Should we still be eating tuna?

• Popular food
• Tuna species
• Albacore tuna
• Southern bluefin tuna
• Bigeye tuna
• Pacific bluefin tuna
• Atlantic bluefin tuna
• Catching tuna fish
• Almadraba technique
• Canned tuna
• Tuna in spring water
• Tuna in oil
• Health benefits
• Nutritional value
• How much tuna is good for you?
• Mercury levels
• Mercury exposure
• Skipjack tuna
• Limiting mercury consumption
• Is tuna safe for kids?
• Best choices for children
• Market leaders
• Critically endangered
• Fish farming
• Farming vulnerable species
• Biggest tuna-consuming nation
• Conservation efforts
• Marine Stewardship Council

With its delicious taste and agreeable texture, tuna is a favorite option for either a snack or meal choice. A nutrient-rich food, this sleek and streamlined species is among the most commercially valuable fish on the planet. And therein lies the problem. Existing levels of tuna fishing are unsustainable, which could drive the fish to extinction. And despite its super healthful benefits, consuming too much tuna can actually be dangerous for you. So, should we still be eating tuna?

Click through and reel in what you need to know about this powerful, agile, and endangered fish.

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Popular food

Tuna is the most popular fish in the American diet, second only to shrimp as a favored seafood. In Japan, too, enormous quantities of tuna are consumed daily. And tinned tuna remains the workaday fish gobbled up by millions across the developed world. Indeed, there are lots of good reasons to eat tuna, but there are also plenty of good reasons not to eat tuna.

Tuna species

Did you know that there are 15 different species of tuna fish? Only five, however, can be described as true tuna. These belong to the genus Thunnus.

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Albacore tuna

One of the smaller tuna species, albacore tuna are bullet-shaped and always on the move. They are commonly found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea.

Southern bluefin tuna

Found in open Southern Hemisphere waters of all the world’s oceans, southern bluefin tuna are large, fast-swimming torpedo-shaped fish. The species is critically endangered, with population levels down 5% of original, pre-fishing numbers, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

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Bigeye tuna

Bigeye tuna call the open waters of all tropical and temperate oceans home, but not the Mediterranean Sea. Long and streamlined, the species is highly migratory, swimming continuously over large distances.

Pacific bluefin tuna

Considered threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Pacific bluefin tuna are the largest tunas and can live up to 40 years. The species is found in the northern Pacific Ocean, ranging from the East Asia coast to the western coast of North America.

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Atlantic bluefin tuna

The Atlantic bluefin is native to both the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. It’s one of the largest, fastest, and most strikingly colored of all the world’s fish—and one of the most endangered!

Catching tuna fish

Tuna has been a staple for civilizations for centuries. One of the oldest methods of catching tuna is the elaborate and age-old Phoenician technique, also known as Almadraba, employed for trapping and landing Atlantic bluefin tuna.

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Almadraba technique

The Almadraba is a traditional form of tuna fishing using a a maze of netting fences. It is still used today in Portugal, Spain, Morocco, and Italy. In Sicily, the same method is called Tonnara.

Canned tuna

Tuna was first canned in the early 20th century. Up until then, the sardine was the only fish placed in cans. But in 1903, a shortfall in the sardine catch off the coast of southern California saw a number of enterprising cannery owners start packing tuna into the empty sardine cans. A new industry was created.

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Tuna in spring water

Canned tuna can be bought in brine, spring water, sunflower or olive oil. Tuna in water is higher in omega-3s and has fewer calories than tuna in oil. On the other hand, if canned in brine, the salt (sodium) content will be higher. From a nutrition standpoint, water-packed tuna provides you with pure protein and a more subtle tuna flavor.

Tuna in oil

That said, oil-packed tuna has a softer texture and a stronger tuna flavor. Be aware, however, that while protein levels are the same, the fat content of tuna in oil increases.

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Health benefits

Tuna is one of the best dietary sources of vitamin D. It also contains a high amount of omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce cholesterol and improve heart health. Among other health boosting benefits, tuna is rich in potassium, which can help lower blood pressure.

Nutritional value

Tuna contains plenty of nutrients such as vitamin C, selenium, manganese, and zinc—all of which have excellent immunity-boosting properties.

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How much tuna is good for you?

While tuna is delicious and nutritious, too much of it can be detrimental to your health. Why?

Mercury levels

Tuna is high in mercury compared to other fish. Large fish tend to absorb methylmercury from their food and from water as it passes over their gills. Bluefish, shark, swordfish, wild sturgeon, opah (sunfish), and bigeye tuna carry a proportionately large mercury burden, notes Scientific American.

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Mercury exposure

In fact, mercury exposure is an important consideration when adding tuna to your diet. A single serving of some types of tuna may surpass the maximum amount of mercury that you can safely consume per week.

Skipjack tuna

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, light and skipjack tuna (pictured) are lower in mercury than larger species such as bigeye and albacore.

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Limiting mercury consumption

Limiting mercury consumption is important to health, particularly for children and pregnant women.

Is tuna safe for kids?

Tuna is a tasty and valuable source of nourishment, and is a great way to get your kids eating fish. But there are varieties of tuna that are better suited to younger palates.

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Best choices for children

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rank canned light tuna to be among the best choices for children to eat, recommending two to three servings a week.

Sustainability

Tuna is an enormously popular fish, but certain types are threatened by unsustainable harvesting. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Pacific bluefin tuna are heavily overfished, and the Atlantic bigeye and the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna are experiencing overfishing, with increased catch levels in recent years.

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Market leaders

THE WWF notes the majority of the market is made up of four species: skipjack alone account for more than half of the global catch of tuna, followed by yellowfin, bigeye, and albacore.

Critically endangered

Fortunately, adds the WWF, the critically-endangered bluefin tuna accounts for only 1% of the global catch. Somewhat ironically, Atlantic bluefin tuna have returned to UK waters and can once again be seen during the summer and autumn months, in part due to warming seas. Tuna fishing is banned in all UK waters. If fisherman catch an Atlantic bluefin tuna by accident, they must release it immediately back into the water.

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Aquaculture

In response to the worrying decline in fish stocks, increasing quantities of high-grade tuna caught at sea are reared in net pens and fed bait fish.

Fish farming

Southern bluefish tuna are being raised by former fishermen in Australia. According to the Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA), farming this particular tuna species is the single most valuable sector of South Australia’s aquaculture industry.

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Farming vulnerable species

Meanwhile, farming of the vulnerable Atlantic bluefin is taking place in the Mediterranean, North America, and Japan.

Biggest tuna-consuming nation

Japan is the biggest tuna-consuming nation (the Atlantic bluefin is prized for gourmet sushi). But it is also the leading nation in tuna farming research.

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Conservation efforts

While these conservation initiatives are to be applauded, research published in 2016 indicates that increasing ocean temperatures are taking a toll on tuna populations in the Indian Ocean. Rapid warming of the ocean has resulted in a reduction of marine phytoplankton, the main source of food for bigeye tuna.

Marine Stewardship Council

So, how can you help do your bit to preserve tuna species? When buying fresh or canned tuna, look for the MSC label (which stands for the Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard). Products bearing this logo are certified as sustainable.

Sources: (Britannia) (The Guardian) (Australian Marine Conservation Society) (Environmental Defense Fund) (World Wildlife Fund) (ScienceDaily) (MESA) (Live Science) (AGU Publications) (Marine Stewardship Council)

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