The Catian Brothers of K&M Sportfishing in San Quintin, Baja California, with a nice pair of bluefin caught in April, 2022.

It wasn’t always bluefin. Albacore came first, just as A comes before B in the alphabet. Back in the ‘60s, while I was still in my single-digit years, I remember seeing long-finned albacore swimming under the boat when I was out fishing with my father. Later, when I began venturing to the docks in my teens to look for a ride out to fish, I remember the Fourth of July being the kickoff of albacore season. Anglers would pack the sportfishing boats once word got out that they were here and biting. Albacore, like bluefin, migrated from the western Pacific and would range up and down the coast offshore; the smaller fish, ranging from 10 to 20 pounds, were more numerous off San Diego, while the larger fish, sometimes over 60 pounds, were caught off Morro Bay.

The fish were also a mainstay of our commercial fleet. At one time, San Diego was known as the “tuna capitol of the world,” with two of the nation’s largest canneries right here aside San Diego Bay. By the 1960s, tuna fishing and processing was the city’s third largest industry, supporting some 40,000 employees from commercial fishermen to cannery workers. Yellowfin and skipjack tuna were caught by seiners and jack pole boats, while albacore were caught by jack pole or smaller vessels trolling jigs. Because of their firm white flesh, they became known as “the chicken of the sea.” But among anglers, there was another reason for the name: though albacore are fast swimmers, zipping along at up to 50 miles per hour, they did not seem to pull as hard and as for as long as other tunas in the same size range.

But our once large tuna fleet moved out by the early ‘80s due to rising costs, regulations, and travel time required. And as average water temperatures warmed in the eastern Pacific, the albacore left, too. Though albacore have a highly evolved circulatory system that regulates their body temperature, they prefer a narrow range in water temperature, from 58 to 62 degrees. The last time I caught an albacore on a boat out of San Diego was on a trip aboard the 85-foot Grande in 2001. By 2009 or so, they had all but disappeared from the counts. An occasional albacore is still caught by boats running out of San Diego — maybe a few each season. But the good numbers within fifty miles of the coast these days are around the Washington/Oregon border.

Now we have the bluefin: hard-pulling fish that test the gear and will of anglers who will often lose more fish than they land due to prolonged battles wearing out line, reels, and backs. Though the actual number is hard to determine, NOAA Fisheries Recreational Fishing Landings Database shows 4.2 million pounds of bluefin tuna were caught in 2022. The vast majority of that catch was off the California and northern Baja coast, with the San Diego recreational fleet logging an estimated 72.6% of the total California haul. Researchers think the increase may be due to shifts in migration patterns and preferences when it comes to adolescent hangouts.

From the 1960s to 2010 or so, anglers wanting to catch large tuna had to ride a long-range boat to the banks off the tip of Baja for a chance at a “cow” yellowfin. We would occasionally see bigeye tuna over 100 pounds closer to home, but mostly, the seasonal catch would be albacore to maybe 30 pounds, bluefin to 40 pounds or so, and small yellowfin, from football-sized to maybe 20 pounds.

But this wasn’t always the case: large bluefin were once common catches between Catalina Island and San Clemente Island. In 1898, angler, science writer, and naturalist Charles Frederick Holder caught a 183-pound bluefin tuna while fishing off Catalina Island. That fish, according to Holder, inspired his founding of the Avalon Tuna Club, the oldest fishing club in the country Membership in the club was awarded to those who caught a tuna weighing 100 pounds or more using rod and reel and “light tackle.” Early members of the Avalon Tuna Club included U.S. presidents William McKinley, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore Roosevelt, along with celebrities Ernest Hemingway, Winston Churchill, Cecil B. DeMille, Charlie Chaplin, Zane Grey, Stan Laurel, Hal Roach, and George S. Patton.

Charles Frederick Holder and his boatman Jim Gardner with the bluefin tuna that inspired the Tuna Club of Avalon. Jim Gardner was also known as “Mexican Joe.”

But by the early 2000s, the bluefin population had declined to just two percent of its historic biomass. Over the latter third of the twentieth century, due to improved fishing technology and the lack of international regulation, the big bluefin seemed to all but disappear.

