August is Oregon Albacore Month! Albacore tuna, known also as longfin tuna, has a long and illustrious history as a key fishery for the United States tuna-canning industry, and as a staple of the Oregon Coast seafood economy.
Found across the globe, albacore have an elongated body with a conical snout, large eyes, and remarkably long pectoral fins. Albacore migrate across the Pacific Ocean, traveling in single-species schools, and may cover 50 miles or more per day. Albacore caught off the Pacific Coast are generally 21 to 30 inches long, and average 14 pounds.
The albacore tuna season depends on when the schools of fish arrive offshore of Oregon. The fish start migrating into the waters off Oregon around the end of June. The best fishing is typically in July and August, but fish are usually still available through early October.
Most years, tuna fishers must travel 30 miles or more offshore to find albacore. Oregon’s albacore fishermen spend most of their time 100-200 miles out. There are nearly 350 boats in the Oregon Albacore fleet that fish out of 13 ports running the length of the Oregon coast from Astoria to Brookings. Albacore are most commonly found in waters with surface temperature of 60 degrees or more with clear blue water.
Fast, powerful Oregon Albacore are hand-caught, one at a time, and handled with care. The boats tow lures called “jigs” from fishing lines attached to outriggers that are extended on either side of the boat. Tuna is also caught on individual poles held by fishermen using bait.
Once an albacore bites, the fisherman lands it by hand, removes the barbless hook, and transfers it to ice for the fresh market or to an on-board freezer. In both cases, the fish is preserved in as fresh a state as possible.
This type of fishing, sometimes called trolling, hook and line, or pole-caught, produces the very best quality, and eliminates inadvertent catch of other types of fish (called by-catch) such as sea turtles and dolphins.
Learn more from the Oregon Albacore Commission, Oregon Sea Grant, NOAA Fisheries, Oregon Coast Visitors Association, and Oregon Ocean Cluster Initiative.