Major producers

World tuna production by major producing countries

Total tuna catching stood at 3,605,000 tons in 2000, down about 5.7 percent from 3,823,000 tons in 1999. The main tuna catching nations are concentrated in Asia, with Japan and Taiwan as the main producers. Other important tuna catching nations in Asia are Indonesia and South Korea.

Spain and France are important tuna fishing countries, mainly catching in the Indian Ocean.

Japan remains the main nation fishing for tuna in the Pacific. In 2000, total tuna caught by Japanese vessels stood at 633,000 tons, about 17 percent of the world tuna catch. Taiwan was the second biggest tuna producer at 435,000 tons, or about 12 percent of the total tuna catch. Spain supplies most of the yellowfin to European canneries, accounting for 5.9 percent of the total tuna catch, while Ecuador and Mexico dominate the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Table 6 Yearly tuna production by major producing countries between 1995 and 2000, unit = 1,000 tons