Local fishers have been bringing in around 100,000 pounds of fish daily over the last week or two to meet the increased local demand for fish that comes at the end of every year.
Prices for ahi — both bigeye and yellowfin tuna — are currently a lot higher than during other times of the year, but that hasn’t stopped residents from buying.
“Christmas is a lot more than a regular week, and New Year's — hopefully two to three times that. Our cost goes up quite a bit, too, in terms of the labor. … We're just trying to keep up with the amount of work that needs to be done. I mean, there is so much work. it’s just immense,” said Guy Tamashiro, vice president of Tamashiro Market on Oʻahu.
Over the last four days, the average per-pound price of fish has ranged from around $4.50 to as high as $8.50 — a signal that demand has increased.
Eating fish, especially sashimi-grade ahi, is a common tradition to ring in the new year in Hawaiʻi.
But Hawaiʻi residents on average eat about two to three times more fish per capita than the rest of the U.S., and that demand is likely greater now because of the holiday season.
Tamashiro said that both the most expensive fish and the cheapest fish available are the first kinds to sell out around this time of year.
