Longfin Tuna

The longfin tuna, better known as albacore, is an oceanic wanderer with a belly often crossed by about twenty broken rows of pale spots and bright yellow dorsal, anal and finlet fins edged in black. It grows past 200 cm fork length, with the all-tackle record standing at 176.4 kg from Mexico.

Abundant off Angola, it is found seasonally right around our coast, and in summer large schools congregate over the Agulhas Bank and off Cape Point and Gansbaai. It is an important food fish, taken by long-line off the Cape and by anglers in Natal, and ranges worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas.