Interesting Albacore Tuna Facts

Fun and Interesting Albacore Tuna Facts


If you are like me, then you have taste buds in your mouth reserved just for tuna. The taste and texture of tuna – as well as the nutritional content – makes my mouth water, as it does for millions of other people out there. Here in this article you will learn all about the king of tuna – the albacore tuna – with these albacore tuna facts.

Albacore Tuna Facts: Use as Food

The taste of the albacore tuna is loved and desired all over the world. Like most tuna, it has a rich, fishy taste with a flaky, beef-like texture. It is also highly nutritious, being loaded with the most omega-3 fatty acids per pound than any other tuna species. Most people eat tuna either in the form of tuna steaks or tuna salad. It is not the best tuna you can get for sashimi due to its lack of a nice, firm body when it is raw. But as a steak, or in tuna salad, albacore tuna is fantastic – hence its popularity. When cooked, the raw, pink meat will turn an off-white in color. Albacore tuna is also the only type of tuna that can legally be called ‘white meat tuna’, because it is the highest grade of tuna you can find.

Albacore Tuna Facts: Nutrition

As mentioned above, albacore tuna is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients are anti-inflammatory agents that help your body. Albacore tuna also contains plenty of protein, vitamin A, selenium, vitamin B12, and niacin, which are all vital for your health. This makes albacore tuna a healthy choice for a meal. Try shredded albacore on wheat bread with relish for a delicious sandwich.

Albacore Tuna Facts: Size and Color

Tuna are often confused by many with sardines, in that people think tuna are small and puny. This is not the case. Tuna are actually quite large compared to many other types of fish in the sea, and can really put up a fight with fishermen trying to reel them in. Albacore tuna can grow up to 100 pounds (45 kg), but usually average around 20 lbs or so (9 kg). They can also get up to 4-6 feet long.

You can tell an albacore from other tuna by looking at its color in addition to its size and shape. These tuna will have a back that is dark blue, with sides and bellies that are silver-white in color. This is distinguishable from the yellowfin and bluefin, which have distinctively colored fins.

Albacore Tuna Facts: Environment

Like most tuna, albacore tuna live primarily in the Pacific Ocean. They are especially plentiful off the coasts of British Columbia, Japan, Hawaii, and New Zealand. You can find these tuna living in the Atlantic Ocean near Spain and occasionally off of the eastern North American coast, but your chances are best to spot and catch one across the world. They prefer warmer waters that you will not typically find too far north or south of the equator, too, so take that into consideration.

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Tuna Types - About the Skipjack Tuna

Tuna Types: Skipjack Tuna Facts

Tuna Types: All about Skipjack Tuna

As far as seafood goes, tuna is one of the most popular types in the world. There are many varieties and types of tuna that are consumed by millions daily, which means that a lot of people probably want to know a little about this food. If you are reading this article, you may be one of those people. And if you are a fan of seafood, then trying out and sampling different types of tuna is probably appealing to you. I know it is to me! This article will focus on one type of tuna, the skipjack tuna, and will give you plenty of skipjack tuna facts and other information for you.

Skipjack Tuna Facts: Japanese Cuisine
The Japanese have a special love for tuna and consume a lot of different varieties as a part of their seafood-based diet. The skipjack tuna is no exception. The Japanese call skipjack tuna “katsuo”, and they smoke and dry the fish to produce “katsuobushi”. They then use this katsuobushi to make “dashi”, or what they call fish stock. This tuna is also a key ingredient in “katsuo no shiokara”, which is a food made from fermented seafood. The taste is similar to that of anchovies, and is definitely an acquired taste (even for the Japanese!). But it is considered a delicacy in many places in that country.

Skipjack Tuna Facts: Habitat and Environment
The skipjack tuna is a pelagic fish, which means it lives in surface waters and not at the bottom of oceans or lakes. This, plus the fact that it travels in large shoals with up to 50,000 fish, makes the skipjack tuna fairly easy to capture for Tuna Fishing. The skipjack tuna feeds on smaller fish and crustaceans, like most tuna, but it itself is prey for larger fish and sharks that inhabit the same environment. This is probably due to the small size – no more than one meter in length – of the skipjack tuna. In terms of water temperature, the skipjack tuna prefers water from 20 to 30 degrees Celsius (68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit), although some have been seen in temperatures as low as 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit). This temperature range largely keeps them out of the cold waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.

Skipjack Tuna Facts: Hawaiian Cuisine
Like the Japanese, natives of Hawaii love most varieties of tuna, which forms a significant portion of the native Hawaiian diet. Skipjack tuna is known in Hawaii as “aku”, and is known for its prominent taste. The pronounced taste, while popular in Hawaii, may not be as popular elsewhere. Hawaiians like to cook aku by broiling it over hot coals in an open flame, sauteing it, or pan-frying skipjack tuna fillets (which are a deep red color while raw and lighten as they are cooked). Skipjack tuna is also eaten raw, much like sushi, although bluefin and yellowfin tuna are more commonly used in sashimi and other forms of sushi. The eggs (roe) of the skipjack tuna are also desirable and are considered a delicacy along with the fish meat itself.


Now you know all about skipjack tuna. The next time you are in Japan or Hawaii (or anywhere else that has this delicious fish), just ask for skipjack tuna and you will not be disappointed.

You are welcome to visit my other blog as well : Tuna Types

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