EU - TUNA PROJECTS
COMMON FISHERIES POLICY BFTMED PROJECT NR 97/0029
Major
Improvements in our Knowledge of Eastern Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the
Mediterranean.
Fisheries,
Statistics and Biology
The objectives of the project are to further develop the studies already carried out previously regarding the fishery statistics and the reproductive biology of the bluefin tuna in the Western, Central and Eastern Mediterranean. The above information, besides being required for bluefin tuna stock assessment may well be important for the global management of marine resources.
Interim Report (pdf) Final Report Part 1-Statistics Final Report Part 2-Biology Appendix Muscle Biopsy Paper
(ICCAT) Biology Paper (ICCAT)
In particular regarding the
fishery statistics the project will take into consideration the following
aspects:
a - catch and effort data collection
differentiated by gear and area;
b - study of the development of
fishing fleets and of fishery technologies;
c - revision of catch and effort
historical data in order to evaluate the trend of the abundance indices
considering the evaluation of fishery technologies;
d - effects of recent prohibition
of the use of siting aircraft in the purse seine fishery in France Spain and in
Italy;
e - size composition of the catches
by area and gear will be studied;
For the Bluefin Tuna Fishery the
following aspects of reproductive biology are considered important:
1. the length of the
reproductive period;
2. its possible variation;
3. its influence on the
strength of recruitment.
These will be evaluated by the
determination of sex ratio and sexual maturity using:
a - sex hormones;
b - gonado-somatic index;
c - macroscopical evaluation
of gonadal maturity;
d - histological analysis.
The study will be performed by means of collaboration among the following Institutions:
IFREMER (France)
Instituto Español de Oceanografia
de Malaga (IEO) (Spain)
University of Genova (Italy)
University of Bari (Italy)
AQUASTUDIO (Messina)
University of Athens (Greece)
University of Dusseldorf (Germany)
PARTNERS IN THIS PROJECT
PARTNER 1: Bernard Liorzou is a scientist involved on little and large pelagic research in IFREMER - Sète laboratory. For large pelagic fisheries, he is responsible of Mediterranean area and follow the most important purse seine activity on bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. For several years he was the chairman of bluefin species group in the frame of ICCAT and participant in CGPM/ICCAT Consultation. He actively participate to several European Project (DG-XIV-CEE) of which large pelagic one's.
PARTNER 2: Josè Miguel de la Serna, is the scientist responsible for the Investigation Project on Mediterranean Tuna at IEO (C.O. de Malaga-Fuengirola). He is member of the Bluefin tuna and Swordfish stocks evaluation groups of SCRS and ICCAT, as well as participant in Consultation CGPM/ICCAT and several European Project (DG-XIV-CEE). He is also concerned with tagging campaigns; working as Chief of the campaigns carried out in the Mediterranean and Cantabric Seas (Bluefin tuna and Albacore).
PARTNER 3: Lidia Orsi-Relini is professor of Marine Biology in the University of Genoa. She works, with a team of seven, on biology of large pelagic nekton of the Ligurian Sea (bluefin, swordfish, cetaceans, offshore cephalopods). Since the seventies she is involved in studies concerning stock assessment . At present she participates to the Italian project "Large pelagic resources" sponsored by the Ministero per le Politiche Agricole (ex MRAFF) and to EC programs n. 95/10 and 95/0419.
PARTNER 4 - Gregorio De Metrio, is professor of Fish Morphology in the University of Bari. He works on fishery biology of Mediterranean Large Pelagic fish (swordfish, bluefin tuna, albacore), and he in the ambit of the Department of Animal production of the University of Bari, manages a group of research of 10 person (6 scientists 4 technicians) which works on the fishery biology of the large pelagic fish. At the moment he participates to the Italian project “Large Pelagic Resources” sponsored by the Italian Fishery Ministry (MRAAF) and to the following international programs sponsored by the EC on large pelagic fish: project N° 96/093; project N° 95/10; project N° 95/0419¸ project N° 95/22, project N° 95/028.
PARTNER 5: Antonio Di Natale, is the director of AQUASTUDIO which is a research institute with a specific qualification and experience on Large Pelagic fisheries and observers programs. In the past, several observers projects, founded by the EC or the Italian Government has been conducted by the Institute, already with positive results. A particular experience has been developed so far in the swordfish fishery, either inshore or offshore, due to the several projects carried out since 1978. Aquastudio has a reliable computer network, tested contacts with the fishermen and the availability of several well-trained observers.
PARTNER 6: Costas Yannopoulos,
is professor of Ichthyology of the Section of Zoology-Marine Biology of the
department of Biology, University of Athens. Scientific responsible of various
research programs in the pelagic and demersal resources management financed by
the EEC, his main interest is in relating fish biology with fisheries
management and conservation.
Persefoni Megalofonou is the main
collaborator of the group and actually works at the Section of Zoology-Marine
Biology studying the biology and fishery of the albacore. She has also worked
for a number of years on the biology and fishery of large pelagic fish and she
co-operated in various international projects of the EEC
PARTNER 7: Christopher R. Bridges graduated at the Department of Marine Biology, University of Liverpool and completed his Ph, D in the same department before several Post-docs in Denmark and Germany. He is at present professor in the Department of Zoophysiology in the Faculty of Science of the University of Duesseldorf. The Institute for Zoophysiology has well equipped biochemical facilities and many years experience in both fish physiology and protein chemistry. He has recently concluded a study on both Swordfish and Tuna from the Mediterranean region examining both respiratory and metabolic parameters in the blood and tissues (Bridges et al., 1997) and stress hormones of these two species (Susca, 1996). The laboratory has also previously examined stress hormones in commercial fish species (Ulmer, 1993) after trawling and their role in vitro (Berenbrink and Bridges ,1994).
Collaboration with Dr. D.E.
Kime, Dept. of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK.: who has
already established numerous ELISA assays in freshwater fish for vitellogenin
and ketotestosterone.
Close liaison with Prof.M
Spindler´s group (Zoophysiology/Hormone Physiology Duesseldorf) will guarantee
an interchange of methodological techniques with regard to ELISA.
EU FAIR PROJECT N 3975
Study on Eastern Atlantic and
Mediterranean bluefin tuna migrations using "pop off satellite tags"
The aim of this project is to study the migration pattern and the dispersion rates of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna both in the Meditarranean and in the Atlantic in relation to their spawning and nursery grounds. Particular attention will be placed on the acquisition of knowledge on the mechanisms of migration and interaction between environmental factors and fish behavior .
The objectives are: a) to identify and describe the migration and dispersion pattern of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, using electronic pop-off satellite tags; b) to evaluate the advantages of the use of electronic tags and to acquire experience for a further greater project for large pelagic fish; c) to identify the biological mechanisms of migrations; c) to have some information about the link between the environmental factors and the fish behaviour;
The project follows some complementary approaches. (1) Tagging experiments in the Mediterranean using the "pop off satellite tags", which provide a single location point of the fish; it is like having 100% return from conventional tagging.(2) Collation of conventional tagging data for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean; (3) Summary of the available information on the spawning and nursery areas; (4) Analysis of the data from the tagging experiments using electronic tags and re-evaluation of conventional tagging data in the light of the information obtained by satellite on environmental parameters.
The scientific results we might obtain from this project are certainly new since the data collected by this new approach will help us determine the bluefin tuna movements in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic areas and simultaneously could give some important information to understand, in this species,the relationship between migrations and the variation of environmental parameters.
A deep knowledge of the bluefin
tuna distribution areas, obtained through this research, will supply ICCAT with
more detailed information for the stock assessment, and the European Community
with the means for a better management of resources.
