What Do Tuna Fishing Statistics Tell Us About Tuna Themselves?

As animal advocates, there are times that we have to look in some unlikely places to find information about the animals on whose behalf we advocate. Though many animal use industries do not keep consistent or reliable records on a broad scale, sometimes statistics become available that help us understand the industry in question, and learn more about the animals themselves.

This article published in Topical Studies in Oceanography is just such an example. It brings together over 50 years of tuna fishing statistics to give a comprehensive picture of the habitat preferences of “commercially valuable tuna.”Through the research we learn that tuna are an oceanic top predator that play a very important role in marine ecosystems all over the world. Different species of tuna have different preferences, some stick to warmer waters, while others prioritize the availability of chlorophyll. Tuna fishing is a high-stakes enterprise, as it accounts for a big percentage of “protein consumption” world wide. Yet even these statistics may be unreliable because fishery data tends to over-state stock abundance to perpetuate the industry. Though articles like this may be difficult to find and hard to sift through, they often contain important facts that can help us advocates paint a more complete picture of the issues around our work.