Overfishing puts $42bn tuna industry at risk of collapse

Experts make first estimate of the value of tuna fisheries and warn Pacific Islanders have most to lose from declining stocks

Overfishing is jeopardising a global tuna industry worth more than $42bn (29bn), according to the first assessment of its kind. A report produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts has highlighted the significant revenues that fishermen, processors and retailers are generating from severely depleted species of tuna.

Taken together, the seven most commercially important tuna species - skipjack, albacore, bigeye, yellowfin, atlantic bluefin, Pacific bluefin and southern bluefin - generated $12bn (8bn) for fishermen in 2014, while the full value, including the total amount paid by the final consumer at supermarkets and restaurants around the world, was estimated to be $42bn (29bn).