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Best Fish Guide: Skipjack tuna

 Ranking: D (Amber - Concerns)

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Alternative Choice: Best option, no alternative

Description: This top predator is a highly migratory species of tuna found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, usually preferring the warmer surface waters. New Zealand is the southern limit of the skipjack tuna migration route (which is well known for being very long) where they visit the northeast from December to May, or in later months from New Plymouth to Cape Farewell. Skipjack are predominantly caught by purse seine vessels operating North of New Plymouth and Hawkes Bay. The New Zealand catch is a small part of the Pacific fishery, which is now managed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Description: This top predator is a highly migratory species of tuna found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, usually preferring the warmer surface waters. New Zealand is the southern limit of the skipjack tuna migration route (which is well known for being very long) where they visit the northeast from December to May, or in later months from New Plymouth to Cape Farewell.  Skipjack are predominantly caught by purse seine vessels operating North of New Plymouth and Hawkes Bay.  The New Zealand catch is a small part of the Pacific fishery, which is now managed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Ecological concerns: Uncertainty about the state of the stocks, the bycatch of sharks, the bycatch of yellowfin and bigeye tuna in the Pacific fishery, plus the lack of a stock assessment, catch limits or a management plan.

Economic value: The main market is for canning outside New Zealand, primarily in Indonesia and Thailand. The export value of skipjack tuna was about $17 million in 2008.  The export value of all tuna species combined was $38 million in 2010.

Best option: Skipjack is the second most ecologically sustainable tuna species on the Best Fish Guide.  If possible, try to avoid skipjack caught in association with catches of yellowfin and bigeye tuna, which are overfished.

ASSESSMENT OUTPUT

Biology and risk of overfishing (score C)
Status and sustainability of fish catches (score B)
Impact of fishing method and protected, threatened and endangered species captures (score B and C)
Management and management unit (score C and D)

For a full ecological assessment, click here