Tuna

Four tunas are known in Madeira: the atlantic bluefin, atum rabil (Thynnus thynnus), the atum albacora (T. albacora), the bigeye, atum patudo (T. obesus), and the albacore (Thunnus alalunga; Portuguese atum voador) (T. alalonga). Of these species, only the first and the last have been recorded in Portuguese waters. T. thynnus is known to Portuguese fishermen as atum, atum de direito and atum de revés, and T. alalonga as atum galha comprida, alvacora and albacora. Tuna was once called ‘the meat of the poor’ because this fairly substantial fish sold so cheaply at market (25 to 80 réis a kilo, depending on the catch), but today the same fish can hardly be had for less than 300 réis a kilo.

The atum voador, or simply voador, is more highly prized than the other species because its flesh is tastier and paler, sometimes turning almost white when cooked.

Tunas, teleost fishes of the family Scombridae, are caught by line and not in nets, as they are in the Mediterranean. The bluefin, the largest, appears mainly from March to May, the albacora from August to October, the bigeye from March to May and the albacore from November to January.