Wild Tuna Welfare in Commercial Fisheries: Scale and Suffering

Tuna are caught in vast numbers using methods that cause significant suffering. The welfare of wild-caught tuna is an emerging area of concern for the seafood industry.

Key Facts

Global tuna catch exceeds 7 million tonnes annually, making it one of the world's largest fisheries
Longline fishing captures tuna alongside bycatch species and can leave fish on hooks for 24+ hours
Purse seine nets can trap thousands of tuna and associated species simultaneously
Tuna are warm-blooded (endothermic), a rarity among fish, contributing to their high activity levels
Evidence suggests tunas have complex nervous systems supporting significant pain capacity
Slaughter at sea is often slow - without stunning, mortality can take minutes to hours

Welfare Considerations

Tuna welfare represents one of the most challenging intersections of scale and suffering in global food production. The sheer numbers involved - millions of individual fish - and the evidence for pain capacity in tuna make this a significant moral issue that the seafood industry has been slow to address. Certifications like MSC focus on sustainability rather than welfare. Emerging standards from organizations like the Fish Welfare Initiative are beginning to develop tuna welfare metrics, but industry uptake is limited. Consumer demand for information about how fish are caught and killed could drive meaningful change at scale.

What You Can Do

Choose canned tuna certified to standards that prohibit the worst welfare practices
Reduce tuna consumption or choose plant-based alternatives
Support organizations working to establish welfare standards for wild-caught tuna fisheries
Advocate for stunning requirements before slaughter in commercial tuna fisheries
Promote research into low-suffering capture and slaughter methods for commercial tuna