bluefin tuna

Category: Endangered Species

The southern bluefin tuna has been heavily exploited over the years and has been fished to the brink of extinction (5). During the 1960s, the annual catch was around 80,000 tonnes worldwide (4). The flesh of this species has a particularly high fat content and is prized in Japan especially for 'sashimi' markets (4), where an individual fish can fetch as much as US$ 10,000 (3). Fishing mainly takes the form of purse seine netting in Australia (5), and longline fishing in the other range states; namely New Zealand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia (4).