Domestication of Thunnus
thynnus, the Bluefin Tuna
Aquaflow Technical Leaflet 2001-31
European Network for the Dissemination of Aquaculture
RTD Information (Q5CA-2000-30105) and previously FAIR-3837, URL: http://www.aquaflow.org/
The farming of bluefin tuna (BFT) began in the 70’s
in Japan and later in Canada. It was based on catching BFT in the wild and
on-growing them in large cages, located offshore. Since the late 1980’s,
the activity has spread to other parts of the world; the Mediterranean
(Spain, Croatia, Morocco, Malta), Portugal, Mexico, Panama, Australia and
USA. However, some of these activities were terminated due to lack of BFT
availability, lack of know-how and shortage of financial strength.
Nevertheless, a few countries have made a strategic decision to embark on
the farming of the BFT (Greece, France, Italy). In Spain, BFT farming
started in the mid 80’s in the Cadiz region of Southwest Spain, by taking
advantage of the traditional set nets fishing technique, the so-called
“almadraba”. In the last few years, BFT farming operations have started
on a major scale in Murcia, Southeast Spain – 5 large to medium farms are
currently in operation. Fish are captured by purse seine and are transported
to grow-out cages. The total production in 2000 was around 5,000 metric
tons, mainly for export to Japan.
In 1998 an international working group was
established under the support of the European Commission Quality of Life
programme. It involves some 50 scientists from 12 different countries
(Europe and Mediterranean) and representing 25 different scientific and
commercial entities. Using the acronym DOTT, the objective of this group was
to lay the foundation for cooperative research and development, in basic and
applied scientific disciplines, for the domestication of Thunnus thynnus (DOTT). The group’s objective was to define and
plan the R&D needed for establishing a long term and sustainable farming
industry of this promising “new finfish species”. The above disciplines
include: genetics, reproduction control, larval and juvenile physiology and
mass rearing, grow-out technologies, handling, nutrition, disease control,
engineering and socio-economics (aimed at integrating the BFT fishing
industry with the emerging farming industry).
An international conference on the Domestication of
the Bluefin Tuna was held from the 3rd – 8th of February 2002, at the
Campus of the University of Cartagena, Murcia (Spain). The conference was
organized by the DOTT Steering Committee together with the Spanish Institute
of Oceanography (IEO) and the Politechnical Univ. of Cartagena (Spain). It
was also supported by the Marine Policy Center (MPC), Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, USA), IFREMER (France), Israel
Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) and others. The detailed
programme is available at:
http://193.146.187.190/thunnus/program.htm
For more information:
Hillet Gordin
Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) – National Center
for Mariculture (NCM)
NCM-IOLR, POB 1212, Eilat 88112 - Israel
Tel : (972)-8-631436 Fax : (972)-8-6375761
E-mail : gordin@yotvata.org.il