TOKYO - Two sushi bar owners paid $104,700 for a Japanese bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction yesterday.

The 282-pound tuna fetched 9.63 million yen, the highest since 2001, when a Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record of 20 million yen, market official Takashi Yoshida said. The purchase - about $370 per pound - went to a Hong Kong sushi bar owner and his Japanese competitor who reached a peaceful settlement to share the big fish.