In the latest assessment which was carried out in , this was changed to Least Concern with an unknown population trend, reflecting the recovery in the numbers of this species. However, in European waters bluefin tuna continue to be classed as Near Threatened, although there is evidence that stocks have recovered slightly since As the UK has no quota for this species UK commercial fishermen and recreational anglers must return any bluefin tuna which are caught to the sea unharmed and as quickly as possible see the section below.
This does not apply to fishermen from EU nations which have a quota for tuna, such as France, who have been able to come into British waters to catch bluefin tuna present there. This is an intergovernmental organisation which has the task of managing and conserving stocks of tuna and related species in the northern Atlantic and surrounding seas. Unfortunately, ICCAT has developed a poor reputation and has been seen as being responsible for mismanaging stocks and favouring the commercial fishing industry, leading the organisation to be referred to as the International Conspiracy to Catch All Tuna.
In recent years the organisation has begun to shake off this negative image. Using drift nets to catch tuna was banned in the EU in , and further measures have led to the increasing numbers of bluefin tuna in European waters since , although this progress could easily be undone if pressure from the commercial fishing industry sees quotas increased. While bluefin tuna is one of the most valuable fish in the world UK consumers may be more used to skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis.
This is the species which is much more likely to be found in tinned tuna and pre-packaged tuna products. It is a much smaller species only growing to around 3ft in length and its rapid growth and high fecundity mean that it is a far cheaper, and also much more sustainable, choice of tuna.
An article in the Daily Mail erroneously stating that tuna are worth millions. As bluefin tuna are so important in Japanese culture there is a symbolic auction for the first bluefin tuna of the season every January. This auction was held at the famous Tsukiji Fish Market in central Tokyo until the market was relocated to a different location in Tokyo in Prices paid for this tuna can reach incredible levels which thousands of times in excess of the true value of the fish as wealthy Japanese businessmen bid against each other for the honour and the prestige of purchasing the first bluefin tuna of the season.
The price paid for these tunas are highly publicised around the world and are then used by poorly-informed media outlets to claim that bluefin tuna is a species where a single fish is worth over a million pounds. This is of course nonsense and although they are a very commercially valuable fish the true market rate of a tuna is only a fraction of the prices paid at the symbolic first tuna Japanese auction of the year.
Read more about this in our article on Tsukiji Fish Market by clicking here. In the first half of the twentieth century bluefin tuna were relatively common in the North Sea, attracted by the huge shoals of herring which were present.
Indeed, in the s and s big game fishing for tuna from Whitby and Scarborough became a fashionable pursuit, attracting the wealthy and famous people of the day to the hotels in the area in the summer and early autumn months. Multiple tuna over lb were caught every year from boats sailing from Scarborough and Whitby from the early s until the outbreak of World War Two in It was during this time that the biggest ever catch on rod and line from British waters was made when Lorenzo Cecil Vaughan Mitchell-Henry caught an lb bluefin tuna when fishing out of Whitby in While big game fishing for tuna continued in the post-war years commercial fishing of mackerel and especially herring expanded dramatically.
It was the decline of these prey species and not the tuna themselves which led to the Scarborough and Whitby big-game tuna fishing eventually winding down in the s, with the last significant large tuna of the North Sea big game fishing era reportedly being caught in Read our full article on big game tuna fishing in British waters by clicking here.
Today there is clear evidence that bluefin tuna are present in the waters to the south and west of the British Isles. The Times reports that there has been over sightings of tuna across the British Isles between and , and anglers fishing for shark species and commercial fishermen trawling for other species have also inadvertently caught bluefin tuna.
In a lbs tuna was caught by a commercial vesse l off the coast of Devon, while a lb tuna became trapped in a fish pen in a Scottish fish farm but was eventually released by the staff. In summer a video was posted to YouTube showing tuna breaking the surface in UK waters. The footage was taken from a drone by fishermen targeting porbeagle and blue sharks in an unidentified area off the UK coast. Watch the video by clicking here. The reasons for the return of tuna are not fully understood.
Warming seas due to climate change could play a part, as could the changes in number and movement of small fish which tuna prey on such as herring. Scientists have put forward the idea that the recent increase of bluefin tuna in British waters is due to a phenomenon called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. This is a naturally occurring long-term change in the temperature of the North Atlantic.
Approximately every sixty to one hundred years the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation changes from a negative phase cooler to a positive phase warmer. The current positive phase may explain the growing number of tuna in the usually colder waters of the British Isles and Nordic countries.
Scientists have warned that the current trend of warmer seas in northern Europe could mean a colder Mediterranean Sea, and it is unknown how this would impact on the spawning patterns of bluefin tuna. The increasing evidence of tuna returning to the UK has led to scientific research being commissioned to confirm that this species is now present in British waters.
Scientists from Cefas Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the University of Exeter have started a study which will seek to find out more about the movements and numbers of bluefin tuna in British waters. Share Tweet Email.
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