Today, while Pacific bluefin are listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, the population has happily rebounded ahead of targeted goals, thanks to increased protection in both commercial and recreational fisheries. In 2013, NOAA Fisheries determined the Pacific bluefin tuna stock to be overfished. Domestic and international measures were put in place for commercial operations. Based on studies done concerning the declining population and petitions to restrict take, California reduced the daily recreational limit of Pacific bluefin from ten fish to two fish in 2015, Mexico reduced it to one fish for a year, then raised it to two fish. The recreational limit in US and Mexican waters has remained two fish per angler per day since, with a total of three day’s limits on multiday trips. The most recent surveys have determined the stock to be recovering.

There are three subspecies of bluefin tuna. First, the Atlantic bluefin, which that can reach three-quarters of a ton. There are two stocks of Atlantic bluefin, western and eastern. The western stock spawns in the Gulf of Mexico, while the eastern stock spawns in the Mediterranean. (Though the 45th Meridian separates the two stocks officially, they do intermingle, which makes each stock assessment difficult.) The eastern stock is much larger than the western stock. The All-Tackle World Record Atlantic bluefin tuna weighed in at 1496-pounds, and was caught by Ken Fraser in 1979.

Southern bluefin are caught mostly off New Zealand and Australia. They spend their time in the southern hemisphere waters of all the earth’s oceans, though there is one stock of Southern bluefin tuna that spawns in the northeast Indian Ocean and then migrates through the temperate southern oceans. Though slowly recovering from overfishing, southern bluefin are still listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The largest recreationally caught southern bluefin tuna was 369 pounds, 4 ounces, and was caught by Phil Body in 2009 off the coast of Tathra, Australia.

New Zealander Donna Pascoe with her all-tackle world record Pacific bluefin tuna caught in 2014.

And finally, there are the bluefin we catch off our coast: Pacific bluefin. The California state record Pacific bluefin is 395-pounds, 6-ounces, caught near Tanner Bank by Floyd Sparks in 2021. But the World Record Pacific bluefin tuna weighed 907-pounds and was caught in 2014 off New Zealand by angler Donna Pascoe. What’s remarkable is that it’s possible that fish, caught over 6500 miles from San Diego, may have spent its early years just off our coast. And by the time it found Pascoe’s hook, it may have journeyed close to 20,000 miles.

Pacific bluefin tuna spawn in the western Pacific near the Sea of Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. Depending on their size, female bluefin can broadcast from 800,000 to 35,000,000 eggs, which are then fertilized. Spawning occurs in warmer water from 78 to 85 degrees. Though bluefin are endothermic and can live in a broad range of water temperature from just above freezing to nearly 90 degrees, their larvae are highly temperature sensitive and require warm water to survive. Eggs hatch into larvae within 48 hours; they are subject to currents until they reach a size where they can swim against ocean forces.

As the ocean currents in the northern hemisphere run clockwise, the larvae can get swept up into the Kuroshio current moving north along Japan. Then as the fish grow to a few pounds, some begin their migration toward the eastern Pacific, following the northern arc to the North Pacific current, which then takes them in an eastward arc to the southern push of the California current.

Though migrations take place every spring and early summer, individual Pacific bluefin do not make an annual round trip, as do most migrating species. Every year, some migrate to the eastern Pacific to feed and grow for a few years, while the young adults return to the western Pacific to spawn. Planted tracking devices show that yearling Pacific tuna can swim the 5000 miles from their spawning grounds to off our coast in as little as 55 days.

It should be noted that not all Pacific bluefin migrate east. Of all tunas, Pacific bluefin have the largest geographical range. Some migrate south to the waters off New Zealand, then range back and forth between Japan and New Zealand depending on prey availability and other factors. But those that do make the journey east are here year-round, moving north and south from southern Oregon as far south as Bahia Magdalena in Baja California Sur, and are usually found within 100 miles of the coast.

More recent tagging projects, like the Tag-a-Giant effort led by Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford University and working in concert with the Coastal Conservation Association of California, target larger bluefin — over 150 pounds. These more in-depth studies focusing on migration patterns of young adult fish may soon give us a better idea of exactly when they return west, but it is believed most migrate back to their spawning grounds when between 250 and 300 pounds and at 7 or 8 years of age. This means that basically, every bluefin tuna caught in the eastern Pacific is a pre-spawn juvenile or young adult. Their average lifespan in the wild is 15 years with a maximum age recorded at 26 years.

Floyd Sparks poses with his California state record Pacific bluefin tuna caught near the Tanner Bank in 2021.

