Bluefin Tuna: What Oceana Does
In the U.S., Oceana has pushed for action by NOAA Fisheries to establish a time/area closure in the Gulf of Mexico to end the incidental taking of spawning-age bluefin tuna before they spawn.
The current rules allow fishermen targeting yellowfin tuna or swordfish to catch and sell one bluefin tuna per trip, caught in one of only two known spawning sites for this heavily overfished species.
In Europe, Oceana has been pushing for protections of the second known bluefin tuna spawning ground, the Mediterranean Sea.
Oceana has urged the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to enact immediate fisheries closures until stocks recover, protect spawning bluefin, reduce fishing capacity and reduce the number of tuna ranching operations in the Mediterranean.
