The Future of Bluefin Tunas

Bluefin tunas are dominant keystone predators that migrate vast distances across oceans in both hemispheres. Known for their size, strength, endurance, and speed, bluefin tunas have a unique endothermic physiology, a streamlined body shaped like a torpedo, retractable hydraulic fins, and powerful lunate tails. Electronic tags have revealed that they dive to great depths (over 6000 feet) and travel thousands of kilometers'from cold subpolar seas to warm subtropical waters'for spawning. Prized for their rich taste and unique texture, bluefin tunas are also a global commodity of great value. Over the past few decades, overfishing throughout their range has led to significant, troubling population reductions that have garnered much discussion and debate among conservation scientists and fisheries managers alike.

 

In The Future of Bluefin Tunas, Barbara A. Block brings together renowned bluefin experts from 15 different countries to share the latest information on the science, fisheries policy, and management decisions related to each of the three species within the Thunnus group—Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern. Synthesizing basic and applied research, the book delves into every aspect of these majestic fish, from their life history and genetic makeup to their ecology and migrations. Ichthyologists and marine scientists dedicated to the study of these fishes report on the latest stock assessments, explore the results of advances such as biologging and DNA sampling, and assess the potential of bluefin tuna aquaculture. Taking a global view, the book helps to translate discoveries made about a species in one specific ocean basin to a different species in another.

 

The Future of Bluefin Tunas stands to provide critical research findings to inform decisions that will affect tunas and the ocean ecosystems that they profoundly impact. Educating readers'including scientists, fisheries managers, policymakers, and marine conservationists'on the proper management of bluefin tunas, this volume will help ensure that these remarkable fish continue in perpetuity.

 

Contributors: Igor Arregui, Haritz Arrizabalaga, Barbara A. Block, Sylvain Bonhommeau, Mark V. Bravington, Naomi P. Clear, Campbell R. Davies, Fernando de la G+índara, Guillermo A. Diaz, Karen Evans, J. Paige Eveson, Jessica H. Farley, Igaratza Fraile, Jean-Marc Fromentin, Ko Fujioka, Peter M. Grewe, Jason R. Hartog, Elliott L. Hazen, Richard M. Hillary, Alistair J. Hobday, Takashi Kitagawa, Dane H. Klinger, Matthew J. Lansdell, Daniel J. Madigan, Murdoch K. McAllister, Antonio Medina, Gary Melvin, Nicolas Mendoza, Barbara A. Muhling, Aurelio Ortega, Toby A. Patterson, Clay E. Porch, Ann L. Preece, Craig H. Proctor, Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta, Mitchell A. Roffer, Jay R. Rooker, David H. Secor, Tamaki Shimose, Nobuaki Suzuki, Nathan Taylor, Rebecca E. Whitlock