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Tuna
Protecting the most commercially valuable fish on the planet
Background
Tuna are keystone predators in temperate and tropical ocean ecosystems around the world, and are among the commercially most valuable fish on the planet. Exports of tuna products recently exceeded USD $6 billion per year, making tuna the third most traded marine commodity after shrimp and groundfish.
The principal market tunas consist of seven major species (albacore, bigeye, skipjack, yellowfin, and three species of bluefin). Except for skipjack, tuna are widely subject to significant overfishing by fleets that are far above sustainable levels of productive capacity. Most tuna stocks are already fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. Tuna fishing at both industrial and artisanal scales also disrupts ecosystems through the unsustainable bycatch of species including sharks, marine turtles, small cetaceans, and seabirds.
WWF recently joined eight of the tuna industry’s leading companies to found the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), a global partnership dedicated to the science-based management and conservation of tuna stocks and ocean health
WWF Priority Places and Tuna
Galapagos: Located in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, Ecuador is an emerging tuna trade power whose tuna industry was a key antagonist in creation of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. This ecoregion is the source of more than 17 percent of global tuna catch, 30 percent of global yellowfin catch and provides significant bluefin catch. Turtle and other bycatch from tuna fishing threaten Galapagos and surrounding ecosystems. A sustainable tuna economy is vital to bycatch reduction and marine conservation in the Galapagos.
The Mediterranean: The Mediterranean is home to the most endangered of tuna species—Atlantic bluefin. Almost half of global bluefin catches are from the East Atlantic/Mediterranean bluefin tuna (BFT) stock. WWF’s longstanding campaign on BFT includes one-on-one corporate engagement and an advancing BFT boycott among institutional consumers that has already won significant corporate allies across Europe. The involvement of major canned tuna brand owners in BFT trade for sashimi presents an important focal point for WWF’s tuna commodity chain interventions.
Coastal East Africa: Located in the Indian Ocean, East African waters are among Earth’s most fertile and least managed tuna grounds. This ecoregion is home to 24 percent of global tuna catch, 27 percent of global yellowfin catch, and 23 percent of skipjack catch. Tuna is one of WWF’s seven focal commodities in Coastal East Africa. Improving tuna management and increasing East Africa’s share of tuna profits are important elements of our regional development strategy.
Coral Triangle : Located in the Western Pacific, the Coral Triangle is a vital spawning ground for tuna, where juvenile mortality (as both target and bycatch) is a major concern. This ecoregion is the source of more than 43 percent of global tuna catch, 32 percent of global yellowfin catch and significant bluefin catch. Transforming the economics of tuna fishing in the Coral Triangle is one of WWF’s main priorities and is key to creating economically viable protected areas in the Coral Triangle.
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