Cornish Biodiversity Network  -  Supporting Wildlife Recording

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Cornish Red Data (2009)

The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.

Thunnus thynnus - Atlantic Blue-fin Tuna



Habitat & Distribution

An oceanic, pelagic, highly migratory species found in subtropical and temperate waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In British waters they are found off the Scottish coast and the southern and south-western coasts of England. They also occur off the west coast of Ireland. Generally they are a pelagic species which seasonally come close to shore where they may be caught in trawls, nets and by anglers. In northern waters it is mainly a summertime visitor appearing in July-August and is rarely captured later than September. Most of the Cornish records, however, have been in November and occasionally fish of over 450kg are landed. This species may live for up to 30 years or more, however it is becoming rarer because of the heavy fishing pressure being put upon this desirable species in places such as the Mediterranean and elsewhere. It is on the IUCN Red List, albeit as data deficient and has recently been placed on the UK List of Priority Species.

Source:

I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.

The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.



Cornish Biodiversity Network. 2017.