Top-Notch Bluefin Tuna Goes for 100 Large

Top sushi chefs in Asia will drop some serious dough for the distinction of having the best and freshest fish to serve their customers -- so much so that a Japanese bluefin tuna (pictured left) recently sold for $104,700. That's a whopping $370 per pound for the monstrous catch.

Auctioned at Tokyo's Tsukiji market, the fish cost about 10 times the average price, and was split between two top sushi chefs -- one in Japan and the other in Hong Kong. Typical prices for tuna in Tokyo are around $25 per pound, but bluefin tuna are considered a delicacy and command a higher price. Purchasing such a pricey tuna also serves as good advertising for the restaurant that buys it.

"It was the best tuna of the day, but the price shot up because of the shortage of domestic bluefin," said an auction official. Part of the reason for the shortage is that conservation organizations have compelled fishermen to cut their bluefin tuna fishing quotas by 20 percent.

Question raised: If you were enjoying this sort of exorbitant sushi, would you skip the saki bombs?