United Fishing Agency

Went to checkout the fish auction at Pier 38 and it was worth waking up for! Just remember to wear a shoe and jacket since there are raw fishes all around. The auction starts when you hear the ringing of the bell and they all gather around then the bidding starts moving from one fish to the next! Also anyone can visit the auction and don’t pay for the tours on the weekend.

What a great experience we had here. I’ve always wanted to go to the Japanese fish auctions, but this is the closest thing to it in the US. I woke up early to take the bus here and got here a little past 5:30. The guys here are so welcoming and nice and provided us with a guide of all the fishes being sold. The auction goes so quickly it is hard to see what is going on, but it was worth getting up early to experience it!

Enjoyed past visits. Place is clean. Auction is interesting. Fish are numerous. Wear footwear, boots ideal. Must see for tourist to Oahu. One can eat after the auction at Pier 38 or nearby the pier.

Highly informative and educational. Came here with husband and our teen. Learn about the Hawaiian highly regulated fishing industry.
Book early, they only have space for 20.

Awesome experience! Wear rubber boots, and it can be cool in there so bring a jacket. Everyone was nice and helpful, opening auction starts at 530a, but they were still going at 9 when we finally decided to buy some fish!

Definitely a must-​see, even for locals. Make sure you wear shoes that have good tread, covered and you don’t mind getting wet. You’re required to walk through a puddle of bleach liquid when you enter so I’d recommend grabbing some $ 20 rainboots at a Walmart. We were able to take tons of pictures and got the low-​down from a local fish broker who even offered to take our picture. Tons of yellow-​fin ahi, aku, opah, mahi and shark the day we went (holiday season is booming btw). And while you’re there grab some breakfast at Nico’s on Pier 38 the next building over.

miss this place! When it was in kakaako, had a lot of good memories as a kid grabbing bait, touching fish eyes, playing with fish guts, and fishing behind at the old boat re-​fueling station, below john dominis nostalgia lost…

Going to the UFA fish auction is something I have been wanting to do for a while and finally go to do. It is amazing seeing all of this fresh fish wheeled old and being sold. The auction dudes and bidders are going rapid fire quick and it’s hard to keep track of, but fun to watch.
What really amazes me is that I can look at the bidders tag and realize that that fish is going to be on someone’s plate (hopefully mine) for lunch or dinner. It is truly a unique experience in seeing how some of this fish gets to your plate and a highly recommended side trip if you are in Honolulu.
And damn, some of those fish are freakin big (but delicious looking)! Makes me not want to get in the water anymore.

Coming here, you get to see some of Hawaii’s seafood bounty in its entire form, ready for an all-​out bidding battle to be served in fishmarkets, sushi bars, and restaurants locally, nationally, and even as far as the Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan. We chatted with a buyer before the auction who would spend a MINIMUM of $ 25,000.00 to provide fish for some of the nations upscale restaurants.
At 5:30 am, the bell rings, and the auction starts very fast. Its so cool to see the auctioneers do their thing. With the tons of fish that come in each day, they are able to auction off each fish very quickly. How quick??? In about 10 SECONDS!!!
If you’re ever up to it, the auction starts at 5:30am…warm clothing and covered footwear required (or the guys can lend you boots too)
Cameras and video are allowed and the guys will be happy to answer questions you may have. Just be ready to stay out of their way when its time to go to work… ALOHA!!!
Unilocal 365CHALLENGE-(52/365)“Got Shoyu and Wasabi? ”

Wow, what an experience!
Went along with a friend from the mainland this morning who makes it a point to visit fish auctions on all of his travels. It was interesting to get a perspective of culture from fish auctions around the world.
The etiquett for the visitor:
–Stay out of the way, this is a place of business and people are earning their livlihoods (i.e. don’t touch)
–Watch where you’re going as there is a lof of activity and paletes moving thousands of $$$ worth of fish.
–Wear wellingtons or other boots, slippers will get you booted.
–Wear warm clothing as the auction goes inside a fridge.
–Dont bring kids unless they are on a leash, it is dangerous with all of the 500lb paletes moving.
With that said, if you have the inclination, go visit!!! It is an incredible sight to see such fresh fish, unloaded by the vessels docked along the harbor, go straight into bidding among the representatives of the famous restaurants and seafood suppliers.
Everyone was super friendly and these professionals love talking about their trade. The experience is a bit intimidating at first as I was clueless, where the auction is, how the bids are made and what the tags mean.
The tags will mark the original vessel, the weight, and the species (in Hawaiian, i.e. «Ahi» instead of «big eye tuna»). If you’re not familiar with aku, ono, onaga, etc, you can ask the office for a Hawaiian seafood pamphlet and it will translate it for you.
For the visitor, it’s not likely you’re in the market to drop $ 2K on a 150 lb yellowfin tuna, but it’s nice to know that you can. You can bid on individual fish, you just need to register at the front desk and bring cash.
The Tombo (albacore tuna) went for about $.30 a pound which you wont find at the market. Ahi goes for $ 8-​$ 18 based on color, freshness and fatty content. They have the bottom dwellers later on, but we didn’t stick around for that.
Most of the fish will have the tail removed and a portion of the meat cut out. This is to show the color/​fat content and the bidders can smell the sample before bidding.
Where there is damage to the fish or the auctioners feel the bids will be better if shown, they will cut out a quarter of the fish and show the internal meat to try and raise bids.
I’ll post some photos.

