Sustainability 

Albacore tuna are a popular tuna species to eat across the world, and different fisheries have differing levels of sustainability. They are classed as 'Near Threatened' on the IUCN Red List. Albacore caught using longline methods are unsustainable due to the high amount of bycatch that is associated with the method. Dolphins, turtles and sharks are among some of the marine species that get caught in longlines and they often end up dying as a result. Purse seine fisheries (that use up to 2 km of heavy, plastic nets) also contribute to bycatch because they circle around an entire school of tuna - trapping everything inside. Species like sharks and dolphins that follow tuna when hunting are often caught inside the nets and die of suffocation and/or drowning in the time it takes to haul the catch on board.

One-by-one fisheries such as pole-and-line and troll that are used around the world to catch albacore tuna have a very low chance of interfering with these important species due to the nature of catching only one tuna at a time. Most pole-and-line fisheries also use barbless hooks, which means that if non-target species are caught, the hook can be removed without damaging the tissue of the animal.

Pole-and-line and troll fishing also contribute very little plastic pollution because each line is only short and each fisher is responsible for their own line. Damages and repairs to individual lines are much easier to manage than those to large lengths of longline or nets. Ghost fishing from discarded longlines and nets is a huge threat to fish stocks via overfishing, and derive from purse seine and longline fisheries, primarily.

By choosing to purchase pole-and-line or troll caught albacore tuna, you are supporting sustainable fisheries around the world that are contributing very little to ocean plastic pollution, bycatch of endangered species and overfishing!