Donggang’s Bluefin Tuna Destiny

Cathy Teng　/　photos Jimmy Lin　/　tr. by Phil Newell

June 2026

中文

Donggang Township, in Taiwan’s southernmost county of Pingtung, brims with excitement when the Pacific bluefin tuna arrive. From the opening ceremony of the auction for the season’s first catch, the town takes on a festive atmosphere that lasts two months. This is not only the time for bumper tuna catches, but a major annual event combining industry and culture that highlights Taiwan’s efforts to conserve this species.

The life of a bluefin tuna

Bluefin tuna spend their lives migrating about the Pacific Ocean. Born in the warm seas of the Western Pacific, they spend most of their larval and juvenile stages near Japan. Thereafter, they undertake a marathon swim to the coast of North America, where they spend their adolescence. After reaching sexual maturity at five or six years old, they are driven by instinct to return back across the Pacific to spawn in the seas where they were born. The bluefin tuna caught off Taiwan are in the adult stage.

Eric Chang (Chang Shui-kai), a distinguished professor at National Sun Yat-sen University who has spent many years studying marine conservation and ecology, explains that while the Kuroshio Current, which runs along Taiwan’s East Coast, is itself low in nutrients, the upwelling that occurs when it strikes undersea highlands drives abundant deepwater nutrients to the surface. This food source, combined with warm water temperatures, makes the seas around Taiwan into a major spawning ground for bluefin tuna.

In recent years, successful quota management has led to a resurgence in the Pacific bluefin tuna population that is palpable at seafood markets.

Data on bluefin tuna

Taiwan has a long history of bluefin tuna fishing. However, early in the 21st century, global bluefin tuna populations reached rock bottom. Eric Chang says: “At one point they fell to only 2% of their original level.”

In response, Taiwan was the first country to adopt stronger management measures, pioneering the implementation of the Catch Document Scheme (CDS) and tagging in 2010. Fishermen catching bluefin tuna at sea must report data including latitude and longitude, tag number, and weight of catch, and attach an ID tag to the tail of each fish. In port, the fish are measured for length and their otoliths (inner ear bones) are extracted for scientific testing. The accumulated data enables Taiwan to accurately track the size and distribution of bluefin tuna populations and offer useful evidence to international scientists.

Landed bluefin tuna are measured (left) and weighed (right), yielding trustworthy scientific data on the tuna’s status for the international scientific community.

This is the most intense moment when watching bluefin tuna being offloaded at a fishing port.

The yellow tags serve as IDs for bluefin tuna.

Recovery: From 2% to 23%

Using this data, scientists are able to accurately assess the status of bluefin tuna resources and provide this information to regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) to determine national catch quotas. In addition, research has indicated that reducing the catch of juvenile fish is far more effective in restoring resource levels than restricting the catch of adult fish.

Catch quotas affect national economic interests, so management must be based on credible scientific evidence. Eric Chang notes that Taiwan’s high-quality data has made key contributions to the international assessment of bluefin tuna resources that has led to RFMOs reaching consensus on reducing production. Thanks to collective respect for the rules, bluefin tuna populations have recovered much faster than anticipated, with the 2034 target of 20% having been reached in 2022.

Cheng Yu-chen, executive secretary of the Tung Kang Fishermen’s Association, points to a map as she explains the geographic links between Taiwan and the Pacific bluefin tuna fishing grounds. Through years of strategic promotion, the bluefin tuna has evolved from a simple commercial fishery into Donggang’s most iconic cultural and tourism brand.

A symbol of Donggang

The Pingtung Bluefin Tuna Cultural Tourism Festival, held for two months each year in early summer, attracts large crowds of people. Cheng Yu-chen, executive secretary of the Tung Kang (Donggang) Fishermen’s Association, says: “Thanks to the efforts of successive county mayors across two decades, a basic industry has been transformed into an exciting tourism experience, making bluefin tuna into a symbol of Donggang in the process.”

Entering Donggang’s Yanpu Fishing Port at six or seven in the morning, one can see bluefin tuna being hoisted off fishing boats, followed by the tense rhythms of the auction. Once a transaction is completed, expert workers wielding various kinds of knives remove the scales and cut up the tuna with swift and practiced motions.

If you chat with local fishermen, they will tell you that bluefin tuna caught before Mother’s Day (the second Sunday in May) have the choicest meat, and also that tides and the phases of the moon affect the catch. They can also teach you how to judge the freshness of the fish, a skill learned not from books but from a lifetime of experience.

After the auction you can visit the busy Huaqiao Seafood Market, where you can select seafood caught that very day and have it cooked up by on-site vendors. Or take a stroll along Guangfu Road, where a whole line of seafood restaurants offers everything from sashimi to fish stir-fry, each with its own specialty. From port to plate, the bluefin tuna is not merely a culinary delight, but a tangible piece of local culture waiting to be experienced.