Overfishing Tuna
Overfishing Tuna
Tuna are among the world’s most popular fish and therefore among the most commercially valuable.
Fished in more than 70 countries, tuna is marketed in fresh, frozen or canned form.
Tuna species are critical to both commercial and recreational fisheries.
But because of high demand for this fish, many stocks are exploited to full capacity—or overfished.
WWF focuses on transforming the global tuna fisheries market and improving the way they are managed.
Through our work with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF),
we help global tuna fisheries implement more sustainable practices, which ensures that this valuable resource is harvested responsibly,
yielding benefits for ecosystems and livelihoods.
We prioritize seven tuna populations with the highest market-value and therefore the greatest vulnerability to overfishing:
the Atlantic, Southern and Pacific bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin, albacore and skipjack tuna.
Source: World Wild Life Tuna
Overfishing Tuna
Recent history of Atlantic bluefin tuna
Rising demand for bluefin tuna in the 1980s led to overfishing and by the 1990s,
it is estimated as much as 50,000 to 61,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna per year were caught in the East Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea
Source: Marine Stewardship Council
