【One on One Lessons Where You Learn Through Hands on Caressing】

A $600,One on One Lessons Where You Learn Through Hands on Caressing000 price tag may seem mighty high for just one giant bluefin tuna.

But if every torpedo-shaped tuna cost that much, perhaps the species wouldn't be teetering on the edge of extinction.

A Japanese sushi chain boss paid just such a price on Thursday at Tokyo's 80-year-old Tsukiji fish market.

SEE ALSO: Russian deep-sea fisherman's Twitter feed is filled with nightmares

Kiyoshi Kimura, who owns Kiyomura Corp., bid a winning 74.2 million yen ($632,000) for a bluefin tuna that, at 212 kilograms (466 pounds), weighed as much as two or three people.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

This year's winning bid is the second highest in the auction's history. In 2013, the same sushi chain paid a record 155.4 million yen ($1.76 million) for a 222-kilogram tuna.

The Tsukiji auction is among the biggest of Japan's New Year's holiday traditions.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

But the star of the show is increasingly threatened by overfishing, which is driven by surging sushi consumption in Japan and around the world.

The Pacific bluefin tuna's population has plunged by more than 97 percent from its historic levels, the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean said in a 2016 assessment.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Stocks of Southern and Atlantic bluefin tuna have also dropped over the past 15 years amid rising demand for the pink- to red-fleshed fish.

In response, global fishing regulators tightened international limits in 2015, halving the amount of bluefin tuna under 30 kilograms that was caught compared to the average caught between 2002 and 2004.

But overfishing, illegal fishing and lax regulations have continued in some areas and threaten to undermine efforts to protect the species, experts say.

In the United States, conservation groups are pushing to grant the Pacific bluefin tuna protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

The National Marine Fisheries Service last fall said such protection may be warranted in the face of the species' staggering decline.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

---

Featured Video For You

---

See this terrifying swarm of sardines take over the San Diego shoreline

---

Topics Sustainability

• Life
• Social Good
• Shopping
• Games
• Deals
• Tech
• Entertainment
• Digital Culture

• Apple is actively looking at AI search for Safari
• Maisie Williams getting wildly excited about 'Bake Off' is all of us
• Grandmother creates emoji to better reflect older people
• Man returns to his car to find a koala chilling in air
• Reality Distortion Field: 10 Things Apple Won't Directly Say But We'll Infer About the iPhone X
• 'The Simpsons' and Deadpool celebrate the completion of the Disney
• NASA photos capture historic flooding of critical U.S. Air Force base
• 'The Simpsons' and Deadpool celebrate the completion of the Disney
• Apple iPhone 17 Pro leaks highlight major new design change
• Apple store is down, new iMac and iPad could be on their way

• Hmm, here is some very disturbing nail art based on Kylie Jenner's baby's hand
• Google Meet can now translate speech and turn it into captions on the fly
• Programmer pleads guilty to advising North Korea on evading sanctions via cryptocurrency
• Troll gets trolled with some quality sign Photoshopping
• The Galaxy Watch 4 is really nice. I'm not sure I need it.
• Gucci serves 'Game of Thrones' realness on the runway with Khaleesi
• Kylie Jenner is launching a makeup collection inspired by her daughter, Stormi
• Ski ballet is the magnificently weird Olympic sport that deserved better
• Amazon Echo Show 15 is a smart speaker, picture frame, and TV
• Facebook offers up a $50 million distraction as it plots its metaverse

• Asus VivoWatch 6 AERO measures blood pressure and ECG
• Hillary Clinton is holding her election party under a literal glass ceiling
• Uber has a plan to make flying cars a reality
• GOP senator attacks his opponent, a war hero, for her Asian heritage
• NYT Connections hints and answers for May 18: Tips to solve 'Connections' #707.
• The 5 most obnoxious things from Devin Nunes's lawsuit against Twitter
• Ford goes all in on autonomous vehicles with new factory
• UberEats has surge pricing now
• The Anatomy of Liberal Melancholy
• People are relating hard to a new 'Toy Story' character's lust for the void

• Every MCU movie villain ranked, from "Iron Man" to "Thunderbolts*"
• Here is the day Google's Inbox is going to die
• Sorry, Apple, but the name 'TV' already exists
• Ben Simmons shouts out Australian legend 'egg boy' on his sneakers
• Best speaker deal: Save $30 on the JBL Clip 5
• Man returns to his car to find a koala chilling in air
• Uber has a plan to make flying cars a reality
• Famous landmarks around the world turn green for St. Patrick's Day
• DDR4 Memory at 4000 MT/s, Does It Make a Difference?
• South Asians tell their families not to vote for Donald Trump