Saltwater Sunlit zone Least concern

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Thunnus thynnus

A warm-blooded, Atlantic-crossing missile built entirely for speed, and the most valuable fish in the world by weight. Turkey's Mediterranean coast sits on one of its two spawning grounds.

Also known as: Giant bluefin · Northern bluefin

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World record

1,496 lb

Ken Fraser · Aulds Cove, Nova Scotia · 1979

Overview

Scientific name: Thunnus thynnus
Family: Scombridae
Max length: 15' 0"
Typical length: 6' 7"
Max weight: 1,507 lb
Depth range: 0–985 m
Conservation status: Least concern
Difficulty: Expert
Fight
Table quality

How to catch it

Chunking or live-bait on 130 lb stand-up, or spinning stick baits at breaking fish. Strictly quota-managed almost everywhere — check your permits first.

How big does it get?

What turns up on an ordinary day, and what a very good one looks like. Almost nobody catches a maximum-size fish — this is the honest spread.

Typical 6' 7"

Maximum recorded 15' 0"

1.8 m angler

Character

What this fish is actually like to catch.

Where it lives

Its band in the water column, against the ocean's real depth zones.

When to fish for it

Relative catch activity through the year, northern hemisphere.

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Distribution

Trophy Score of all :n logged catches of this species. A score means nothing until you can see the population behind it.

Top catches on FishRankings

The heaviest of this species recorded by our community.

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4 Related species

Species	Worth	Max length	World record	Depth zone	Fight
Pacific Bluefin Tuna Thunnus orientalis	295	9' 10"	907 lb	Sunlit zone Saltwater	Near threatened
Southern Bluefin Tuna Thunnus maccoyii	288	8' 0"	369 lb	Sunlit zone Saltwater	Endangered
Bigeye Tuna Thunnus obesus	284	8' 2"	435 lb	Twilight zone Saltwater	Vulnerable
Dogtooth Tuna Gymnosarda unicolor	273	8' 2"	237 lb	Reef Saltwater

"Worth" is what a catch of that species is worth before any of your own skill counts — higher means harder to find and harder to beat.