than 36.5 million yen ($320,000, €265,000) for a tuna weighing 405 kilograms (892 pounds). The price was just over half of last year's winning bid of 72 million yen and well below the record 155 million yen paid in 2013.

Hiroshi Onodera, the president of LEOC Co. Ltd which owns the "Ginza Onodera" sushi restaurant chain, coughed up the money for the premium Pacific bluefin tuna. "I've tried to win in the auction since last year, so I'm really happy," said Onodera, whose company has restaurants in New York and Singapore as well as in Japan. "This is especially true because it's the last year in Tsukiji."

Tsukiji, the world's largest fish market and one of the Japanese capital's most popular tourist sites, is set to close and relocate in October to clear the way for a road needed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Currently situated between the Sumida River and the upmarket Ginza shopping district, the 80-year-old market is expected to be moved to the man-made island Toyosu.

Tsukiji's closure will be sad news for locals, as well as for the hoards of tourists that flock to the market each year to see the exotic species of fish and eat fresh sushi. These visitors are central to Japan's tourism boom, a key part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic revival plan. "It's sad that it will be closed down," said Akifumi Sakagami, head chef at the Ginza Onodera restaurant.

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of bluefin tuna. Surging consumption in the country and overseas has led to overfishing of the species, with experts warning it faces possible extinction. Japan has begun enforcing laws banning catches that exceed quotas. Violators are subject to fines or possible jail time, and Japan and other governments recently agreed on a plan to rebuild tuna stocks.