--- title: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Near Extinction, Conservationists Warn description: A dwindling population of bluefin tuna could vanish from the Pacific ocean for good, conservationists warned on Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-17T15:32:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:21.146Z article:section: Science og:title: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Near Extinction, Conservationists Warn og:description: A dwindling population of bluefin tuna could vanish from the Pacific ocean for good, conservationists warned on Tuesday og:url: https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccbc9f8f01319814/698768ff2dce014ec89dbd01/457688744.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Blue-Fin Tuna Farm Operations At Kinki University Fisheries Laboratory As Seafood Proves Sweet Spot In Japanese Exports og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Near Extinction, Conservationists Warn twitter:description: A dwindling population of bluefin tuna could vanish from the Pacific ocean for good, conservationists warned on Tuesday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccbc9f8f01319814/698768ff2dce014ec89dbd01/457688744.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are 4 More Vulnerable Fish to Avoid Next Time You're at the Sushi Bar ## Video: The Trouble with Tuna [Watch (HLS stream): The Trouble with Tuna](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nWITPNR9.m3u8) (3:07)  _Published 2009-11-02. An exporter in the Philppine port of General Santos City, says big yellowfin tuna is getting harder to catch because of overfishing_  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Nov 17, 2014 3:32 PM UTC  A farmed blue-fin tuna on board a boat at a fish farm operated by the laboratory in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. A farmed blue-fin tuna on board a boat at a fish farm operated by the laboratory in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014.Tomohiro Ohsumi—Bloomberg / Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Nov 17, 2014 3:32 PM UTC A dwindling population of bluefin tuna is among the species of fish that could vanish from the Pacific ocean for good, conservationists [warned](http://www.iucn.org/news%5Fhomepage/?18621/Global-appetite-for-resources-pushing-new-species-to-the-brink--IUCN-Red-List) on Tuesday, unless constraints are placed on commercial fisheries that target the highly sought after fish. The International Union for Conservation of Nature added Pacific bluefin tuna to its “vulnerable” list of more than 22,000 species threatened with extinction, according to IUCN’s conservationists. The tuna was joined by American eels, Chinese pufferfish, and Chinese cobras. “The Pacific Bluefin Tuna market value continues to rise,” said the organization’s tuna and billfish specialist Bruce Collette. Without curbing catches of juvenile fish, he added, “we cannot expect its status to improve in the short term.” The group estimates that the population has diminished by 19% — 33% over the past 22 years. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/"},"headline":"Here Are 4 More Vulnerable Fish to Avoid Next Time You're at the Sushi Bar","datePublished":"2014-11-17T15:32:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:21.146Z","description":"Pacific bluefin tuna, Chinese pufferfish, American eels and Chinese cobras named by conservationists as risking extinction due to overfishing","url":"https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/","keywords":["Environment","endangered species","Conservation","sushi"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccbc9f8f01319814/698768ff2dce014ec89dbd01/457688744.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltccbc9f8f01319814/698768ff2dce014ec89dbd01/457688744.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Blue-Fin Tuna Farm Operations At Kinki University Fisheries Laboratory As Seafood Proves Sweet Spot In Japanese Exports","caption":"Blue-Fin Tuna Farm Operations At Kinki University Fisheries Laboratory As Seafood Proves Sweet Spot In Japanese Exports","creditText":"Tomohiro Ohsumi—Bloomberg / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/","name":"Here Are 4 More Vulnerable Fish to Avoid Next Time You're at the Sushi Bar"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Trouble with Tuna","description":"An exporter in the Philppine port of General Santos City, says big yellowfin tuna is getting harder to catch because of overfishing","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nWITPNR9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-11-02T18:46:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nWITPNR9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/","duration":"PT3M7S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3589062/pacific-bluefin-tuna-extinction-watch-list/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```