Bluefin tunas are dominant keystone predators known for their impressive size, strength, endurance, and speed. Electronic tags have revealed that they can dive to great depths (over 6000 feet) and migrate vast distances – from frigid subpolar seas to warm tropical waters – for spawning. Prized for their rich taste and unique texture, bluefin tunas are also a worldwide commodity of great value. However, over the past few decades, overfishing throughout their range has led to significant population reductions.
In The Future of Bluefin Tunas, Barbara A. Block brings together renowned bluefin experts from 15 different countries to share the latest information on the science, fisheries policy, and management decisions related to each of the three species within the Thunnus group – Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern. Synthesizing basic and applied research, the book delves into every aspect of these majestic fish, from their life history and genetic makeup to their ecology and migrations. Ichthyologists and marine scientists dedicated to the study of these fishes report on the latest stock assessments, explore the results of advances such as biologging and DNA sampling, and assess the potential of bluefin tuna aquaculture.
The Future of Bluefin Tunas provides critical research findings to inform decisions that will impact tunas and the ocean ecosystems they affect. Scientists, fisheries managers, policymakers, and marine conservationists will take away key data from this timely volume to help them ensure these remarkable fish continue in perpetuity.
Preface
Atlantic
Chapter 1. The Journey from Overfishing to Sustainability for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus / Clay E. Porch, Sylvain Bonhommeau, Guillermo A. Diaz, Haritz Arrizabalaga, and Gary Melvin
Chapter 2. Otolith Microchemistry: Migration and Ecology of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna / Jay R. Rooker and David H. Secor
Chapter 3. Life History and Migrations of Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna / Haritz Arrizabalaga, Igor Arregui, Antonio Medina, Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta, Jean-Marc Fromentin, and Igaratza Fraile
Chapter 4. Use of Electronic Tags to Reveal Migrations of Atlantic Bluefin Tunas / Barbara A. Block
Chapter 5. Spatial Mixing Models for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna / Nathan Taylor
Pacific
Chapter 6. Life History of Pacific Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus orientalis / Tamaki Shimose
Chapter 7. Migrations of Pacific Bluefin Tuna Tagged in the Western Pacific Ocean / Takashi Kitagawa, Ko Fujioka, and Nobuaki Suzuki
Chapter 8. Transpacific Migration of Pacific Bluefin Tuna with Chemical Tracers / Daniel J. Madigan
Chapter 9. Tagging to Reveal Foraging, Migrations, and Mortality of Pacific Bluefin Tuna / Rebecca E. Whitlock, Murdoch K. McAllister, and Barbara A. Block
Southern
Chapter 10. Keys to Advancing the Management of Southern Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus maccoyii / Jessica H. Farley, Ann L. Preece, Mark V. Bravington, J. Paige Eveson, Campbell R. Davies, Karen Evans, Toby A. Patterson, Naomi P. Clear, Peter M. Grewe, Jason R. Hartog, Richard M. Hillary, Alistair J. Hobday, Matthew J. Lansdell, and Craig H. Proctor
Chapter 11. Rebuilding Southern Bluefin Tuna: Past, Present, and Future / Richard M. Hillary, Ann L. Preece, and Campbell R. Davies
Chapter 12. Bluefin Tunas in a Changing Ocean / Alistair J. Hobday, Barbara A. Muhling, Elliott L. Hazen, Haritz Arrizabalaga, J. Paige Eveson, Mitchell A. Roffer, and Jason R. Hartog
Aquaculture
Chapter 13. Spain's Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Aquaculture / Aurelio Ortega and Fernando de la Gándara
Chapter 14. The Resource and Environmental Intensity of Bluefin Tuna Aquaculture / Dane H. Klinger and Nicolas Mendoza
Contributors
Index
Barbara A. Block is the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Professor in Marine Sciences at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station. A coeditor of Tuna: Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution, she has received the NSF Young Investigator Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, a Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation, the Rolex Award for Enterprise, and a Benchley Award for Ocean Science.
"Bluefin tunas are iconic: giant in size, value, demand, and scientific complexity. Their migrations cover 90% of the world's oceans, where they're followed by impassioned scientists striving to reveal their secrets to improve fisheries management and conservation of these imperiled species. This volume compiles the latest research from the preeminent scientists and dares to answer the question, 'What is the future of bluefin tunas?'"
– Shana Miller, Director, Global Tuna Conservation Project, The Ocean Foundation
"Bluefin tunas have been fished sustainably for 2000 years, but recent demand for sashimi has led to the incredible auction price of $3 million for one Pacific Bluefin. How can we preserve the three species of bluefin tunas, fishes that have reached the pinnacle of fish evolution, with this price pressure? To provide the information about their biology needed for good management, Dr. Barbara Block provides 14 chapters by 42 world experts in The Future of Bluefin Tunas."
– Bruce Collette, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History