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SOUTHERN BLUEFIN TUNA REBOUNDS AS SUSTAINABLE FISHING GAINS MOMENTUM
Southern Bluefin Tuna rebounds as sustainable fishing gains momentum. Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) has made a huge leap towards sustainability in recent years. The once overfished species ranges widely across the waters of the southern hemisphere, including the exclusive economic zones and territorial seas of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and South Africa.
Due to decades of overfishing, the stock was down to roughly 10% of historic levels, and in 2011 the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) adopted a formal rebuilding strategy (known as the Management Procedure – MP). Today, global catches are governed by the CCSBT through a total allowable catch (TAC) based on the MP. Each member has an allocation of catch limits that is set for three years. Thanks to these rebuilding strategies, by 2023, stocks had recovered to 23% of the unfished population.
“The successful management of SBT is rebuilding the stock biomass while allowing overall TACs to increase since the MP was adopted”. Bill Holden, Senior Fisheries Outreach Manager at the Marine Stewardship Council.
In early 2025, the Australia southern bluefin tuna purse seine fishery and the Australia southern bluefin tuna longline and minor line fishery achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, signalling a positive shift toward sustainability. This has spurred other fisheries to seek certification with the Korean Dongwon Atlantic bluefin and southern bluefin tuna longline fishery currently in full assessment.
As a result of the improving stock status and interest from fisheries to become certified, the MSC applied for long-term observer status at CCSBT which was granted in May 2026. This will allow us to monitor scientific data and management decisions that are relevant to MSC certified fisheries.
Photo by Angel Chavez on Unsplash
