Of the total commercial tuna catch worldwide, 86.4% is now sourced from stocks at healthy levels, according to the latest Status of the Stocks report from the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation.
This is up from March’s figure of 80.5% and is mainly because of an increase in Eastern Pacific Ocean skipjack which represents around 6% of the global tuna catch. In March, EPO skipjack’s rating fell from green to yellow owing to scant data. However, following an assessment by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission in May, this rating has been restored to green.
Not all is good news however with some of the 23 reviewed species considered at risk. In total 9.2% of tuna catch came from overfished stocks, with 4.4% from those at an intermediate level of abundance.
Overfished species include Indian Ocean yellowfin, Pacific bluefin, Mediterranean albacore, Indian Ocean albacore and bigeye.
Other key highlights from the report include:
- Spawning biomass levels are at 65% (up from 61% in March)
- Nearly three quarters (74%) of stocks have a well-managed fishing mortality rate
- The total catch for major commercial tuna stocks was 4.9 million tonnes in 2020, around 10% lower than in 2019
- Most tuna (66%) is caught using purse seining.
