By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin

Ken Oshiro displays some toro ahi, with a higher fat content,
while his niece, Laura Oshiro, holds a medium-size aku.
Prices for top-grade ahi were just under $30 a pound
this morning.

---

Ahi prices
are starting
to stabilize

The big New Year's rush for
sashimi-grade ahi has passed,
and prices are settling down

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

At a waterfront warehouse in Kakaako, a dozen men dressed in boots and jackets this morning followed the movements of one individual as he lead them through the pallets of freshly caught ahi.

Although most of the New Year's purchases of ahi were done, the buyers were stocking up for the next four days, when the United Fishing Agency will be closed, said manager Brooks Takenaka.

Takenaka -- who led the fish auctions today at the agency -- said prices have stabilized over the past 24 hours following the rush for top-grade ahi for the new year.

"It's not as high as yesterday," he said. "Some of the fish today are a little older, and the quality is not as high."

Yesterday, veteran sashimi merchant Guy Tamashiro admitted he was "wrong, wrong, wrong, about sashimi prices."

Because of unusually abundant fish catch, Tamashiro, fish buyer for the family-run Tamashiro Market in Kalihi, thought prices for the traditional New Year's delicacy would be more affordable this year. But his prediction was too good to be true.

Although prices did drop earlier this week, heavy demand at the fish auctions yesterday drove them back up again. Tamashiro said prices won't be going through the roof as they have in previous years but they won't be as low as he had hoped.

Top-grade sashimi ahi tuna is slightly under $30 a pound, with plenty of affordable ahi at just under $10 a pound.

"I would say, do not wait, go early," said Tamashiro's brother, Cyrus. "The lower prices will go fast. You can get the best selection early."

Shoppers who bought their fish yesterday benefited from a wide selection of ahi filets suitable for sashimi.

At the Ward Farmer's Market, a steady stream of shoppers filled the parking lot by 10:30 a.m. yesterday. Tropic Fish and Vegetables was doing brisk business, selling fresh whole aku for 99 cents a pound.

"It's good enough for sashimi, not the best grade -- with the fat -- but you cannot beat the price," said owner Kay Tanoue.

High-grade ahi with generous fat marbling sold for $20.95, $17.15 and $13.10 a pound yesterday at her store, and the price today will be kept as low as possible, she said.

At the other end of the market, Marukai Wholesale Mart was also crowded.

"This is the best year I've seen in terms of people buying ahi (for sashimi)," said fish department manager Chris Komatsu. "I don't know why, but people really have been buying a lot."

Komatsu said his store carries a high-grade fatty ahi that normally is used in sushi bars.

He said the store today will try to keep the price close to $20 a pound. Ahi yesterday was selling for about $17 a pound.

An affordable alternative to ahi is nairagi, or striped marlin, for $5.99 a pound.

Komatsu said the nairagi has a pleasant orange-red color, high fat content for good taste and the ability to stay fresh longer than ahi.

At Hiro Fish Market in Chinatown only very high-grade fatty ahi will do this time of the year, owner Kristy Patacsil said.

Tomeko and David Nishimura of St. Louis again sought out the best ahi tuna, which cost $25.50 a pound yesterday at the store.

"It's our tradition," Tomeko Nishimura said. "We always have sashimi for the New Year and we always come early."

The New Year's tradition of eating sashimi began with Japanese immigrant workers, but may truly be a practice unique to Hawaii, said Willa Tanabe, dean of the University of Hawaii's Department of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies.

"The interesting thing is in Japan, sashimi is not necessarily a New Year's food except in the coastal regions," she said.

Because fish is fresh and plentiful in Hawaii, it has become an island tradition crossing over ethnic boundaries.

The color of the raw fish, a deep red, is a symbol of happiness and prosperity in Japanese culture, she said.

"It's the perfect food for starting the New Year," Tanabe said. "It's very fresh, very clean. That's how the Japanese traditionally like to start the New Year."