7 July 2011: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has for the first time assessed all species of scombrids (tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels) and billfishes (swordfish and marlins) and found that seven are classified in a “Threatened” category, at serious risk of extinction, and four species are “Near Threatened.”

According to the assessment, a paper titled “High Value and Long-Lived: Double Jeopardy for Tuna and Billfishes,” the situation is particularly dire for tuna, as five of the eight species of tuna are in the Threatened or Near Threatened IUCN Red List Categories, including: the Southern Bluefin (Thunnus maccoyii), Critically Endangered; Atlantic Bluefin (T. thynnus), Endangered; Bigeye (T. obesus), Vulnerable; Yellowfin (T. albacares), Near Threatened; and Albacore (T. alalunga), Near Threatened.

The assessment provides an input for the Third Joint Meeting of the Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) being held in La Jolla, California, US, from 11-15 July 2011. [IUCN News] [Global Marine Species Assessments]