Bluefin tuna sells for a record $3.1 million in Tokyo auction

Kiyoshi Kimura, known as Japan's "Tuna King," paid a record $3.1 million for a 612-pound bluefin tuna at an auction last week. The auction prices are way above usual prices for the endangered bluefin tuna. The fish normally sells for up to $40 a pound, but the price rises to over $200 a pound near the year's end. Experts warn the species faces possible extinction, with stocks of Pacific bluefin depleted by 96 percent from their pre-industrial levels.

Class discussion: The winning bidder sells bluefin tuna in his sushi restaurants. Have you ever eaten tuna sushi? Would it bother you to eat an endangered species? Japan recently said it would ignore international controls and resume commercial harvesting of what other sea creature? The World Wildlife Fund reports that 60 percent of the world’s wildlife has been lost in the past 40 years. How have we killed off so many creatures? Would you be willing to change your lifestyle to save wildlife from extinction?