Bluefin tuna a step closer to domestication

A team of researchers from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), have for the first time in Europe, adapt captive juvenile bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in ground facilities. This has only been achieved with four species of tuna before, in Japan, Australia and the United States, with Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus).

The tuna, which weigh one kilogram, have spent the last 15 days in a fiberglass tank where they are being fed chopped anchovy and sardine, and appear to be showing "very active feeding behavior," said the IEO. In the first case they achieved a 70 per cent survival rate, while the second was 100 per cent, mainly because these fish were already adapted to captivity in cages. Read more...