1.

About Pacific Bluefin Tuna

a. Nature of Pacific Bluefin Tuna

The Pacific bluefin tuna is one of three bluefin species found worldwide, including the Atlantic bluefin
tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and the Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii). They exhibit high metabolic
rates, unique endothermic traits, and extraordinary cardiac performance, making them extremely fast and
powerful swimmers able to tolerate both temperate and tropical waters. Prized as a culinary commodity,
Pacific bluefin is harvested by many nations and is considered one of the most valuable fish in the ocean.
The SWFSC collaborates with many international scientific and management bodies to conduct research
on the Pacific bluefin tuna stock, in efforts to manage the fishery and conserve the species.1

Bluefin tuna are some of the largest and fastest fish in the ocean—they're powerful swimmers, built for
endurance and speed. To help conserve energy on their long-distance journeys, tuna's bodies are almost
perfectly streamlined, reducing drag around their fins. And tuna can retract or fold those fins against the
body so water flows more smoothly over their bodies. This makes them super-streamlined.

Unlike most fish, tuna are warm-blooded and can heat their bodies to six degrees Celsius (11 degrees
Fahrenheit) warmer than the surrounding water. This added warmth helps their muscles work faster and
more efficiently. Tuna consume as much as five percent of their body weight daily and must continually
swim with their mouths open to force water over their gills, supercharging their blood-rich muscles with
oxygen. 2

b. Range of habitat of Pacific Bluefin Tuna: are their habitat closer to the shore, or can their habitat be
beyond 200 nautical miles (or miles) from the baselines?

Of the tunas, Pacific bluefin has the largest geographic range. It spawns in the Western Pacific between
central Japan and the northern Philippines and in the Sea of Japan from April through August. While
some bluefin spend their entire lives in the Western Pacific, some young fish migrate to the Eastern
Pacific.
At about age one, a portion of the population migrate to the Eastern Pacific and start to arrive off the
coast of Baja California, Mexico. They remain in the Eastern Pacific for a few years and then migrate back
to the Western Pacific Ocean to spawn, a journey taking as little as fifty-five days. Larger adults are rarely
found in U.S. waters, which stretches from 3-200 nautical miles offshore. 3
Migration map

Pacific bluefin tuna is widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean. It seasonally inhabits subarctic, temperate,
and tropical waters in the north Pacific Ocean as well as temperate waters in the southern hemisphere
around Australia and New Zealand. It exhibits vast horizontal and vertical movement and is considered a
highly migratory species because of its ocean basin scale movements. Tagging studies confirm a single
stock of Pacific bluefin tuna occurs in the north Pacific Ocean. It mainly lives in sub-tropical and
temperate latitudes between 20°N and 50°N where spawning has so far only been recorded in the
western Pacific Ocean (WPO) but not in the EPO.
Tagging studies, conducted with conventional, satellite, and archival tags, have revealed details of the life
history of Pacific bluefin tuna. It is found predominantly within the north Pacific Ocean. Fish 15 to 31 cm in
length are found in the WPO in waters with sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) between 24° and 29°C.
When longer than 50 cm in length, Pacific bluefin tuna is most often found in waters where the SSTs are
between 17° and 23°C.
The survival of larval and early juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna is strongly influenced by the environment.
Conditions in the WPO probably influence recruitment, and also the percentage of the juvenile fish that
migrate to the EPO, as well as the timing of the migrations. Likewise, conditions in the EPO probably
influence the timing of the return of the fish to the WPO.
Some Pacific bluefin tuna may remain in the WPO throughout the life cycle, while others migrate
approximately 8,000 km to the EPO via the North Pacific Transition Zone. Juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna
remain in the WPO for the first year of life. Later in the first or early in the second year, some Pacific
bluefin tuna migrate from the Kuroshio-Oyashio transition region in the WPO to the EPO. Within the EPO,
Pacific bluefin tuna are found in the North Pacific Transition Zone Province, the California Current
Province, and the North Pacific Tropical Gyre Province. The North Pacific Transition Zone is the area
between the cold, low salinity waters north of the subarctic front and the warm, high salinity waters south
of the subtropical front, and its frontal boundaries. It is associated with the migration of Pacific bluefin
tunas to the east.
Comprehensive conventional and electronic tagging programs show an adult Pacific bluefin tuna resides
in the EPO for one to four years and is then thought to return to the WPO, presumably to spawn. This
pattern of residence indicates the importance of managing Pacific bluefin tuna in the EPO and WPO.
Pacific bluefin tuna is also found in the south Pacific where a small proportion of the total catch is taken.
Such movements give Pacific bluefin tuna one of the largest distributions of any fish species.
Pacific bluefin tuna spends more time in the deeper, cooler water (190 and 450 m) compared to schooling
yellowfin and albacore tuna that occupy shallower, warmer waters (less than 25 m and 20-90 m,
respectively). The deeper-diving characteristic may be either a result of its hunting activity, causing forage
species (e.g. sardine, jack mackerel, squid) to seek daytime refuge in deeper, sub-thermocline waters
through diel-vertical migration or an outcome of forage species activity resulting in searching behaviour of
Pacific bluefin tuna. 4

