What a Day of Pole and Line Tuna Fishing Really Looks Like
Pole and line tuna fishing means catching one albacore at a time, on a barbless hook, hauled aboard by hand — not scooped up by the hundreds in a net. American Tuna, a pole & line and troll fishing brand founded in San Diego in 2004 by six fishing families, sources every can from boats that fish this way off the U.S. West Coast. A day on one of these boats starts before sunrise and rarely ends when the crew expects it to.
The fleet works the North Pacific albacore grounds, sometimes a hundred miles offshore, on trips that run from a few days to several weeks depending on the season. There's no shortcut version of this job — every fish in an American Tuna can was pulled from the water by a person, one at a time.
Before Sunrise: Finding Fish Worth Chasing
Long before the poles come out, the crew is reading signs: diving birds, a temperature break in the water, bait balls near the surface. Albacore run in loose, moving schools instead of the tight balls other tuna species form, so finding them takes time and a feel for conditions most people never learn to read.
Once a school is located, the crew sprays seawater off the stern and tosses live bait into the water — a method the Marine Stewardship Council calls "chumming," which creates the illusion of a bigger school and pulls fish into a feeding frenzy at the surface. That's the moment the poles go over the rail. We broke down the mechanics in what pole-caught tuna actually means — this is one fish at a time tuna fishing from the first minute.
On the Rail: What Pole and Line Fishing Actually Looks Like
Pole and line tuna fishing uses short fiberglass poles rigged with barbless lures. When a fish strikes, a crew member snaps it up and over their shoulder in one motion, and the barbless hook lets it fall free onto the deck without anyone touching it. There's no reeling or drag system doing the work — it's timing, strength, and repetition, sometimes for hours without a break.
Boats in the traceable American Tuna fleet — vessels like the Karen Jan, Rose Marie, Nightwind, and Sea Wind — run this same routine every trip. Each can carries a code buyers can look up by vessel name, a different level of accountability than a receipt from a net set that pulled fish from a dozen boats at once.
Why This Method Takes So Many More Hands
Pole and line fishing is widely regarded as the most labor-intensive way to catch tuna commercially. A boat working this way lands a fraction of what a purse seiner pulls in during a single set, because every fish requires a person, a pole, and split-second timing.
That labor shows up in the price. Fuel, crew wages, and weeks at sea for a smaller catch cost more per pound than a method built to encircle an entire school in one net. We've written before about why hand-packed tuna costs more to produce, and the fishing side of that math starts on the rail. This is the trade-off behind a sustainable tuna fishing method versus a bulk commodity can: more hands, more hours, higher cost.
Pole and Line vs. Purse Seine: What's Actually Different
Most canned tuna on a grocery shelf comes from purse seine boats, which deploy a wall of netting around an entire school of fish — sometimes gathered around a floating object called a FAD — and draw it closed at the bottom before hauling everything aboard at once. It's efficient, and it's the method behind most low-cost tuna on the market.
Bycatch numbers differ sharply between the two methods. The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation puts purse seine bycatch on FAD sets as high as 8.39% of a vessel's catch, while the Marine Stewardship Council describes pole and line gear as highly selective, with low bycatch and no seafloor contact, since each fish is caught individually. American Tuna's boats don't set nets at all — no dolphins, nothing but albacore over the rail — and you can read more on how pole and line compares to net-caught tuna.
What This Means When You're Standing in the Aisle
A two-dollar can of tuna was almost certainly caught in bulk, by a boat that set a net around a whole school and processed thousands of pounds in one pull. A can closer to six or seven dollars is paying for a different chain of decisions — fewer fish per trip, more hand labor, a fishery that chose a slower method on purpose.
Neither can is wrong, but they're not the same product, and the price gap isn't padding — it's the method. If knowing your fish was caught one at a time by pole and line tuna fishing off the West Coast, by a crew you could trace by name, that's what you're paying for.
Shop American Tuna to see the current lineup of pole and line albacore and wild salmon, and compare cans before deciding what's worth it for your kitchen.
Where These Boats Call Home
American Tuna's founding families started in San Diego, California, in 2004 — six pole & line and troll boats built into a fishery with decades of history behind it. San Diego tuna fishing boats have worked the North Pacific albacore grounds for generations, and the association many of them belong to ran the world's first tuna fishery to earn MSC certification, back in 2007.
The fleet still runs pole and line albacore trips off the West Coast today, and the catch gets hand-filleted and canned at small canneries in Oregon and Washington — cooked once, in the can, nothing added. Read more about the families behind the boats, or see the standards behind it all on the sustainability page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "pole and line" actually mean?
Pole and line tuna fishing means every fish is caught individually on a pole with a barbless hook and hauled aboard by hand — no nets, no bulk sets. It's slower than purse seining, which is why it produces less bycatch and a more traceable catch.
Why does pole and line tuna cost more than regular canned tuna?
It takes more people, more time, and fewer fish per trip. A purse seiner pulls in an entire school in one set; a pole and line boat catches the same volume one fish at a time, which raises the cost per pound.
How do I find out which boat caught my can?
Every American Tuna can carries a code that traces back to the vessel that caught it. Enter it on the Trace Your Tuna page to see the boat's name and trip details.
Where can I buy American Tuna, and is there a subscription option?
Shop the full lineup of pole and line albacore and wild salmon online, or set up a subscription if you'd rather not reorder every few weeks. Call (866) 817-0497 if you'd rather talk it through first.
Curious What Boat Caught Your Can?
Every can in the American Tuna lineup traces back to a real pole and line boat and crew — reach out if you want help finding yours or picking the right pack for your kitchen.
Shop American Tuna or call us at (866) 817-0497.
Sources
- Marine Stewardship Council — Press release on AAFA's North Pacific pole and line albacore fishery, the first tuna fishery in the world to achieve MSC certification (2007)
- Marine Stewardship Council — Overview of pole and line fishing methodology, selectivity, and bycatch levels
- International Seafood Sustainability Foundation — Purse seine fishing method description and bycatch rate data