Tuna Fishing History

Tuna became increasingly popualr in the U.S in the early 1900s.

Tuna has been fished since ancient times. Most species of tunas are migratory, making tuna more available at certain times of the year depending on whether it is passing that location. Historically, tuna has mainly been fished in places such as the coast of Norway, the Bay of Biscay, the Straits of Gibraltar and along the North African coast.

The American Tuna Industry

The modern tuna industry in the United States began with the introduction of canned tuna in 1903. At this time, canned sardines were popular and no one really ate tuna. However, in 1903, Albert P. Halfhil, a Southern Californian fish canner, suffered a shortage in sardines and so decided to pack his mass of empty cans with steamed tuna. By the outbreak of the World War I, Halfhil had sold 400,000 cases. In World War I, canned tuna became a staple part of the American soldiers' diet, and the industry grew rapidly.

The 1940s and '50s

In the 1940s and '50s, there was globally an increased demand for canned tuna, and industrial tuna fishing began. The major industrial fisheries consisted of huge Japanese boats in the Pacific and huge American boats off the coast of California and the coast of Mexico. Traditional tuna fishing continued across the globe. After World War II until 1953, the Japanese tuna fishing industry was limited to fishing near its coast. However by the late 1950s, the Japanese industry had expanded massively, and Japanese tuna fishing was taking place in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The 1960s

In the 1960s, the Spanish and French started to fish tuna off the tropical west coast of Africa, as did the Japanese. Also the Koreans and Taiwanese started to fish tuna for the canning industry. Toward the end of the decade the Japanese began fishing bluefin tuna instead of yellowfin tuna. Also in the 1960s, the American tuna fishing industry developed a new method of fishing called dolphin fishing. Schools of yellowfin tuna in the Pacific were often accompanied by dolphins, and this made the tuna easier to locate. Speedboats were used to chase both the tuna and the dolphins into large nets.

The 1970s and '80s.

In the 1970s, dolphin fishing continued to develop in the eastern Pacific, but the United States introduced strict regulations aimed at reducing the amount of dolphins being killed in the process. This inspired some U.S. ships to change flags to those of Latin American nations. In the 1980s, many of these Central and South American nations also started to fish tuna using the dolphin fishing method. The most active of these nations were Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.

1990 to 2010

The most significant change in the tuna industry between 1990 and 2010 was the introduction of the tuna farm. Tuna farming was introduced in the early '90s to keep tuna in captivity for a short period of time following capture for the purpose of fattening. This meant that the relatively small tuna often caught by the dolphin fishing method and usually only suitable for the canned tuna industry could be fattened up for steaks and the whole tuna industry. This farming process is most commonly practiced with the already larger bluefin tuna but is also used for bigeye and yellowfin tuna.

References

• Slayerrods: History of Fishing for Tuna
• HealthyTuna: Industry History