c. Can there be factors for their decrease in their weight, or other factors that affect their health in
general?

In stock assessments, a single Pacific bluefin tuna stock is assumed. From 1996 to 2010, the spawning
stock biomass (SSB) steadily declined. Since 2010, the decline has ceased but the stock remains near
historically low levels. With existing data, stock assessment is challenging because of considerable
uncertainty about the age of maturity, natural mortality, the relationship between recruitment and
spawning stock size, and on when recruitment might be impacted by low spawning abundance level.
The stock is assessed as being subject to overfishing and is overfished.
Stock Abundance
The most recent ISC stock assessment estimated the SSB of Pacific bluefin tuna to be 2.6% of its
estimated unfished SSB. Since the start of data collection in 1952, SSB has fluctuated. If the low
recruitment of recent years continues, the risk of SSB falling below its historically lowest observed level
may increase.
Fishing Mortality
No target or limit reference points have been established. Despite slight reductions in catches in recent
years, for most of the assessment time series (1952-2014) exploitation rates have exceeded a rule-of-
thumb reference point of F20% and most other commonly used reference points.
Environment
Basic information on bycatch of non-tuna and billfish species in the Pacific bluefin tuna fishery is lacking.
However, Pacific bluefin tuna is caught in a variety of gears (troll, purse seine, traps, gill nets, longline,
pole and line, set net, etc) that are known also to catch sea turtles, sharks, seabirds, and other marine
fish species.
In addition to reporting catches of tunas and billfishes, observers report on bycatch of non-target species
that are either retained or discarded. Data on these bycatches are analysed for the effect of the fishery on
the ecosystem (Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, 2016a). Much of this analysis is focused on
other tuna species (e.g. yellowfin and albacore tuna species).
A particular issue is the harvesting as target and bycatch of Pacific bluefin tuna juveniles (less than 30
kg). In recent years, the fishing by some vessels in the WPO purse fleets targeting age 0-1 year old fish
has had an increasing impact on the stock and currently has an impact greater than any other segment of
the fishery. 5

d. Status: is the specie generally stable, or endangered?

The 2016 stock assessment indicates that the 2014 spawning biomass of Pacific bluefin tuna is at historic
lows (about 2.6% compared to the biomass if no fishing had taken place, or “unfished biomass”). This is
an increase from the 2012 spawning biomass of 2.0% estimated in the same assessment. The amount
and rate of bluefin harvested each year continues to be high. As a result, the population is considered to
be overfished and subject to overfishing. An international rebuilding effort is underway to reduce fishing
impacts, bring the stock back to healthy levels, and ensure the sustainability of future harvests. These
proposed regulatory measures are part of the rebuilding effort. 6

