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English:
Latin: |
bigeye tuna
Thunnus obesus |
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| Size + Weight: |
Average today abt 90 cm abt
15-20 kg |
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| Biggest Angled Fish: |
333 kgs Peru, 1957 Russel Lee |
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| Catching Areas: |
37% Eastern Pacific
23% Western Pacific
15 % Indian Ocean
25% Atlantic Ocean |
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| Catching methods: |
purse seining (small fish),
long line (large fish) |
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| Share of all tuna caught: |
abt 8 % or 256000 m/t |
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| Main Production Areas: |
Thailand, Philippines,
Indonesia, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Spain, Italy. |
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| Spawning Areas: |
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| Life cycle: |
abt 5-7 years max |
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| Major markets: |
Japan (sashimi) |
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| Popular Product Forms: |
Fresh (whole fish)
Fresh Fillets (sashimi) |
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| Bigeye tuna look a
lot like Yellowfin. They are hard to distinct sometimes. They swim at greater depth then
Skipjack and Yellowfin, and therefore have more fat to insulate them from the cold water.
This makes them especially attractive for the Japanese sashimi market. |
| Product
Characteristics: The meat turns light gray and somewhat darkish after cooking or grilling.
Its color makes it less fit for canning. The color and taste of big fish gets almost near
to that of beef. In S-America sometimes baby -bigeye are used for canning, this is still
marketed as light meat. |
| Future Supply : Scientist
do not fully agree yet if the Bigeye resources are fully exploited. Through more
purse-seine fishing activity on skipjack and yellowfin, the (by)-catch of small-size
big-eye has increased a lot . On the other hand has the less-efficient long-line fishing
activity decreased. This trend might be threatening the reproduction of the stocks. A
precautionary approach towards the resources seems desirable.
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