It was 520AM on a Monday morning, and I arrived at the fish auction, since a friend is training a new chef for his restaurant.
Follow the signs on the Nimitz, and Pier 38 is just a short turn off from the main road. The place is open to public, and there were tourists this morning. Just ask any of the workers around, they will direct you to the right place.
It’s best to go before the auction start, but you can come a bit later and not miss much action. There is a lot of fish to go through!
The group of auctioneer, buyers and staff go through each and every fish to set the price on a daily bases. Talk about an art and a science!
Minus one star because I left empty-​handed and even more tired because of the cold… dress warm!

If you’ve never been to Tsukiji in Tokyo, worth checking out as an appetizer. Pales in comparison but it’s still quite an experience.
First off, bring an old heavy coat and make sure you wear shoes or wellingtons, this a fish market after all. Upon entering… feast your eyes on the display of food porn, such a dizzying array of amazing 100+ lbs of whole tunas being auctioned off one by one. You know the quality is top notch when you see entire tunas being packaged in ice destined for Japan.
If you are a sushi aficionado, definitely worth checking out. I hung around for almost two hours just looking at dead fish laying on wooden palettes at 6am on a Saturday morning, nuff said.

All of our sashimi for Christmas and New Year parties comes from here. You can’t get it any fresher and the ahi just melts in your mouth. I’ve never actually been to the auction but i’ve been there to pick it up. If you don’t like blood or looking at fish, this is not the place to be. But if you don’t mind it and love fish, by all means, come here. I’d rather just pick up my fish here later when i won’t get in anyone’s way and i don’t have to fight people to get my ahi :).

Visiting UFA is one of the cooler things to do in Honolulu that isn’t in any everyday tourist manual. It’s one of the oldest and only fish auctions of its kind in the United States. For those in the know, it’s not as large as Japan’s original Tsukiji Fish Market, but it’s Hawaii’s own major local fish dealer. This is where a majority of the sushi you’ll eat in Honolulu comes from. UFA is a place of business and there are tons of guys mulling around, auctioning, buying, packing, unloading, and loading fish. Please be aware of this and make sure to stay out of the way. Someone is going to buy the fish so don’t molest it in any touristy way.
You have to get up really early in the morning to see most of the fish going up for auction. They group the different kinds of fish they sell throughout the day. All of this also takes place in their large cooler warehouse, so it’s going to be cold.
It’s probably great for the kids to see all of this (if you can get them up this early) because they’ll be able to see the large fishing vessels moving about the harbor as well.
Located right off of Nimitz Highway in the Fishing Village.

So I always wanted to go to the fish auction from when i was a kid (when it was at the Kiwalo Basin location) but just never got around to it. So after moving to the mainland, I decided it would be my mission to check it out.
I got there around 5:15 am, I was a little unsure if i was in the right place, but i saw a bunch of guys with rubber boots on and I knew i had found it. I asked one of the guys just to be sure. (its the only place with any activity at 5:30 am as you’d expect)
When i walked in, all the fish were lined up! So much fish! wow i was in sashimi heaven! The auction stated at 5:30, at first i couldn’t understand a word they were saying. I felt like charlie brown listening to the teacher talk (wah, wah, wah, wah; Yes Mam.) But funny thing, after watching and listening for awhile, I understood everything and knew exactly what was going on.
It was really cool there was a lot of fish that day the floor was filled with fish from front to back, the entire floor was auctioned off, cleared away and new fish put out to auction a few times over. First the pelagics (ahi, mahi, ono, marlin, and bi catch) then bottom fish later.
For me it was a child hood dream fulfilled. Another thing checked off of my list of things that i have not done in Hawaii (having lived there for almost 30 years). Now when i think of the fish auction, i can think of sashimi heaven. Ahh.
Auction starts at 5:30 am Mon — Sat
Must wear covered shoes, Bring a jacket
Advice: The auction starts at 5:30 but you don’t have to get there at that time. It can go on till 9 or so depending on how much fish there is.
Since you are there plan to go to Nico’s, which is right next door. the food is awesome! Fish can’t be any fresher! They start serving breakfast at 6:30 and lunch at 10 or 10:30.
Also; Don’t touch the fish, stay out of everyones way and pay attention to your surroundings. Everyone there is working, a lot goes on, people prepping the fish for auction, inspecting the fish, bidding, moving fish in and out of areas.
heres a short vid that i made of my experience
also check out my list of my fav Hawaii restaurants.