Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea
Abstract This study presents the results of an electronic tagging programme on mature Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT) that has been conducted since 2007 offshore of the French Mediterranean Coast. The spatial distributions of ABFT showed little year-to-year variation and the fish concentrated in a smal...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst157 http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/71/3/510/29147950/fst157.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/icesjms/fst157 2024-06-09T07:48:14+00:00 Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea Fromentin, Jean-Marc Lopuszanski, Daniel 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst157 http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/71/3/510/29147950/fst157.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) ICES Journal of Marine Science volume 71, issue 3, page 510-518 ISSN 1095-9289 1054-3139 journal-article 2013 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst157 2024-05-10T13:15:47Z Abstract This study presents the results of an electronic tagging programme on mature Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT) that has been conducted since 2007 offshore of the French Mediterranean Coast. The spatial distributions of ABFT showed little year-to-year variation and the fish concentrated in a small area of the central northwestern Mediterranean, where they may stay for several months. The individual tracks display sinuous trajectories in this area, indicating the possibility of feeding behaviour. No fish went out to the North Atlantic, but several fish displayed some migration to the southern western Mediterranean Sea during winter and the central Mediterranean during the spawning season. The homing behaviour of one fish after a full year as well as the back and forth of several fish further indicates that this restricted feeding area is probably persistent from year to year. We hypothesize that this area could result from local enrichment due to permanent mesoscale oceanographic features related to the North Mediterranean Current and the North Balearic front. The option of a spatial management, through marine protected areas, for a highly migratory species, such as ABFT, thus deserves more careful consideration because those species displayed complex spatial dynamics (e.g. homing), and population structure (e.g. several subpopulations of different sizes). Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Oxford University Press ICES Journal of Marine Science 71 3 510 518 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Oxford University Press |
op_collection_id |
croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract This study presents the results of an electronic tagging programme on mature Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT) that has been conducted since 2007 offshore of the French Mediterranean Coast. The spatial distributions of ABFT showed little year-to-year variation and the fish concentrated in a small area of the central northwestern Mediterranean, where they may stay for several months. The individual tracks display sinuous trajectories in this area, indicating the possibility of feeding behaviour. No fish went out to the North Atlantic, but several fish displayed some migration to the southern western Mediterranean Sea during winter and the central Mediterranean during the spawning season. The homing behaviour of one fish after a full year as well as the back and forth of several fish further indicates that this restricted feeding area is probably persistent from year to year. We hypothesize that this area could result from local enrichment due to permanent mesoscale oceanographic features related to the North Mediterranean Current and the North Balearic front. The option of a spatial management, through marine protected areas, for a highly migratory species, such as ABFT, thus deserves more careful consideration because those species displayed complex spatial dynamics (e.g. homing), and population structure (e.g. several subpopulations of different sizes). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fromentin, Jean-Marc Lopuszanski, Daniel |
spellingShingle |
Fromentin, Jean-Marc Lopuszanski, Daniel Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea |
author_facet |
Fromentin, Jean-Marc Lopuszanski, Daniel |
author_sort |
Fromentin, Jean-Marc |
title |
Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea |
title_short |
Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea |
title_full |
Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea |
title_fullStr |
Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western Mediterranean Sea |
title_sort |
migration, residency, and homing of bluefin tuna in the western mediterranean sea |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst157 http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/71/3/510/29147950/fst157.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
ICES Journal of Marine Science volume 71, issue 3, page 510-518 ISSN 1095-9289 1054-3139 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst157 |
container_title |
ICES Journal of Marine Science |
container_volume |
71 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
510 |
op_container_end_page |
518 |
_version_ |
1801379875123101696 |