Fisheries in the Pacific Ocean have targeted Pacific Bluefin Tuna for several centuries in the western
Pacific and at least since the beginning of the 20th century in the eastern Pacific. Data prior to 1952 is of
relatively poor quality and therefore fisheries data only from 1952 to 2012 is included in the latest stock
assessment (ISC 2014). Since the 1950s, catches of Pacific Bluefin Tuna have fluctuated substantially
over time and by gear time. The maximum historical catch occurred in 1956 with 39,824 t and the lowest
historical catch occurred in 1990 with 8,588 t. During the last 10 years, the average catch has been
21,250 t, with most of the catch (80%) occurring in the western Pacific. Since the 1950s, the catches have
been predominantly composed of juveniles, and since the 1990s, the catch of age 0 has increased
significantly.

Fisheries in the Pacific Ocean have targeted Pacific Bluefin Tuna for several centuries in the western
Pacific and at least since the beginning of the 20th century in the eastern Pacific. Data prior to 1952 is of
relatively poor quality and therefore fisheries data only from 1952 to 2012 is included in the latest stock
assessment (ISC 2014). Since the 1950s, catches of Pacific Bluefin Tuna have fluctuated substantially
over time and by gear time. The maximum historical catch occurred in 1956 with 39,824 t and the lowest
historical catch occurred in 1990 with 8,588 t. During the last 10 years, the average catch has been
21,250 t, with most of the catch (80%) occurring in the western Pacific. Since the 1950s, the catches have
been predominantly composed of juveniles, and since the 1990s, the catch of age 0 has increased
significantly. 7

e. Annual production of Pacific Bluefin Tuna; leading exporters of Bluefin Tuna

In the Northern Pacific, the most important fisheries for this species are longline, purse seine, and
pole and line. Other gears such as troll, set-net, and hand-line gears can take substantial catches as well.
The majority of fish are caught in purse seine fisheries (61%), followed by longline (11%) and troll (11%)
(ISC 2014). Many countries harvest Pacific Bluefin Tuna, but Japan catches the majority, followed by
Mexico, the USA, Korea and Chinese Taipei. The majority of the catches occur in the North Pacific
Ocean, while catches in tropical waters and the southern hemisphere are relative low and sporadic.
Since the 1990s, the West Pacific Ocean purse seine fleet has had the largest impact on the Pacific
Bluefin tuna stock compared with the west pacific coastal fisheries, the Eastern Pacific fisheries, and
West Pacific longline fisheries. The catch composition of the West Pacific Ocean purse seine fisheries is
made up largely of juvenile fishes.
In the Eastern Pacific, a considerable portion of the purse seine catch is transported to holding pens in
the Ensenada region of Northern Baja California, Mexico for fattening and later sale as sashimi grade fish
(IATTC 2008). Tuna ranching was evaluated by a Bi-National Scientific Team funded by the Packard
Foundation (Zertuche-Gonzalez et al.2008).
Since the early 1990s, the increase of catches of juveniles of age 0 has substantially increased; which
may be an indicator of the increasing fishery pressure on this species (ISC 2014). The increasing value of
this species may be another indicator of the increasing fishery pressure on this species. The price of the
first big bluefin brought into the Tokyo Tsukiji market, an annual event intended to generate publicity, has
substantially increased each year: $396,000, 341 kg (2011), $735,000, 269 kg (2012), $1,800,000, 222
kg (2013). 8
References:

1 https://swfsc.noaa.gov/Pacificbluefintuna/

2 https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/pacific-bluefin-tuna

3 https://swfsc.noaa.gov/Pacificbluefintuna/

4- 5 http://www.asiapacfish.org/index.php/species/item/27-pacific-bluefin-tuna#sustainability

6 https://swfsc.noaa.gov/uploadedFiles/Divisions/FRD/HMS/PBF_SWFSC_StockAssmt_FAQs_update_Apr2016.pdf

7-8

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/170341/0