Facts about Tuna

Tunas are found in temperate and tropical marine waters worldwide, being common in the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but also found in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and elsewhere.

Japan remains the main nation fishing for tuna in the Pacific.

In bluefin tunas, the largest tunas, the young have a lighter and less strongly flavored flesh than the adults, whose flesh is dark red (Herbst 2001).

In 2000, total tuna caught by Japanese vessels stood at 633,000 tons, about 17 percent of the world tuna catch.

An important development of recent decades is the rapid spread of industrial farming of tuna in huge net enclosures along the coasts of countries ranging from Croatia, to Mexico, Japan, and Australia.

Spain supplies most of the yellowfin to European canneries, accounting for 5.9 percent of the total tuna catch, while Ecuador and Mexico dominate the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Canned tuna is precooked, and packed in either water or oil, and sold in the three grades of flaked or grated (bits and pieces), chunk (small pieces), and solid or fancy (large pieces) (Herbst 2001).

Tuna meat is very popular both canned and raw (as sashimi and with rice as sushi).

The northern bluefin tuna is an important food fish used almost exclusively as raw meat for sashimi and sushi.

Many tuna species, such as yellowfin tuna, associate with dolphins, swimming along side them, with dolphins being caught by fishermen seeking tuna.

Tuna is a good source of lean protein, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids (USTF 2006), and can lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

Spain and France also are important tuna fishing countries, mainly catching in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Some varieties of tuna, such as the bluefin and bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, are threatened by overfishing, which has dramatically affected tuna populations in the Atlantic and northwestern Pacific Oceans.

Taiwan was the second biggest tuna producer at 435,000 tons, or about 12 percent of the total tuna catch.

Tunas are fast-swimming fish spread widely through the world's oceans and seas.

The commercially important false albacore or "little tunafish" (Euthynnus alletteratus) reaches a maximum size of about 1.2 meters (4 feet) and averages about 4.5 kilograms (9.9 pounds).

Tuna has been an important commercial fish for centuries.

Tunas have a deeply forked or crescent-shaped tail, and the body is very narrow right before the tail.

The bluefin tuna’s heat exchange system works so well that it can elevate the bluefin’s body temperatures to more than 20 °C above ambient water temperatures.

Tuna species that do not normally associate with dolphins include albacore and skipjack.

The high concentrations of myoglobin in muscle tissue are another important factor supporting the tunas' ability to swim at high speeds.

Methods of fishing tuna have become more "dolphin friendly," becoming less prone to entangle, injure, or kill dolphins.

Most canned light tuna is skipjack tuna, which is lower in mercury.

By this method, tunas, as well as certain other fish species, maintain elevated body temperatures to varying degrees.

Tunas are important not only commercially, but also as sports fish, especially the bluefin tuna.

Yellowfin tunas have a slightly stronger flavor than albacore and have pale pink flesh (labeled "light" not "white").

Tunas are fast swimmers, having been clocked at 77 kilometers per hour (46 miles per hour).

Beyond the nutritional value and the pleasure of taste and sight, the mango has also been revered in culture.

The reality, instead, is that humans are overfishing some tuna species to the extent of pushing a few of their fisheries perilously close to collapse.

According to Foodmarket Exchange, the total tuna catch in 2000 stood at 3,605,000 tons, down about 5.7 percent from 3,823,000 tons in 1999.

The bluefin tuna of all three species—northern, southern, and Pacific—are overfished throughout the world.

Creating effective fishing policies for bluefin tuna is difficult since they are highly mobile and swim through the territorial waters of many different nations.

Tuna is any of 14 species of ocean-dwelling fish comprising the tribe Thunnini in the family Scombridae (the mackerel family).

Potentially of great importance for feeding humanity, the industry, as currently practiced, stresses both the environment and the stocks of wild fish while servicing primarily the Japanese market for raw tuna.

In bluefin tunas, the largest tunas, the young have a lighter and less strongly flavored flesh than the adults, whose flesh is dark red (Herbst 2001).

Tuna is also the name of the commercial food from these species.

The main tuna catching nations are concentrated in Asia, with Japan and Taiwan as the main producers.

Tuna are important in food chains, consuming fish, plankton, and mollusks, and being consumed by sharks, rays, billfishes, larger tunas, and toothed whales.

The fisheries of some other populations, such as the central and western Pacific skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, seem to remain healthy.

The eastern little tuna (Euthynnus affinis) has recently come to market as a low-mercury, less expensive substitute for canned albacore.

Other important tuna catching nations in Asia are Indonesia and South Korea.