From Ship to Shelf, the Pacific Tuna Trade Is a Complex Global Business

Note: Some data in this story map was drawn from a study published in January 2023. Some numbers may have changed since that time.

Acknowledgments

The project team thanks the researchers from Industrial Economics Inc. and Gomez-Hall Associates for conducting the research that underpins this story map. The conclusions drawn from the research about the need for improved management of tuna fisheries are exclusively those of The Pew Charitable Trusts. This research is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

This story map was developed by members of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries team, including Eric Walton, Katy Hladki, Grantly Galland, and Rachel Hopkins. The team thanks Pew colleagues Justine Calcagno, Liz Clifford, Jennifer V. Doctors, Ned Drummond, Carol Hutchinson, Terri Law, Tricia Olszewski, Drew Swinburne, Jared Warzala, and Leah Weiser for their research, editorial, communications, project management, and creative contributions.

Endnotes

1. Total global tuna consumption and market value from: Raiana McKinney et al., “Netting Billions 2020: A Global Tuna Valuation,” The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2020, https://www.pew.org/-/media/assets/2020/10/nettingbillions2020.pdf.
2. International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, “Status of the World Fisheries for Tuna: March 2022,” 2022, https://fisheryprogress.org/sites/default/files/documents_actions/ISSF-2022-04-Status-of-the-World-Fisheries-for-Tuna-March-2022.pdf.
3. Raiana McKinney et al., “Netting Billions 2020.”
4. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Part V, Exclusive Economic Zone, United Nations, 1982, https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part5.htm.
5. “Role and Characteristics,” Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, https://www.iattc.org/en-US/About/Role. “WCPFC Members and Observers,” Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, https://www.wcpfc.int/wcpfc-membership.
6. Raiana McKinney et al., “Netting Billions 2020.”
7. Raiana McKinney et al., “Netting Billions 2020.”
8. The other 22% of Pacific catch comes from a combination of handline, pole and line, gillnet, and other minor gears. Raiana McKinney et al., “Netting Billions 2020.”
9. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 2023, https://indecon.com/wp-content/uploads/Final-Tuna-Supply-Report-090723.pdf.
10. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, “Availability of Catch Estimates From the Other Commercial Fisheries in Indonesia,” 2023, https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/21429.
11. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 10-11.
12. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 10-11.
13. Pew calculation from Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries.”
14. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 15.
15. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 117.
16. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 10-11.
17. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries,” 123.
18. Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries.”
19. Marine Stewardship Council, “Sustainable Tuna Handbook,” 2021, 47-8, https://www.msc.org/species/tuna/sustainable-tuna-handbook.
20. Pew calculation from Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries.”
21. Pew calculation from Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries.”
22. Pew calculation from Industrial Economics Incorporated, “Trade Flow Analysis of Pacific Tuna Fisheries.”
23. Polaris Market Research, “Canned Tuna Fish Market: Market Analysis & Segment Forecast to 2034,” 2024.
24. Polaris Market Research, “Canned Tuna Fish Market.”
25. Polaris Market Research, “Canned Tuna Fish Market.”
26. Polaris Market Research, “Canned Tuna Fish Market.”
27. Resolution on Scientific Observers for Longline Vessels, C-19-08, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, 2019, https://www.iattc.org/GetAttachment/614c5692-74c5-40a7-a8b0-148ec0e52206/C-19-08-Active_Observers-on-longliners.pdf. Agreed Minimum Standards and Guidelines of the Regional Observer Program, ROP-01, Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, 2023, https://www.wcpfc.int/wcpfc-regional-observer-programme-standards%20latest.