Yellowfin Tuna

Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a mid-sized tuna, with commercially harvested fish ranging from 30 to 170 cm in length and weighing up to 90 kg. It has a dark blue-to-black coloured back, with silvery sides and bright yellow fins. Larger yellowfin are characterized by large, sickle-shaped second dorsal and anal fins.

Smaller yellowfin (juveniles) form mixed schools with skipjack and juvenile bigeye tunas, and are mainly found on surface waters. Larger fish also swim in schools with other fish and marine mammal species of similar or larger size, including dolphins, porpoises, whales, and whale sharks.

Yellowfin is widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. At the northern edge of their range, yellowfin are also found throughout the year in Atlantic Canadian waters along the edge of the Gulf Stream and Georges Bank, the Scotian Shelf and the Grand Banks. Yellowfin are normally found in the Pacific waters of Canada but are not harvested by the Canadian fleet which typically targets North Pacific albacore.

Yellowfin is an important species in the global commercial tuna fishery. Management of yellowfin tuna on the high seas is shared by: the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

In Canada, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore tuna catches in the Atlantic fishery are referred to as ‘other tunas’ and are managed through the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan for Atlantic Swordfish and Other Tunas. In 2006, yellowfin tuna was the most important ‘other tuna species’ caught in Atlantic Canada by Canadian tuna harvesters (at 292.9 tonnes), followed by bigeye and albacore. This was likely due to the availability of this species in Canadian waters, and market conditions and fish value. Fifty-two of the 78 licensed ‘other tuna’ harvesters were active in 2006.

In 2009, other tunas accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the commercial large pelagic species landed. Yellowfin tuna was the second most important ‘other tuna’ species landed at 53.43 tonnes, Fifty-two of the 78 licensed ‘other tuna’ harvesters were active in 2008. There is currently no quota or catch limit set for yellowfin tuna.

In 2006/07, ICCAT’s science committee reported on the latest available yellowfin catch data, determining that:

• Purse seine catches declined from 2001 to 2006:
  
  • by 41% in the Eastern Atlantic to 55,570 t from 94,221 t; and
  • by 66% in the Western Atlantic to 4,442 t from 13,072 t.
    
    
• While catches in the longline fisheries increased between 2001 and 2004, they had declined again by 2006:
  
  • Eastern Atlantic catch in 2006 was 5,808 t compared to 5,479 t in 2001; and
  • Western fishery catch was 12,984 t compared to 12,740 t in 2001.

Other Links:

2005 IATTC stock assessment

2002 Stock assessment of yellowfin tuna in the western and central Pacific Ocean

2006 report of the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean