More than 87,000 pounds of fish, much of it 'ahi considered essential for New Year's sashimi raw-fish platters, was sold at the United Fishing Agency auction at Pier 39 yesterday morning.

The day before, more than 100,000 pounds of fish went out the doors, on palettes, dressed in crushed ice. And there are boats expected today, said the United Fishing Agency's assistant general manager, Brooks Takenaka.

There had been worrying reports that the fishery would run out of 'ahi before New Year's Day because of fishing limits. However, these were not exceeded and fish continued to flow into Island ports through the all-important holiday period.

"Every year the concern is whether there's going to be enough fish, (and) this year was not any different," Ta--kenaka said. "What's interesting is that with all the concern about a shortage, there seems to be more fish this year than last, so go figure."

As a result, prices for sashimi are likely to be fairly reasonable.

Based on a quick survey of O'ahu stores yesterday morning, expect to pay anywhere from $14.99 a pound for tombo 'ahi (suitable for poke and seared dishes) to as much as $26.99 a pound for the treasured belly fat called toro.

The big daddy of yesterday's fish auction was a yellowfin of 270-plus pounds.

Buyer John Hernandez, who sells to markets all across the Mainland and Canada, scored a 234-pound 'ahi and stood over it proudly as he waited for it to be carted away.

HOOKING A BID

The process of selling fish — once a matter of buyers meeting boats on the pier and haggling — has become highly automated yet is still very human at the United Fishing Agency auction.

It works like this:

The fish are offloaded from the boats on to palettes, frosted with crushed ice, and lined up in rows on the frigid selling floor (the auction is open to the public, but don't go without every piece of winter clothing you own). Clumps of buyers, many of them with Bluetooth phone receptors in their ears or cell phones constantly on the buzz, work their way down the lines — which can have as many as 200 individual fish — and bid for fish (waving, calling, grunting, often while keeping in touch with their home offices).

Each fish bears a paper tag. As the auctioneer works down the row, he drops a tag bearing the number of the successful buyer, who also drops his branded tag on the fish. Fishing Agency employees follow with a hand-held device that reads the number of the fish, records the sale and prints out a confirmation.

SLICING IT UP

Hernandez's monster 'ahi cost him $10 a pound. At least 35 pounds will be lost in carving it up: the head, bones, collar and so on. At wholesale, $10 a pound is a lot.

Yesterday, Takenaka said, prices were "all over the place, from as high as $14 to $15 a pound to $2, depending on the quality."

Many fish (but not 'ahi) go for less than $1 a pound at wholesale.

The higher price is a measure of how highly the skilled buyers thought of the color, fat content and flavor they experienced in taking a minute taste of the tail meat before the auction began.

"That's why the markup has to be what it is," said Hernandez, of John's Fresh Fish.

Hernandez said the markup isn't so radical that you won't find beautiful red and fresh 'ahi for your New Year's sashimi platters at what have become fairly reasonable prices.

Meanwhile, said Hernandez, the hundreds of pounds of tuna auctioned on O'ahu yesterday morning will be served at restaurants within a day or two.

"Time matters," he said.