Dave Gershman at the Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries team used news of the auction to highlight that stocks of Pacific bluefin tuna were improving after being “near collapse”.

The auction started when the bell rang, and the floor was filled with torpedo-shaped fish with their tails cut off so bidders could examine meat details such as colour, texture and fattiness while walking around the rows of tuna.

The pricey fish was caught off the coast of Oma in northern Japan, a region widely regarded for producing some of the country’s finest tuna, and costs 2.1 million yen (US$13,300) per kilogram.

Self-styled “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura’s sushi restaurant chain paid the top price for the 243kg (535lbs) fish that was caught off Japan’s northern coast.