Friday, March 29, 2024
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Tuna recaptured after 20 years

A SOUTHERN bluefin tuna tagged and released in southern Australia 22 years ago has been recaptured.

Originally tagged in 1993, the southern bluefin was caught by avid fisherman Matt Bell with the help of Skipper Dennis Heinicke, near Port MacDonnell last week.

The tuna was tagged when it was approximately two years old by CSIRO scientists during a team effort with the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna to tag over 11,000 southern bluefin tuna in the Great Australian Bight (GAB).

During the fish’s liberty it had more than doubled in size to weigh 102 kgs and an increase in length from 60 cm to an impressive 191 cm total length – or 175 cm fork length.

CSIRO scientists say the fish spent large parts of her life travelling the southern seas and was captured 800 km east of where she was originally caught and tagged.

According to other more sophisticated SBT tags, the fish has also been undertaking large migrations. As a juvenile, these migrations took her from the GAB to the Indian Ocean; upon maturing, she travelled between the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean, just south of Indonesia. It is here that adult SBT spawn each year.

While Dennis Heinicke and Matt Bell helped CSIRO researchers by reporting and returning tuna’s tags, they also collected some very important samples of the fish which helped researchers determine its age, sex and reproductive history, and diet.

More at: http://csironewsblog.com/2015/04/26/reunited-after-twenty-years-tagged-tuna-tell-us-tales-of-the-sea/

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