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Electronic tagging of Bluefin Tunas from the Maltese spawning ground suggests size-dependent migration dynamics

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Abstract

The purse seine fishery in the Mediterranean represents about 60% of the international catch for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus). Yet, tagging operations from this segment of the fisheries remain rare and despite its potential importance for management, several aspects related to the migratory behavior of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna from these areas remain unaddressed. In the present manuscript, we report the results of two tagging operations carried out on a commercial purse seiner during two consecutive years in the spawning ground around the Maltese islands in the Central Mediterranean Sea. During these operations, eight individuals were tagged and the results showed that the larger fish (> 200 cm) undertook large-scale migrations outside the Mediterranean, whereas smaller individuals did not. This study suggests that size might affect the migratory behavior of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, and underlines the potential of large-scale tagging operations from spawning grounds to address scientific questions having significant management implications.

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Data availability

The entire dataset generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available yet but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank our colleagues from Ifremer/REM/RDT and RBE, CNRS, UM, and IRD who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research. We thank MFF Ltd for letting us use their facilities, for their support at sea and the crew for their great skills and assistance. We also thank the crew of SSFII and SSFIII for their skills and their ideas to make the operations possible. We also thank the EU (DG-MARE), ICCAT GBYP, and the French Ministry Department of Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture (DPMA) for their support in the administrative aspects of this operation.

Funding

This research was part of the MERLIN-POPSTAR project funded by Ifremer and of the FISHNCHIP project funded by EMFF.

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All authors contributed to the study conception. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tristan Rouyer and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tristan Rouyer.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for sampling, care, and experimental use of organisms for the study have been followed (APAFIS #9005–2017022212232853 v6) and all necessary approvals have been obtained (tagging authorizations 2019/859076/FishNchip/000001 and 2019/859076/FishNchip/000002 from the French Ministry Department of Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Rouyer, T., Bernard, S., Kerzerho, V. et al. Electronic tagging of Bluefin Tunas from the Maltese spawning ground suggests size-dependent migration dynamics. Environ Biol Fish 105, 635–644 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01262-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01262-4

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