Bluefin, yellowfin, and skipjack tuna are caught in enormous numbers by methods that cause significant welfare harm, from capture through to processing.
Tuna caught on longlines may struggle for hours before being hauled aboard, experiencing exhaustion, hypoxia, and stress. Processing of live tuna without prior stunning is common across the industry. Purse-seine fishing captures entire schools, including juveniles and non-target species, with crowding and injury. Bluefin ranching involves capturing wild fish and holding them in large sea cages where they cannot perform natural long-distance migrations. Welfare standards for commercial tuna fisheries are essentially non-existent.