Italy, and especially Sicily has a long tradition of fishing tuna. Indeed, all along the Sicilian coast there are villages called tonnare that people would inhabit during the tuna season; when the tuna arrived (they're migratory fish) the men would take to the sea, stringing nets that hung down from the surface like curtains, forming a corridor that guided the tuna into a final net with a bottom strung between the boats.

Once the school was in this "chamber of death" the men would pull the net to the surface, bringing the tuna with it, and the mattanza -- slaughter -- would begin, the sea running red as the villagers gathered much of the animal protein they would need to survive the coming year.

Some they would can, but there are also many recipes for fresh tuna. For example,

Tuna with Stewed peppers, Tonno con Peperonata

To serve 4:
4 tuna steaks weighing about a half pound (200 g) each
A little canned tuna (50 g, or about 2 ounces)
3 bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into rings
3 plum tomatoes, blanched, pepped, seeded, and chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Flour
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a broad skillet and sauté the garlic cloves until golden, then add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions, and cook covered for a half hour. When the time is up, sprinkle the vinegar over the vegetables.

In the meantime, lightly flour the tuna steaks.

Heat the remaining oil in a second skillet, and crumble the canned tuna into it. When the oil is hot, add the tuna steaks and cook them briefly, turning them carefully to brown both sides. When the fish is cooked, pour the peperonata over it, check seasoning, and serve at once.

Tuna on About:
Tuna Steaks with Tomatillo Salsa

How to Select Fresh Fish
Other fresh tuna recipes
Other Fish Recipes