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Bigeye Tuna

Latin name: Thunnus obesus

Common name: Tuna

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Wild Caught

Region:
Imported, Western Australia

Key Facts

Bigeye tuna is a highly migratory species of tuna that is targeted by fishing vessels managed by a number of different countries.
Bigeye tuna are targeted in Australian fisheries off the eastern and western coast and in international waters
The vast majority of Australian-caught bigeye tuna is caught offshore of our east coast
Bigeye tuna is listed as 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN Red list
Bigeye tuna populations are subject to overfishing across the Indian Ocean, and there is a risk overfishing is also occurring in the population fished off eastern Australia, though the relatively small Australian catch is not a major impact compared to international fishing pressure.
Bigeye tuna are caught on longlines that also catch endangered wildlife, such as turtles, seabirds, whales and dolphins.
Video monitoring of fishing boats operating in the fishery is a welcome advance, improving confidence in log book reports.
The Australian tuna fishing industry has lobbied extensively to open protected marine sanctuaries to their fishing with some success. This shows a disappointing lack of environmental leadership

More information

Western Tuna and Billfish Fishery (36t in 2024)

Bigeye tuna is a highly migratory species that is targeted by fishing vessels managed by a number of different countries.

Due to high demand for bigeye tuna, fishing pressure on the species is intense. Bigeye tuna is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ to extinction on the IUCN Red List.

Fishery reports indicate that the Indian Ocean population fished in Western Australian waters are overfished.

Bigeye tuna are caught using longlines in Australian waters, which also catch a range of threatened species. Independent Video monitoring across the fishing fleet was rolled out in 2015. This welcome progress provides confidence in reporting of wildlife affected by the fishery.

However, video monitoring has identified that fishers were significantly under-reporting how much endangered wildlife was killed in the past, which means that the impact of this fishery is substantially higher than previously thought. Since cameras have been installed on boats, the number of turtles, seabirds, whales and dolphins recorded as caught has significantly increased.

Despite this, most current management arrangements for the ecological risks of the fishery to endangered species is based on unreliable information collected before the implementation of cameras, though there is now ten years of reliable data available.

The relatively very low level of fishing activity in the WTBF in recent years significantly reduces the risk that fishery poses to threatened and endangered bycatch species.

Turtles, whales, dolphins and seabirds are at risk from multiple threats, including fishing. Given the small scale of the Western Australian tuna fishery relative to international tuna fisheries, it is unlikely that this fishery is the major driver of on-going population declines in these species of endangered wildlife.

Marine sanctuaries, areas where fishing is not allowed, provide valuable protection to species, allowing for greater confidence in surrounding fisheries.

The Australian tuna fishing industry has extensively lobbied for the removal of marine sanctuary protection in areas where they want to fish. They have been successful on multiple occasions.

Marine sanctuaries are a fundamental part of healthy oceans, and their targeted reduction is not in the best interest of the ocean or the industry. This continued effort to undermine marine sanctuaries is a disappointing lack of environmental stewardship.