Where Are Bluefin Tuna Found? What Are Some of the Best Places to Catch Bluefin Tuna? There are few delicacies as rare and expensive as bluefin tuna, but where do they come from? Do you know some of the best places to catch Bluefin Tuna? Well if you are not aware don’t worry we shall discuss it today in this article.
There are three types of bluefin tuna, and Bluefin tuna is divided into three important species: Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern. The Pacific Ocean, the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean hold these species. These 4 regions are very rich in their species, their habitat is well known and suitable for this area.
So let’s discover the importance of the Bluefin tuna in the world of culinary arts in the following sections.
A Highly Sought-After Species: Difficult to Find.
Bluefin tuna is one of the most impressive fish in the ocean. Aside from their size, they’re excellent swimmers and have the highest nutritional value out of any food taken from the ocean. For these reasons, bluefin tuna is one of the highly demanded fish present in the market.
Upon reaching full maturity, a Bluefin tuna can grow to a length of thirteen feet and weigh up to two thousand pounds. The species can travel almost anywhere and live for about forty years.
Environmental organizations around the world consider bluefin tunas to be endangered regardless of their species. Several organizations, including WWF and NOAA, are closely monitoring the market for Bluefin tuna due to its overfishing.
The Japanese consume around 70 percent of the world’s Bluefin tuna. Japan, the natural home of sushi and sashimi, consumes huge amounts of Bluefin tuna, and it is in this nation that the fish are most valuable.
Japanese officials proposed a motion that would have allowed them to fish 20 percent more Bluefin than they were allowed to fish already. The country was catching enormous amounts of fish from the Pacific Ocean, but it wasn’t enough.
However, Bluefin tuna isn’t just found in the Pacific Ocean. Bluefin exists in three species around the world, and each of them occurs in different bodies of water.
There is also the Atlantic Bluefin and the Southern Bluefin in addition to the Pacific Bluefin. In fact, most of the Atlantic Bluefin comes from the Mediterranean, but the Southern Bluefin is found in the Indian Ocean.
The Gulf of Mexico has a huge stock of Bluefin tuna, some of the biggest and best in the world. The record-breaking catch of an Atlantic Bluefin weighing more than 800 pounds was caught in 2019.
Huge Catch, Huge Rewards.
It is believed that approximately two percent of the bluefin tuna population still exists. To combat extinction, many countries across the globe are developing methods and practices.
Bluefin tuna fishing is regulated in most countries, but some are stricter than others. In some places, Bluefin tuna of a certain size can only be tagged and released for tracking, but cannot be ‘retained’.
Irish fishermen took part in this practice in 2019 when they caught a 600-pound tuna. Their goal wasn’t to catch fish, but rather to release them. The tuna was tagged, photographed, and released back into the ocean.
It has been documented that the fish have been caught commercially as far back as the 1950s. Initially, Bluefin became popular as a food source because of the high quality of the meat, and the yield of each catch.
There seems to be no upper limit on the price of Bluefin tuna, which can cost up to two hundred dollars per pound. As an example, a record 3 million dollar auction was held in 2019 for a gigantic Bluefin.
The sushi restaurant spent around five thousand dollars per pound on that particular example. According to reports, the man who bought it knew he’d paid too much, but he couldn’t resist.
It was surprising that that Bluefin wasn’t the biggest fish ever caught – not by a long shot. Bluefin tunas have an unbroken record of just under 1500 pounds.
The world’s largest Bluefin tuna was caught in October 1979 – and is still alive today. That record hasn’t even come close to being surpassed 40 years later.
In an auction like the one we mentioned above, a Bluefin would fetch a dizzying price. With a price of $5,000 per pound, it would sell for just under $7.5 million.
