Ninety-nine percent of the Mahi Mahi sold in the U.S. mainland comes from South America, and it is transported on trucks in very slow 3rd world process, so by the time the Mahi reaches the U.S. mainland it has a lot of shelf life on it already and the quality is very poor. Many people do not get a very good impression of Mahi because of this, and they would not think that Mahi Mahi could be a Sashimi fish. However, in Hawaii it is highly prized as a sashimi fish.

In Hawaii, the Mahi Mahi is considered to be so good that only the high end restaurants can afford to buy it. Many of the lower end restaurants actually do not serve local Mahi, but frozen imports.

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The technique used to catch "day boat" sashimi grade Mahi Mahi in Hawaii is called "IKI STYLE" (aka: ika shibi style). Essentially, the idea is to stablize this fish right after the catch, because Mahi Mahi has a tendency to flop around a lot when you take them out of the water. Many mainland fishermen and in other regions of the world do not realize that this is the time when your meat most vulnerable. Unnecessary flopping around ruins the meat, because the fish is stressed out and the histamine levels in the fish build up and go right into the meat. This is the difference between "sashimi" quality and just regular plain old Mahi Mahi.

The "Iki" method is an old Japanese technique. As soon as the fish comes out the water they do not let it flop around. Instead, they stick a metal rod down the spine of the fish, stabilizing the fish, but at the same time not killing the fish. (Basically, it paralyzes the fish.) This way the fisherman keep the fish on ice all the way into port, and then right before they get ready to dock they pull the rod out the spine of the fish. This makes it as if you caught the fish right out of water and produces an amazing quality of Mahi Mahi meat unlike anywhere in the world. This unique method is only practiced in Japan and Hawaii.