Decadal variation in the trans-Pacific migration of northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) coherent with climate-induced change in prey abundance

Northern bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, apparently spawn only in the western Pacific and a portion of the juveniles migrate to the eastern Pacific. During the past decade, catches of northern bluefin in the eastern Pacific have declined. One possible cause for this decline, proposed by bluefin stock assessment studies, is a decline in the proportion of bluefin that migrate out of the western Pacific. This hypothesis is examined with several indices of the relative abundance of bluefin tuna in the western and eastern Pacific. These indices suggest a decline in the proportion of bluefin migrating to the eastern Pacific since 1977. This period of reduced bluefin migration coincides with a period when a prey of bluefin, Japanese sardine, Sardinops melanosticta, were abundant off Japan. It is hypothesized that in years when sardines are abundant off Japan, a higher proportion of bluefin stay in the western Pacific compared with years when sardines are scarce. Currently, the adun-dance of sardines off Japan is declining. If this decline continues, this hypothesis predicts an increase in bluefin migrating north of Hawaii and into the eastern Pacific.     

The changes in proximate compositions and glycogen contents in the dorsal ordinary muscles of the full-cycle cultured Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis occurring with growth

ABSTRACT:   Using full-cycle cultured (FC) Pacific bluefin tuna (body length [BL], 42.6–66.4 cm; body weight [BW], 1.66–7.40 kg, n  = 15), the changes in chemical compositions and histological structure of the cephalal parts of the dorsal ordinary muscles (DOM) occurring with growth were investigated. A positive correlation ( r  = 0.9644, P  < 0.05) was observed between BL and BW with growth. The protein, lipid and ash contents of DOM and condition factor did not change with growth. However, the glycogen content of DOM increased ( P  < 0.05) from approximately 55 cm (BL) in this study. Using optical microscopic photographs, the various shapes of muscle fibers were observed and it was noted that the muscle fiber diameter increased ( P  < 0.05) with growth. Using transmission electron microscopic observation, many glycogen granules were observed in muscle fibers (especially, side of connective tissue) of DOM throughout the growth stage in this study. These results indicate that the glycogen content of DOM of FC Pacific bluefin tuna increases before the lipid with growth.     

大西洋金枪鱼延绳钓主要渔获种类及其分布

根据收集的有关文献和海上调查资料，分析了大西洋金枪鱼延绳钓生产的主要渔获品种的生物学特性、捕捞生产情况及管理措施等。此外，还根据FAO建立的金枪鱼生产数据库，采用GIS软件制作了大西洋金枪鱼延绳钓主要渔获种类捕捞产量的地理空间分布图。并分析了其资源的空间分布特征。     

Tank culture of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares: developing a spawning population for research purposes

A land-based culture facility for research on yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, was developed at the Achotines Laboratory in the Republic of Panama. Six concrete tanks, and seawater and life support systems were built to maintain a yellowfin broodstock. On average, 50% of the yellowfin caught survived capture and handling, and approximately 30% became broodstock in Tank 1 (17 m diameter, 6 m depth) or Tank 2 (8.5 m diameter, 3 m depth). Each fish was tagged with a microchip implant tag, then weighed, measured, and injected with oxytetracycline (OTC) prior to stocking. Daily rations of primarily market squid, Loligo opalescens, and Pacific thread herring, Opisthonema spp., were regulated based on the feeding activity and energy requirements of the fish. Feeding activity of the broodstock decreased when the water temperatures decreased, and the fish ate decreasing daily rations and increasing calories with increasing size. Spawning occurred in both tanks within 6–8 months of capture. Spawning first occurred in Tank 1 when 24 females ranged in size from 6 to 16 kg and 65 to 93 cm fork length (FL). Spawning was intermittent during the first 2 months and occurred near daily thereafter. Tank size appeared to affect survival rates, the types of mortalities that occurred, and the growth of the fish. Survival rates after 1 year in captivity were higher, and the fish were larger, on average, in Tank 1 than in Tank 2. Most of the mortalities in Tank 1 were the result of wall strikes, which occurred more frequently after the fish reached their highest density of 0.64 kg m⁻³ and sizes greater than 96 cm FL and 19 kg. Non-linear growth models were fitted to the initial stocking sizes and final sizes of fish that died or were removed from Tank 1 during 1996–1999. Estimated growth rates in length (11–48 cm year⁻¹) for fish between 51 and 150 cm FL decreased with increasing length. Estimated growth rates in weight ranged from 9 to 19 kg year⁻¹ for fish less than 19 kg and 20–23 kg year⁻¹ for fish greater than 19 kg. The results of this work demonstrate that the stable environment of a land-based culture facility may be the preferred system for long-term maintenance of a yellowfin broodstock.     

