Tuna and mackerel populations suffer catastrophic 74% decline, research shows

Numbers fell by almost three-quarters over the last 40 years risking loss of the species, says WWF report

Tuna and mackerel populations have suffered a "catastrophic" decline of nearly three quarters in the last 40% years, according to new research.

WWF and the Zoological Society of London found that numbers of the scombridae family of fish, which also includes bonito, fell by 74% between 1970 and 2012, outstripping a decline of 49% for 1,234 ocean species over the same period.