Into the Deep With the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

New animation from TED-Ed highlights the natural history of an iconic species

Article By: Grantly Galland, Ph.D. & Raiana McKinney Read time:
Projects: Improving Management of International Fisheries

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Into the Deep With the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is the largest and longest-lived of the 15 known tuna species. Warm-blooded and able to grow as big as a polar bear, these fish are equipped with unique adaptations that make them dominant predators and a keystone species in the marine ecosystem. Although fishers have targeted Atlantic bluefin for thousands of years, only in recent decades has skyrocketing demand for high-end sushi driven a rise in overfishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing—and a drastic drop in the species’ population.

But if governments and fishery management organizations strengthen conservation and quota-enforcement efforts, this valuable species can recover.

The below animation from TED-Ed highlights the fascinating features of the Atlantic bluefin and why this remarkable fish has captivated humans for so many generations:

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Article October 29, 2020

Lower Quotas To Slow Decline of Western Atlantic Tuna

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Article October 29, 2020

The population of the iconic western Atlantic bluefin tuna—the giant fish featured in fishing reality shows and at the top of many sushi menus—has declined and is experiencing overfishing, according to a new stock assessment by scientists at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

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Article March 9, 2021

Decline in Shark Populations Requires Stricter Conservation

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Article March 9, 2021

Despite years of calls to better protect oceanic sharks and rays, a recent study in the journal Nature reveals that, since 1970, the global abundance of these predators has declined more than 70 percent, largely because of increased fishing pressure. In what the authors called an “unprecedented increase in the risk of extinction,” half of these species now are classified as endangered or critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

verwandte Experten
Grantly Galland, Ph.D. Project Director
International Fisheries
Raiana McKinney
Raiana McKinney Senior Associate
International Fisheries
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Grantly Galland, Ph.D. Raiana McKinney
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