World Tuna Day

Since the onset of large-scale commercial exploitation in the 1950s, global tuna catches have steadily risen, reaching 1 million tonnes in the mid-1960s, 2 million tonnes in the mid-1980s, 3 million tonnes in 1990, 4 million tonnes in the late 1990s, 5 million tonnes in 2014, and finally topping out at 5.4 million tonnes in 2019. The global tuna catch has been stable at around 5 million tonnes since then. In 2023, the latest available data, the global tuna catch was approximately 5.2 million tonnes. The majority of tuna catches are attributed to skipjack tuna (57 percent), followed by yellowfin tuna (31 percent), bigeye tuna (7 percent), albacore tuna (4 percent), and three species of bluefin tuna (1 percent). In terms of fishing methods, purse seining accounts for 66 percent of global tuna catches, while longlines (9 percent), pole-and-line (7 percent), gillnets (4 percent) and other miscellaneous gea...

  Globally, the seven major commercial oceanic tuna species are assessed and managed as 23 distinct stocks by the five tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs): CCSBT, IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC and WCPFC. These stocks include six albacore, four bigeye, four bluefin, five skipjack, and four yellowfin tuna stocks. The global tuna catch has remained stable at around 5 million tonnes in recent years. In 2023, the total catch was approximately 5.2 million tonnes, a figure similar to the previous year. Skipjack tuna accounted for the largest share (57 percent), followed by yellowfin tuna (31 percent), bigeye tuna (7 percent), albacore tuna (4 percent), and the three bluefin tuna species collectively contributing just 1 percent of the total catch. From a stock perspective, based on the most recent stock status adopted by tuna RFMOs, 16 out of the 23 assessed tuna stocks are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring. Additionally, five sto...

  About 23 percent of the world’s tuna production comes from the Indian Ocean (IO) – FAO Major Fishing Areas 51 and 57–making it the second most important region for tuna fishing after the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Catches of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore tuna in 2023 totaled approximately 1 237 000 tonnes, a 1 percent decrease from 2022. The total catch generally declined after 2005, when a record 1.25 million tonnes were caught, followed by an increase in recent years which has brought catches back to 2005 levels (FIGURE E.1.16). Catches of southern bluefin tuna occur primarily in the IO Area of Competence. However, due to their distribution across three oceans, this stock is covered below under a separate section on the CCSBT convention area. The catch of tropical tunas and albacore tuna in the IO steadily increased, reaching 200 000 tonnes in the early 1980s. It then rose rapidly to 500 000 tonnes in 19...

  About 11 percent of the world’s tuna production comes from Atlantic Ocean (AO) stocks –FAO Major Fishing Areas 21, 27, 31, 34, 41 and 47. Catches of skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, albacore tuna and bluefin tuna in 2023 totaled 544 700 tonnes, a 9 percent decrease from 2022 levels. The total catch has generally declined since the mid-1990s, followed by an upward trend since 2009 (FIGURE E.1.13). The catch of tropical tunas (bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna and skipjack) in the AO initially steadily increased by approximately 100 000 tonnes per decade, reaching 100 000 tonnes in 1963, 200 000 tonnes in 1971, and 300 000 tonnes in 1980. It then quickly rose to 0.4 million tonnes by 1982, before reaching 500 000 tonnes in 1994. Total catches declined to 300 000 tonnes in 2006 but then began increasing again, reaching a historical high of 520 000 tonnes in 2018. Since then, catches h...