Scandinavian Bluefin Marathon: first electronic tagging of Atlantic bluefin tuna in Scandinavian waters

Timeline:

August 2017 - ongoing 

Objectives: 

To investigate the migration of Atlantic bluefin tuna in Scandinavian waters after a 50 year absence in the area (due to a collapse of the population/overfishing). Our questions include: Where do the tuna come from? Where do they go? How do they behave on a daily and seasonal basis? Our do they behave following an angling event?

Funding: 

We rely heavily on volunteer anglers who devote time and resources to this project; ICCAT GBYP program; STARK; Espersen Fund; European Development Fund (Interreg) MarGen II projects; The Blue Planet; Nordic Council; WWF

Results:

More than 80 bluefin tuna have been tagged with eletronic tags in Denmark and Sweden over the last 3 seasons. The analyses of the results is currently under way.

Outputs:

Several ICCAT reports (here).

Future steps:

We continue to tag bluefin tuna to gain a better understanding of their behaviour, habitat use, and potential threats.