The Peculiarities and Farming Challenges of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus, L. 1758)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of bluefin tuna, with special regard to its farming challenges. Tuna is one of the most prominent species in fisheries worldwide. The high market value of tuna stocks has led to intensified fishing pressure that resulted in drastic population reductions in every ocean where these fish are found. It is very difficult to obtain the necessary data for the appropriate stock assessment analysis, and there is a very high degree of uncertainty in the models used to evaluate Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks. Tuna-farming could help reduce pressure on the tuna population, but the problem is that the majority of cage-farmed fish is caught in its natural environment (wild population), and thus is fattened or farmed to a certain size. Additionally, the challenges in tuna farming are numerous. Tuna is a fast swimmer, a large energy and oxygen consumer, therefore consuming a large portion of available food to maintain its metabolism. However, due to its delicious taste, high market price and a large demand for this species, pressure will probably continue to grow in the future. Therefore intensive farming, which implies the full breeding cycle in captivity, remains one of the possible solutions that could help reduce the pressure on the tuna population.