Yellowfin Tuna
Thunnus albacares
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Keep or release?
Where are you fishing?
Size limits, seasons and female rules are set by each state. Pick yours to get a verdict.
TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland rules, plus federal protections everywhere.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListReassessed as Least Concern in 2021, upgraded from Near Threatened. Stock health still varies by ocean — Indian Ocean yellowfin is overfished even though the global category is healthy.
What Least Concern means
Assessed as widespread and abundant. This describes the global population, not fishing pressure or legal protection.
On your plate
Common Seafood
Widely eaten as ahi. The gear used and the ocean it came from make most of the sustainability difference.
Regional fishing status
Atlantic and Pacific stocks are generally not overfished. Indian Ocean yellowfin has been subject to overfishing for over a decade.
If you buy it
- Pole-and-line, troll or handline caught has minimal bycatch.
- FAD-free purse seine is better than fish-aggregating-device sets, which catch juvenile tuna and sharks.
- Avoid Indian Ocean yellowfin while that stock is under a rebuilding plan.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Open ocean above and around the thermocline
Range
Tropical and subtropical waters worldwide
Size
Up to 2.4 m and 200 kg
Diet
Fish, squid and crustaceans
Lifespan
6–7 years
Group
fish
Named for the long, bright yellow second dorsal and anal fins that trail almost to the tail.
In the eastern Pacific, yellowfin schools travel under dolphin pods — the reason 'dolphin-safe' labelling exists at all.
They can sprint at around 75 km/h in short bursts.
Cook this species