Tuna, Yellowfin

Yellowfin tuna, also know as Hawaiian ahi, is the middleweight champion of the tuna world, weighing in at around 400 pounds. This fish is commonly found around the Hawaiian Archipelago, the Caribbean, and Maldives Islands and in the Indian Ocean. Commercially, wild ahi is often caught by purse seining, a method that encircles the fish school in a pouch-like net that cinches closed with weighted rings. This method is criticized for producing large amounts of bycatch, and some purse-seine rigs additionally use fish-aggravating devices (FADs), which considerably raise the amount of bycatch.

Tuna is in high demand in America, further increasing the environmental impact of commercial fishing and putting pressure on the population. According to Monterey Bay Aquarium?s Seafood Watch, fish caught from U.S.-managed Atlantic and Pacific waters is generally sustainably caught if a troll or poll-and-line method is used, but in international waters, tuna fishing can cause considerably higher bycatch and habitat destruction. Conscientious consumers should ask fishmongers where and how the fish was caught.

Fresh ahi is a large, firm-fleshed fish with a pink, almost ruby-like color, ideal for grilling. It is commonly used in sushi or sashimi or in the Hawaiian preparation poke, which consists of raw cubes of tuna lightly seasoned with sesame seeds and oil, green onions, or seaweed flakes.