Fisheries and aquaculture are confronted with continuing problems such as climate change, growing human populations, low income of small scale fishers and fish farmers, and competitive production and trading conditions. People should be confronting and discussing the challenges in order to come up with solutions on how we can respond; and the community should be resilient and adaptive in combatting the challenges. We cannot immediately solve some problems, such as overfishing, illegal fishing, depletion of marine resources, as they have deep root causes, but we are learning how to address them. Governments do their best to manage fishery resources to meet these challenges. Decision makers and the public also need to continually listen to new information so that they are equipped with knowledge for sustaining marine and aquaculture resources and protecting people who depend on them for nutrition, livelihood and business. Research is an important information gathering tool that contributes to policy and decision-making. The Asian Fisheries Society and its partners are taking a lead in making new information accessible through its platform AsiaPacific-FishWatch providing essential information on fish harvested or farmed for food in Asia-Pacific. I am pleased that AsiaPacific-FishWatch gives attention in its profiles and posts to the critical social, economic and market character of the value chains. The Asian Fisheries Society emphasises equally social and economic knowledge and biological, physical and technical knowledge.

Prof. Alice Joan G. Ferrer, PhD, President, Asian Fisheries Society

 
 
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ASIAPACIFIC-FISHWATCH

POST HARVEST

Bigeye tuna is one of the most valuable tuna species and is the most highly targeted species, followed by yellowfin tuna and, to a lesser extent, albacore. Bigeye tuna generally has less fat than bluefin tuna but is popular for its bright red flesh.

CANNING

Bigeye tuna is predominately used in the sushi and sashimi market, however, some bigeye tuna is canned by default. In 2007, approximately 2% of total canned tuna was bigeye tuna.

SASHIMI AND OTHER PRODUCTS

Japan is the major global market for sashimi quality tuna (around 100% of global consumption in 2010). In 2014, bigeye accounts for 38% of the total supply volume (imports and landings) of sashimi grade tuna. In 2015, over 90% of bigeye landings to Japan is frozen.

Longliners and some purse seiners, especially those from Japan, have ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezing capability at -60 or -35-40o freezing capacity (ULT commands a higher price premium) allowing for the production of sashimi-quality tuna. Most fish caught by purse seining is canned but larger fish such as bigeye tuna caught by Japanese purse seine vessels with ULT freezers is sold as a product termed ‘purse seine special’ on the lower-quality sashimi market, still fetching a higher value than that for canning. Fish that is unsuitable for top or export markets is sold on domestic markets.

Adult bigeye tuna is caught by coastal longlining, pole-and-line, and handline and is sold fresh chilled, generally as sashimi or as fresh steaks.

Eating fresh tuna has been popular in the large United States market since the late 1990s. The most popular tuna fresh is the so-called ‘ahi’, the Hawaiian name for bigeye tuna, but ‘ahi’ may be either yellowfin or bigeye tuna.

COMMON MARKET NAMES

The FAO names for bigeye tuna: bigeye tuna (English); Thon obese (French); and Patudo (Spanish). Bigeye tuna is known by many local common names (e.g., see FishBase – http://www.fishbase.org – for lists). In the USA, the Hawaiian word for both yellowfin and bigeye tuna, "ahi," has been used as a marketing tool irrespective of fish origin and has gained general acceptance at the wholesale and retail level.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

Fat content in bigeye tuna is higher than in other tuna species, yet, relative to other animal-based foods, it remains a good choice for low-fat diets. The fish has firm, red-pink flesh and a mild flavour. A c.100 g. serving contains 108 calories, roughly 500 mg of omega-3 fatty acids and 1 g of fat.

Nutrition Facts, 1 serving, of weight 113g

CALORIES 130
PROTEIN 27g
FAT, TOTAL 2g
SATURATED FATTY ACIDS, TOTAL 0.5g
CARBOHYDRATE 0g
SUGARS, TOTAL 0g
FIBER, TOTAL DIETARY 0g
CHOLESTEROL 45mg
SELENIUM 160% daily value
SODIUM 70 mg

TRADE AND MARKETS

Japan is the world’s principal market for fresh-chilled and frozen sashimi-grade tuna accounting for around 100% of the global sashimi consumption in 2010. The USA is the second market in volume for sushi and sashimi with an estimated 8-10 percent of global sashimi consumption. Sushi consumption is now a global trend and consumers in more countries are eating it. Longline-caught bigeye tuna are exported fresh or frozen mainly to sashimi markets in Japan, the USA and Europe. Sashimi-grade portions of catches are offloaded in ports with good air-freight connections to Japan and other markets, while the non-sashimi grade portion is either sold in local markets, processed into export-grade value-added fresh and frozen tuna products, or frozen whole round for export or shipping back to home ports.

Indonesia has long been a major exporter of fresh-chilled sashimi grade tuna, mainly to U.S. markets. A large number of Taiwanese and Indonesian joint-venture vessels have been based in Jakarta and Benoa and mostly fish in the Indian Ocean. The Philippines, Vietnam and Fiji are other major bigeye exporters to the U.S.

Recent national and international management controls for longline vessels catching bigeye tuna and other species, such as yellowfin tuna, require registration and traceability certificates for import clearance to the market countries, especially Japan, the EU and the USA.

EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL FACTORS AND GENDER

Much of the fishing for bigeye tuna takes place outside exclusive economic zones and so employment and social factors concern mainly those in countries of vessel owners, crews and markets. In the case of the longline fisheries, developing countries, such as those in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, have gained only small economic returns. Longline vessels are said to have low profit margins, including from rising operating costs such as from fuel that are not accompanied by rising tuna prices.

Men comprise the fishing crews on tuna fishing vessels. The majority of cannery production workers are women although men are engaged in heavy tasks. Men have a significant role in bigeye tuna production, simply because the adult fish are large, from catching, moving fish around at landing places and in processing facilities, and in some fresh chilled and sashimi markets (e.g. in Japan).

In the Philippines and Indonesia, small bigeye tuna are usually sold in local markets by women. Women have established niche spaces in the Fish Port Tambler Complex of General Santos City, Philippines.

Women are beginning to enter non-traditional areas of work, for example, as observers and tuna taggers on board fishing vessels – e.g. in the Solomon Islands and Fiji.

FISHING

Labour on fishing vessels has received much greater attention in recent years as labour and human rights groups have uncovered many instances of rights abuses, especially on those vessels that spend protracted periods at sea, such as longliners and even large purse seine vessels. The operating costs squeeze on such vessels has led to extensive hire of migrant crew, some quite young, from poor backgrounds in countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam who are paid little and who work under bonded labour conditions. Some are trafficked as forced labour.

Large-scale distant water longline fishing vessels present the most challenging labour conditions as the vessels can be at sea for as long as 18 months and the work entails long hours under arduous conditions. Although nominally covered by the new ILO Work in Fishing Convention No. 188(2007) that came into force on 17 November 2017, more minimum requirements are needed: minimum age; medically fitness; conditions of service such as adequate crewing and rest periods, employment contracts, repatriation, recruitment and placement; accommodation and food; and, medical care, health protection and social security.

Socially responsible labour conditions are becoming recognised as reasons, alongside conservation issues, for restricting tuna imports, including of high value species such as bigeye tuna. Flag states and market ports, e.g., Taiwan, Hawaii (USA) have had to pass domestic laws addressing hiring of foreign crew and protecting the workers’ rights.

Social standards for supply chains free of forced and child labour are beginning to enter the requirements of the certifying bodies such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Pacifical (Parties to the Nauru Agreement MSC certified fisheries), and OPAGAC (the fishing association representing the Spanish purse seine tuna fleet). Major tuna retailers are now requesting social audits although, in the case of key bigeye tuna markets, Japanese and other Asian sashimi markets are not applying much pressure for longline social standards. In 2017, Thai Union Group introduced a fishing vessel improvement program and vessel code of conduct to provide guidance to vessels from which the company sources as well as improve labour and ethical performance in the fishing sector.

PROCESSING FACILITIES

In the bigeye tuna value chain, women are mostly engaged in fish processing (canneries) and trimming and preparing fish pouches and steaks for export; they also engage in domestic and non-commercial marketing of small fish. Women may join men as production managers and the like in processing operations.

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

Note: Details of all sources are given References below.

For comprehensive post harvest information see Campling, Lewis & McCoy (2017).

For canning, see: Hamilton and others (2011).

For sashimi and other products, see: Campling and others (2017), Miyake and others (2010), and Hamilton and others (2011).

For common market names, see: FAO bigeye tuna Species Fact Sheet (http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2498/en) and for many local common names, see FishBase for lists (http://www.fishbase.org).

For nutritional value, see FishChoice (2018) and Fishwatch (2017).

For trade and markets, see: Campling and others (2017), FAO (2017) and Hamilton and others (2011).

For employment, social factors see: Campling and others (2017).

For gender, see Tuara & Passfield (2011), Ram-Bidesi (2010), and Pavo & Digal (2017).

On labour in fishing, see: Campling and others (2017), de Coning (2011).

REFERENCES

Links