Because of consumer demand for sashimi (a fresh raw seafood dish), the fishing pressure on Atlantic bluefin tuna is extraordinarily high. The sale of a single bluefin tuna made headlines in 2011 when it fetched nearly $400,000 in a Japanese market. Genetically distinct stocks of this species live on the western and eastern sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Both are being fished and caught.
Not surprisingly, populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna have declined to very low levels, and the species is listed as endangered. Scientists continue to recommend reduced catches. Some even propose a fishing moratorium. There are efforts to manage tuna fishing in the western Atlantic. But overfishing continues in the eastern Atlantic, where total allowable catches are much higher than those recommended by scientists.
As a consumer, you can choose what kinds of seafood to buy. Visit the Ocean Portal's Sustainable Seafood section to learn more about how seafood is harvested and to help make wise seafood choices of your own.
Podcast by the Encyclopedia of Life: Bluefin Tuna
Learn how a tuna fisherman and a biologist are teaming up to tag bluefin tuna, and how those tags are revealing surprises that might help save tuna from their own popularity in sushi restaurants.
NOAA
Endangered Vertebrates Photo Slideshow
In a recent study, researchers from the IUCN concluded that one-fifth of the world's vertebrates are threatened with extinction. Meet some of the marine vertebrate species among those threatened in this slideshow.
Rod Mast/Marine Photobank
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