New findings suggest the distribution of bluefin tuna much broader than previously considered.
These findings add to the intense debate over the population of a species that is commercially valuable to fishermen yet strictly regulated by fisheries management officials. Dr. Lutcavage and her colleagues Dr. Richard Brill from the Pelagic Fisheries Research Program at the University of Hawaii, Greg Skomal and Brad Chase from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and Dr. Paul Howey from Telemetry 2000 in Columbia, Maryland, hold new information about bluefin tuna migration and possible spawning habitats. This new data calls attention to the possibility that bluefin tuna traveling through New England waters spawn, or lay eggs, in much broader regions of the mid-Atlantic, between Bermuda and the Azores, than previously thought. The tags are about the size of a cigar, with a five-inch long antenna. Once released, the tags not only transmit location, but also reveal historical data about water temperature during the tuna's travels.