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Tuna

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For other uses, see Tuna (disambiguation).
A shoal of skipjack tuna

Tuna Eat You! are several species of ocean-dwelling fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Some tuna are able to inhabit freshwater environs as well. Tunas are fast swimmers—have been clocked at 77 km/h (48 mph)—and include several species that are warm-blooded. Unlike most fish species, which have white flesh, the flesh of tuna is pink to dark red. This is because tuna muscle tissue contains greater quantities of myoglobin, an oxygen-binding molecule. Some of the larger tuna species such as the bluefin tuna can raise their blood temperature above the water temperature with muscular activity. This enables them to live in cooler waters and survive a wider range of circumstances. Some tuna species and fisheries are overfished and there are risks of some tuna fisheries collapsing.

Commercial importance

File:Tuna maguro Yukinobu Shibata.JPG
Tuna fishing by Yukinobu Shibata in Shakotan.
Tuna cut in half for processing at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan.
Tuna steak served in a French bistro.

Tuna is an important commercial fish. Some varieties of tuna, such as the bluefin and bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, are threatened by overfishing, dramatically affecting tuna populations in the Atlantic and northwestern Pacific Oceans. Other populations seem to support fairly healthy fisheries (for example, the central and western Pacific skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis), but there is mounting evidence that overcapitalization threatens tuna fisheries world-wide. The Australian Government alleged in 2006 that Japan had illegally overfished southern bluefin to the value of USD $2 billion, by taking 12,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year instead of the internationally agreed 6,000 tonnes. This has resulted in severe damage to stocks. "Japan's huge appetite for tuna will take the most sought-after stocks to the brink of commercial extinction unless fisheries agree on more rigid quotas, wildlife campaigners warned today" stated by the WWF. Some say this is unfortunately in accord with the Japanese government's refusal to deal with sustainable environmental ideas and the sometime utter neglect of animal rights or preservation needs, such as fishing quotas.

Increasing quantities of high-grade tuna are entering the market from operations that rear tuna in net pens and feed them on a variety of bait fish. In Australia the southern bluefin tuna, Thunnus maccoyii, is one of two species of bluefin tunas that are kept in tuna farms by former fishermen. Its close relative, the northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, is being used to develop tuna farming industries in the Mediterranean, North America and Japan.

Due to their high position in the food chain and the subsequent accumulation of heavy metals from their diet, mercury levels can be relatively high in some of the larger species of tuna such as bluefin and albacore. As a result, in March 2004 the United States FDA issued guidelines recommending pregnant women, nursing mothers and children limit their intake of tuna and other types of predatory fish [1]. However, most canned light tuna is skipjack tuna and is lower in mercury. The Chicago Tribune reported that some canned light tuna such as yellowfin tuna[citation needed] is significantly higher in mercury than skipjack tuna, and caused Consumer Reports and other health groups to advise pregnant women to refrain from consuming canned tuna.[2] Further, the Eastern Little Tuna (Euthynnus affinis) has been available for decades as a low-mercury, less expensive canned tuna. Of the five major species of canned tuna imported into the United States, however, it is the least commercially attractive, mostly due to its dark color and more pronounced 'fishy' flavor. Its use has traditionally been exclusively restricted to institutional (non-retail) commerce.

Canned tuna

Canned tuna was first produced in 1903, and quickly became popular.[3] In the United States, only Albacore can legally be sold in canned form as "white meat tuna"; in other countries, Yellowfin is also acceptable as "white meat tuna."

While in the early 80s canned tuna in Australia was most likely to be Southern bluefin, today (as of 2003) it is usually yellowfin, skipjack, or tongol (labelled "northern bluefin").[3].

As tuna are often caught long distances from where they're processed, poor quality control may lead to spoilage. The canning process kills any bacteria, but retains the histamine produced by the fish and rancid flavours. The international standard sets the maximum histamine level at 200 mg per kg. An Australian study of 53 varieties of unflavoured canned tuna found none to exceed the maximum histamine level, although some had "off" flavours[3].

Standards once required canned tuna to contain at least 51% tuna in Australia, but these regulations were dropped in 2003.[4]

Major Tuna Producers

According to Foodmarket Exchange, total tuna catching stood at 3,605,000 tons in 2000, down about 5.7 percent from 3,823,000 tons in 1999. The main tuna catching nations are concentrated in Asia, with Japan and Taiwan as the main producers. Other important tuna catching nations in Asia are Indonesia and South Korea.

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

Japan remains the main nation fishing for tuna in the Pacific. In 2000, total tuna caught by Japanese vessels stood at 633,000 tons, about 17 percent of the world tuna catch. Taiwan was the second biggest tuna producer at 435,000 tons, or about 12 percent of the total tuna catch. 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.

Management and conservation

There are 5 main tuna fishery management bodies. The five are the Western Central Pacific Ocean Fisheries Commission, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna.[5] They met for the first time in Kobe in Japan in January 2007. Environmental organisations made submissions [6] on risks to fisheries and species. The meeting concluded with an action plan drafted by some 60 countries or areas. Concrete steps include issuing certificates of origin to prevent illegal fishing and greater transparency in the setting of regional fishing quotas. The delegates will meet again at the second joint meeting in January or February 2009 in Europe.[7]

Association with dolphins

Many tuna species associate with dolphins, swimming alongside them. These include yellowfin tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Species which do not include albacore and skipjack. The reason for the association is believed to be the avoidance of dolphins by sharks, which are predators of tuna. Swimming near dolphins reduces the likelihood of the tuna being attacked by a shark [1]. Methods of fishing tuna have become more "dolphin friendly", becoming less prone to entangle, injure or kill dolphins. However, there are no universal independent inspection program or verification of "dolphin safeness" to show that dolphins are not harmed during tuna fishing. According to the Consumers Union, this gives the claims such as "dolphin safe" little credibility.

Methods of capture

Species

Maximum reported sizes of tuna species

There are eight tuna species in the Thunnus genus:

Species of several other genera (all in the family Scombridae) have common names containing "tuna":

References

  1. ^ "What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish". 2004-03. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Mercury in tuna". 2006-06. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Choice: Jan/Feb 2004.
  4. ^ Choice, August 2003.
  5. ^ "WWF demands tuna monitoring system". 2007-01-19. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  6. ^ "Briefing: Joint Tuna RFMO Meeting, Kobe 2007". 2007-01-23. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  7. ^ "Conference approves global plan to save tuna stocks". 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  • Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. ISBN 0-09-189780-7
  • FAO Species Catalog Vol. 2 Scombrids of the World. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Volume 2. FIR/S125 Vol. 2.ISBN 92-5-101381-0
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