SPAIN – I recaptured in Malta Bluefin Tuna marked in 2007 in Spain

A bluefin tuna marked in August 2007 and released off the coast of Zarautz, Gipuzkoa, was recovered now near Malta, in the Mediterranean.

The information collected in the satellite marker bearing the Fish, placed expert technicians Technology Centre in Marine and Food Research (AZTI-Tecnalia) over seven years, indicates that this Tuna crossed the Atlantic twice, for the winter in the US coast and summer in European waters.

This fact demonstrates the existence of two distinct stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna, one that plays in the Mediterranean Sea and the other does in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, scientists know that both stocks are mixed in Atlantic waters where they feed.

Of the seven and a half years in which the specimen lived in freedom, carrying brand electronics collected information for more than four years. This period represents the longest period ever recorded by an electronic mark on the study of juveniles.

The researchers hope that the data obtained allow to know in detail their migration.

By the time he was released, the Tuna was a little over a year old, weighed more than five kilos and measured 65 inches. Now, seven and a half years later, is 2 meters and weighs 160 kilos, AZTI reported.

The tuna was found in the marine farm ADJ Tuna, located in Malta.

As was recaptured, an observer of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) proceeded to collect data of recapture and electronics brand.

Scientists emphasize that it is the first time a juvenile bluefin tuna has been released more than seven years with the brand inside, and has been released into the Atlantic and adjacent seas recovers.

SOURCE: Fis.com