The first bluefin tuna caught off Pingtung County this year was sold for nearly NT$ 1.77 million (USD 59,000) at an auction in the southern county of Taiwan last Wednesday.
The bidding started at NT$2,000 per kilogram and Taipei-based restaurant chain Mitsui Food and Beverage Enterprise Group won the bid with an offer of NT$5,888 per kilogram.
The huge fish, which weighed 300.2 kg, was caught by a Ryukyu Islands-registered boat April 18.
The group’s chairman Huang Yi-jui said “We will take back the fish (to Taipei) but leave our love here,†he said.
The county government will hold a concert on May 4, featuring Taiwanese pop star Jeannie Hsieh, to kick off the county's Bluefin Tuna Tourism Festival, which will run until late June.
