Flying Fish

Visit America's wildest seafood market

It's not quite as big as Tokyo's famed Tsukiji fish market, but Honolulu's fish auction is the closest you'll get to high-paced world of seafood bartering without a passport.

Six days a week, beginning at 5:30 a.m., wholesalers bundle up and plunge into the chilly 18,000-square-foot showroom of the United Fishing Agency, which oversees Hawaii's long-line fishing fleet.

They're there to buy, but anyone is welcome to turn up and watch. Brooks Takenaka runs the show and makes a point of spending as much time with onlookers as he does with distributors.

Simply arrive wearing closed-toe shoes, say hi and listen: Takenaka will tell you how to spot a choice catch (look for clear eyes and bright flesh speckled with white fat); run through the hierarchy of seafood from highly prized bluefin tuna to little-known nabeta; and offer a few cooking tips (he scrapes the meat off tuna bones and serves it with wasabi and green onion).

After things wrap up around 8:30 a.m., follow the crowd next door to Nico's Pier 38 for hearty fish omelets made with the catch of the day.

United Fishing Agency, 1131 N. Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu; 808-536-2148

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