Skipjack tuna commercial tunas, and its population is considered sustainable against its current consumption. Its fishing is still controversial due to the methodology, with rod and reel or fishery options being promoted as ecologically preferable. Purse seine methods are considered unsustainable by some authorities due to excess bycatch, although bycatch is said to be much reduced if fish aggregation devices are not used. These considerations have led to the availability of canned skipjack marked with the fishing method used to catch it. Skipjack is considered to have "moderate" mercury contamination. As a result, pregnant women are advised against eating large quantities. In
HMS Skipjack (1889) minesweepers attached to the Grand Fleet, including "Skipjack" were employed on carrying out daily sweeps of the Pentland Firth. In early October 1914, as part of expensive Grand Fleet operations to protect a large convoy carrying Canadian troops across the Atlantic to England, "Skipjack" was led eight minesweeping gunboats on patrols between the Orkneys and the Shetlands. On 27 October, the battleship struck a mine off Tory Island, north-west of Lough Swilly, and despite efforts to tow her to safety, sank later that day. As a result, "Skipjack" together with sister ships and were ordered from Scapa Flow to join