Revisiting the vulnerability of juvenile bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin (T. albacares) tuna caught by purse-seine fisheries while associating with surface waters and floating objects.

ABSTRACT: Tuna fisheries catch over three million tonnes of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) each year, the majority of which come from purse-seine vessels targeting fish associated with man-made fish aggregating devices (FADs). A significant challenge for fisheries management is to maximize the efficiency of skipjack tuna catches whilst minimizing the bycatch of small and immature bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin (T. albacares) tuna, for which long-term sustainability is uncertain in 75% of the world's stocks. To better manage the issues common with this fishing method, an improved understanding of tuna behaviour around FADs is necessary. We probabilistically classified the vertical behavioural patterns of 50 bigeye and 35 yellowfin tuna (mean fork length 72cm and 70cm, respectively) electro

SUBMITTER: Scutt Phillips J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5490998 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature