overview
who is the pacific bluefin tuna
Pacific bluefin tuna, from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California and from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Philippines. It spawns in the western Pacific, near Japan, and many young fish cross the ocean to the California Current, where they spend a few years before returning. It forms schools by size and moves up the Baja California coast between June and September, coming close to shore at certain times. It eats schooling fish, squid and pelagic crabs. In Mexico it is commercially caught with purse seines and fattened on farms in Ensenada; in sport fishing, boats from Ensenada and other ports seek the schools on banks and islands, using live sardines, stickbaits and jigs. The IUCN classifies it as near threatened, and catch is controlled by international quotas.
fun facts
- Many bluefin are born near Japan and cross the Pacific while still young to the Baja California coast, where they spend a few years.
- Ensenada, in Baja California, is home to fattening farms that catch young bluefin at sea and feed them in cages.
how to recognize it
identification
Very robust, torpedo-shaped body, dark blue back and silvery belly with light lines and dots. The pectoral fins are short and do not reach the base of the second dorsal, unlike the yellowfin and albacore, which have long pectorals. Yellow finlets with dark edges and dark tail keels. Yellowfin has a yellow second dorsal and anal fin, long in adults.
how pacific bluefin tuna fishing looks
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