Though we see few under 20 pounds caught, the new arrivals to the eastern Pacific can be as small as 10 pounds. (There have been a few caught in the single digits, prompting some to speculate they are spawning somewhere in the eastern Pacific. One very small bluefin caught off central Baja in the mid-1980s caused speculation about spawning near Isla Guadalupe. But, due to the cycle of the currents, one has to go way south of where they are found on this side of the ocean to get water warm enough for their larvae to survive.) When I worked the deck on the Grande in 1979, we would occasionally anchor off San Clemente Island and catch small bluefin from 10 to 20 pounds. These fish were picky biters, and we had to fish light line, soaking a fly-lined bait in hopes of getting bit. The fish were close to the island when they came through in small schools, and we would anchor in around 60 feet of water near the dropoff at the southeastern end of the Island, near China Point. We used basic gear of the day; usually a Penn 500 Jigmaster reel loaded with line as light as ten pounds due to the small pinhead bait and finicky fish. But even those small fry were fighters; once hooked on light line, it could take a half hour to boat a 20-pound fish.

Once the new migrators are off the California and Baja coast, they will remain and grow for four to eight years, feeding voraciously throughout the water column to 2000 feet deep on squid and fish, including sardines, anchovies, saury, herring, pompanos, mackerel, hake, and even other tunas. Occasionally, when there are a lot of pelagic crabs around, deckhands and processors will find bluefin stomachs packed full of the small crustaceans. It’s because the pelagic crab and bluefin often show up at the same time that pelagic crabs are often referred to as tuna crabs.

At some point in their young adulthood, Pacific bluefin off California will return west to spawn. The fact that we in the eastern Pacific rarely see them caught commercially or recreationally over 400 pounds indicates they all return to the western Pacific at some point before their mid-life. Once there, they spend the rest of their lives ranging from off Japan to New Zealand. (Those found off New Zealand are often mixed in with southern bluefin, and this is why the IGFA requires any potential line-class or all-tackle record southern bluefin be DNA tested to ensure it is not in fact a Pacific.)

Temecula resident, fishing guru, and former Cal Fire Apparatus Driver Tracy Hartman with a nice December bluefin tuna.

But before they leave, they offer San Diego anglers the promise of a thrilling and often exhausting battle. Though all tunas are endothermic, Pacific bluefin are the least affected by quick temperature changes, as when diving deep for prey or during a fight when hooked. They can keep their hearts pumping during temperature changes so rapid hey it would stop a human heart. This ability, along with their powerful lean bodies and size, makes them one of the hardest fighting fish in the ocean, pound for pound.

Any large tuna will leave most anglers sore and tired. But, given equal size and health, science says the Pacific bluefin should pull harder, dive deeper, and fight longer than any other tuna species. Naturally, there is debate on this point, but having caught yellowfin, bluefin, albacore and bigeye tunas, I can say that bluefin tuna are definitely not the chickens of the sea.

Despite the advanced gear and techniques used today, getting a 200-pound fish to gaff is still a tremendous challenge, from start to finish. Depending on the depth the fish are feeding at, anglers will use everything from fly-lined, kited, or ballooned bait to deep-drop jigs retrieved quickly up through the schools. Kite or balloon fishing is done to present bait that appears to be skipping across the surface to entice a strike. Bluefin target all kinds of baitfish, as well as pelagic crabs and squid, and will boil up on balls of sardine or anchovy. If a school is feeding strongly on a large bait ball, a fly-lined bait or surface iron will usually work fine. If the action is slower on more scattered bait but still on the surface, then kite or balloon fishing might be called for.

Once hooked up to a large bluefin tuna, the angler is in for a test. Personally, I have never landed a bluefin over 60-pounds. But I have caught several in the 40 to 60 pound range, and every time, I was worked much more than any other like-sized tuna species has worked me. I have hooked two bluefin that were probably close to 200 pounds, judging by the runs and the size of fish that were landed. Both times, I was thoroughly outmatched, and could only hold on and watch as my line screamed out of the reel until reaching the knot on the spool, and then broke off. When targeting these beasts, gear capable of handling 100-pound test is necessary. Two-speed reels in 50-wide and larger sizes and rods in the 80-120-pound class are a must. Even then, as Bluefin have sharp little teeth, they can eventually chew through the heavier line. Further, the hook wearing a hole and pulling free is always a threat when fighting a prolonged battle on a heavy fish.