First bluefin tuna of season in Pingtung sells for record NT10,600 per kg

Taipei, April 8 (CNA) The first bluefin tuna of the season brought to shore in Pingtung County, weighing 190 kilograms, was auctioned on Wednesday for NT$10,600 (US$333.6) per kilogram, setting a record high in the local market.

The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Liouciou-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the "Pingtung First Tuna" it had caught for bidding.

Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram -- NT$300 higher than last year -- for a total of NT$2.014 million.

The 67-year-old skipper of Fu Yu Ching No. 2, Hung Fu-chia (洪福家), told CNA that this was the first time he caught the season's first bluefin tuna since he started his fishing career at the age of 14.

Hung said he had not originally planned to catch a bluefin tuna but "accidentally got one," adding that his line had been set for marlin.

"The process was very tense -- it took half an hour to reel the tuna in, and the hooks normally used to catch marlin were bent out of shape, almost letting it escape," Hung recalled, saying that catching the tuna was a stroke of good luck.

For a tuna to be considered the first catch of the season, the fishing boat must be legally registered in Taiwan and be the first to return to a local port with a bluefin weighing at least 175 kilograms, according to the Donggang Fishermen's Association.