Changes in myoglobin content and proximate compositions of the dorsal ordinary muscles of full-cycle cultured Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (Temminck et Schlegel) with body size

We investigated the changes in myoglobin (Mb) content and proximate compositions of the cephalad parts of the dorsal ordinary muscles (Ce‐DOM) of full‐cycle cultured (FC) Pacific bluefin tuna [body length: 42.6–115.4 cm, body weight (BW): 1.7–38.4 kg, killed from July 2004 to October 2005]. The Mb content of Ce‐DOM increased (P<0.01) until a BW of 7.0 kg was reached. However, the Mb content of Ce‐DOM had a wide variety above a BW of 7.0 kg. On the other hand, the moisture, protein and ash contents of Ce‐DOM of FC tuna decreased (P<0.05 and 0.01) with an increase in BW. However, the lipid content of Ce‐DOM increased gradually above about a BW of 20.0 kg. Furthermore, the Mb content in protein of the Ce‐DOM of FC tuna increased with an increase in BW. These results indicated that the increase in Mb content of Ce‐DOM of FC tuna was not related to changes in proximate composition between a BW of 1.7 and 38.4 kg.     

Considerations of stock structure of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the Indian Ocean based on fishery data

Yellowfin stock structure in the Indian Ocean was studied by using industrial tuna longline fishery data. Three types of test variables were used to detect stock structure, i.e., CPUE, age-specific CPUE, and coefficient of variation for size. Time-series data of test variables were compiled for six sub-areas that were arranged by dividing the whole region systematically along longitude lines every 20 degrees. Then time-series data were smoothed by moving averages, and regressed by simple models. Patterns of time-series trends were graphically and statistically compared to classify homogeneous sub-area groups. Two assumptions were (a) that homogeneous stocks exist longitudinally and overlap in adjacent waters, and (b) that test variables within homogeneous sub-area groups are equally affected, and hence patterns of the time-series trends are similar. After graphical screening for significant sub-area groups, analysis of covariance was applied to test homogeneity of regression parameters representing patterns of the time-series trends. By classifying homogeneous sub-area groups, stock structures were determined at the P <0.05 and P <0.50 levels. The P<0.50 level was recognized as a useful criterion for ‘weak’ test variables since masked or vague structures at the P <0.05 level were likely cleared at this level in many cases. Results of this study and past stock structure studies were reviewed and compared. It was concluded that there are two major and two minor stocks of yellowfin tuna. The two major stocks (the western and the eastern) are located at 40^o-90^oE and 70^o-130^oE respectively. The minor stocks are the far western and the far eastern stocks (the latter possibly being a part of the Pacific stock), which are located westward of 40^oE and eastward of 110^oE respectively. Neighboring stocks are intermingled in adjacent waters.     

Incorporating spatial autocorrelation into the general linear model with an application to the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) longline CPUE data

Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data have often been used to obtain a relative index of the abundance of a fish stock by standardizing nominal CPUE using various statistical methods. The theory underlying most of these methods assumes the independence of the observed CPUEs. This assumption is invalid for a fish population because of their spatial autocorrelation. To overcome this problem, we incorporated spatial autocorrelation into the standard general linear model (GLM). We also incorporated into it a habitat-based model (HBM), to reflect, more effectively, the vertical distributions of tuna. As a case study, we fitted both the standard-GLM and spatial-GLM (with or without HBM) to the yellowfin tuna CPUE data of the Japanese longline fisheries in the Indian Ocean. Four distance models (Gaussian, exponential, linear and spherical) were examined for spatial autocorrelation. We found that the spatial-GLMs always produced the best goodness-of-fit to the data and gave more realistic estimates of the variances of the parameters, and that HBM-based GLMs always produced better goodness-of-fit to the data than those without. Of the four distance models, the Gaussian model performed the best. The point estimates of the relative indices of the abundance of yellowfin tuna differed slightly between standard and spatial GLMs, while their 95% confidence intervals from the spatial-GLMs were larger than those from the standard-GLM. Therefore, spatial-GLMs yield more robust estimates of the relative indices of the abundance of yellowfin tuna, especially when the nominal CPUEs are strongly spatially autocorrelated.