Blue-fin Tuna
Average size: 100 cm
Maximum size: over 340 cm
The bluefin tuna has a conical head and the mouth is rather large. Teeth are small, sharp and conical. This fish is the most representative pelagic fish in our waters, very famous because of its long migrations for breeding purposes. It is a strong and very skilled swimmer, extremely voracious and always on the move. It basically feed on other pelagic fish (anchovies, mackerels, atlantic bonitos) and cephalopods (squids and red squids). It usually lives in large schools in the blue water and on the surface, and it only rarely reaches 100 meters of depth.
The traditional fishing technique for tuna was the so called “tonnare” (Almadraba tuna), an elaborated installation of nets in a maze. This kind of method is not used anymore, not even in the Amalfi Coast. One of the latest place it is still possible to find it is in Favignana, in the Egadi’s islands (Sicily). Until the postwar period of the first World War, there still were two of them. One nearby Capo Conca (Conca dei Marini) and the other one close to Nerano. Nevertheless the tradition of fishing tuna is still alive in the Amalfi Coast, thanks to the so called “tonnare volanti” (moving almadraba tuna) in Cetara. These are special boats armed with large nets for deceiving schools of tuna and group them in the middle of the net.
This species have suffered from a particularly intensive overfishing activity which jeopardizes its presence in the Mediterranean. For this reason there is a strict regulation for fishing. The minimum allowed size for fishing is 70 cm.
Photo gallery
Notes
Roberto Sandulli, “Dentro al mare della Costa d'Amalfi" guida alla fauna marina della Costiera Amalfitana, Ecostiera edizioni, anno 1999