The rare bluefin tuna, which can grow up to 910 kilograms and swim up to 64 kilometers per hour, can earn a fisherman as much as US$20,000 dollars per fish. With that kind of payout, it is no wonder these fishermen are willing to risk life and limb in order to get this prized catch. The struggle goes much deeper than catching tuna. Every episode of National Geographic Channel's Wicked Tuna features seven different fishing crews from Gloucester, Massachusetts battling against fish and each other for big paydays.
　　The competition is intensified by a shortage of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. In recent times, North Atlantic tuna has been the foundation for the world's seafood. As a consequence, severe overfishing has reduced the bluefin tuna population by nearly 90 percent since the 1970s. In fact, the International Union of Conservation of Nature lists the bluefin tuna as endangered and at serious risk of being extinct in the very near future. Wicked Tuna shows the struggling fishermen trying to make ends meet by catching one of these prized commodities, while the world attempts to balance the high cost of overfishing.