'First tuna fish’ caught in Pingtung this year sells for over NT$2 million in southern Taiwan auction

今年屏東捕獲的“第一尾黑鮪魚”在南台灣拍賣會上以超過新台幣200萬新台幣售出

The first bluefin tuna fish was sold at a record price of NT$11,000 per kilogram


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The “first tuna fish” caught in Pingtung County this year was sold at a record price of NT$11,000 (US$385) per kilogram at an auction held at the Donggang Fish Market on Sunday (April 10).

With the coming of the bluefin tuna fishing season, a Liuqiu Township-based fishing boat caught the county's first tuna fish of this year, CNA reported. Captain Chen Chin-ping (陳金平), who has 15 years of fishing experience, was originally aiming to catch moonfish, but on the fourth day of his fishing operation he was surprised to catch a bluefin tuna, CNA reported.

The pleasant surprise drove the captain to hurriedly head to Donggang Fishing Port, where the catch was checked and authorized. Following a local tradition, the county’s first tuna of the year was auctioned off on Sunday.

Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安) announced at the auction that the bluefin tuna was 208 centimeters long and weighed in at 210.6 kilograms.

The auction organizer invited restaurateurs from near and far to take part in the auction. In the end, Hsiao Shou-fa (蕭受發), chairman of the local Jiazhen Seafood Restaurant, won the bid with NT$11,000 per kilogram, which was a record high in the auction’s history. The first bluefin tuna fish sold for a whopping NT$2,121,000.

Hsiao, whose restaurant has won the special yearly bid 11 times, told CNA that he began his fishing career at the age of 13 and was once a fishing boat captain, so he knows the hardship of being a fisherman. Now he wants to repay them for their hard work with good prices to give them a better life, he added.