Tuna tagging field updates
Dr Pablo Cermeño (right), bluefin tuna officer with the WWF Mediterranean Programme Office talking tuna with Dr Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.
Updates from 'On the Med tuna trail'
Persistence is the key to tagging success
We are again on board. During this last day’s expedition we will try to fish bluefin by trawling lures. The day before one of the boats fished a medium-sized albacore with this method so we will try our best. We cross our fingers!
We catch a few albacore but no bluefin
Early the next morning we board the Canuto a 14-metre yacht with Andrés as skipper and Toni and Felipe as the crew. In total we are a small scientific fleet of 7 yachts, to increase the possibility of finding bluefin.
Using the 'brumeo' method to attract tuna
Happy to be embarking on a new expedition to tag bluefin tunas in the Mediterranean, this time with recreational fishermen (Confederación Española de Pesca Maritima de Recreo Responsable), we travel to the small village of Moraira on the East coast of Spain.
Attempting to tag bluefin tuna in traditional Spanish tuna trap
In the pre-dawn half light we embark on a boat to the Conil almadraba. We are joined by a group of journalists along with other tagging teams from the Spanish Oceanographic Institute and Cadiz University, who were invited to join WWF’s tagging work.
Preparing for 2009 bluefin tuna tagging season
WWF has been busy preparing for the 2009 tuna tagging season for the On the Med tuna trail project. All the while, we anxiously await news from the tunas tagged in the 2008 season.
Tunas tagged & tracked for study
Up to 4 giant bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and 36 juveniles now carry an electronic tag after the summer tagging expeditions held in and the in the Mediterranean. The tagging is part of the “On the Med tuna trail” project.