Completion of the Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (Temminck et Schlegel) life cycle

By Yoshifumi Sawada, Tokihiko Okada, S. Miyashita, O. Murata, H. Kumai. 2005

290 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Tuna aquaculture is currently dependent on the wild capture of juveniles for production. The development of hatchery technology for bluefin and other tunas would be a major step forward in improving sustainability of their aquaculture. The present study overviews the technology in the life cycle completion of the Pacific bluefin tuna (PBT) Thunnus orientalis (Temminck et Schlegel) under aquaculture conditions in Kinki University, and the problems to be solved for the establishment of tuna hatchery technology. On 23 June 2002, broodstock of PBT that were artificially hatched and reared spontaneously spawned in captivity. The resulting eggs hatched and were subsequently reared to the juvenile stage. The spawning fish were the result of a research project started in 1987 to rear wild-caught juvenile PBT that were several months old. Fertilized eggs were obtained from these fish in 1995 and 1996. Resulting juveniles (the artificially hatched first generation) were reared to maturity and spawned in 2002. Over the summer of 2002, 1.63 million eggs from these fish were used for a mass rearing experiment, and 17 307 juveniles were produced and transferred to an open sea net cage. Of these artificially hatched second-generation PBT, 1100 grew to approximately 95 cm total length and 14 kg body weight in 22 months. This procedure means the completion of PBT life cycle under aquaculture conditions, which was first attained among large tuna species. The problems awaiting solution in PBT hatchery production are their unpredictable spawning in captivity, to improve survival during the first 10 days post hatch, to reduce cannibalism in larval and juvenile stages, and to solve collision problem causing high mortality during the juvenile stage.

Subfields: Aquatic Science, Global and Planetary Change, Physiology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e72dd464998e82740c7d780e02fff628ffddba8f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Aquatic Science

1. C. Mylonas
2. Y. Zohar
3. E. Mañanós
4. C. Fauvel
5. N. Duncan
6. J. Asturiano
7. E. Price

In Global and Planetary Change

1. C. Mylonas
2. A. Corriero

In Physiology

1. C. Mylonas
2. Y. Zohar
3. E. Mañanós
4. C. Fauvel
5. A. Corriero
6. M. Suquet
7. J. Asturiano
8. N. Duncan

Citations in the corpus

• Preparation and Administration of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist (GnRHa) Implants for the Artificial Control of Reproductive Maturation in Captive-Reared Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus thynnus) (2007, methodology): “Efforts at developing a Pacific bluefin tuna broodstock were initiated in Japan in the late 1970s and have been met with significant success ( Kumai, 1998 ; Lioka et al, 2000 ; Miyashita et al, 2000 ; Masuma et al, 2003 ; Sawada et al, 2005 ; Masuma et al, 2006 ).”
• Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) Farming and Fattening in the Mediterranean Sea (2010, background): “The prices for these two products are very different—but so are the costs of shipping to Japan—and are around 25–43 € for fresh and 12–21 € for frozen tuna (Table 1).”
• A review of the broodstock management and larviculture of the Pacific northern bluefin tuna in Japan (2011, methodology): “Changes in light intensity or loud noises cause PBT juveniles to swim in panic, and collisions during high-speed swimming are often fatal (Sawada et al., 2005).”