Bluefin Tuna

Thunnus thynnus

 

Bluefin Tuna are the largest, rarest and most valuable of all the Tuna species. They represent only 1.25% of the total tuna catch; however a single tuna can sell for as much as $45,000 US Dollars.

 

When they are young, they swim in large schools, feeding on other schooling fish. As they grow in size, they tend to swim in smaller schools. They are very fast swimmers, easily reaching speeds of up to 50 mile per hour. It is said that they can cross the Atlantic in 60 days (Not exactly the Concorde, but impressive none-the-less).

 

Although they can grow to lengths of 12” and weigh as much as 1500#, the average weight is about 16#, or about 6 1/2’. These fish have a world-wide distribution; however they spawn in only a few places, The Gulf of Mexico being one of them. Commercially, they are caught using pole and line, trawling and longlining.

 

Bluefin are the slowest growing Tuna species and can live 10 to 25 years. They make extensive migrations, mainly in open water, however, seasonally; they will come near shore where sports fishermen can sometimes catch them. Their major predators are killer whales, pilot whales, sharks, predatory fish and seabirds

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