Sapporo: The season's first batch of sauries, a fish called sanma in Japan, was traded at a record-high 500,000 yen ($4,495US) per kilogram, or about 70,000 yen ($630) per fish, on Wednesday in an auction at the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market in Sapporo.

The price broke the previous record of 400,000 yen per kilogram marked last year. About 200 kilograms of sauries were unloaded Tuesday at the Port of Kushiro and transferred to the market.