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Simultaneous behavior of skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), bigeye (Thunnus obsesus), and yellowfin (T. albacares) tunas, within large multi-species aggregations associated with drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean

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Abstract

Ten separate experiments monitoring the simultaneous behaviors of 26 skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), 26 bigeye (Thunnus obesus), and 33 yellowfin (T. albacares) tunas within large multi-species aggregations associated with drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) were investigated using ultrasonic telemetry in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean. Experiments were conducted during a research cruise aboard a chartered purse seine vessel. Purse seine sets were made on the tuna aggregations associated with FADs at the termination of six of the ten experiments. Seventeen of the 44 tagged tunas were not recaptured indicating the transient nature of the associative behavior of tunas with FADs. Although there was considerable overlap in the depths of the three species, by day and night, there were some species-specific differences and diel differences within species. While we documented spatial and temporal differences in the schooling behavior of the three tuna species, the differences do not appear sufficient such that modifications in purse seine fishing practices could effectively avoid the capture of small bigeye and yellowfin tunas, while optimizing the capture of skipjack tuna in purse seine sets on FADs.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted as part of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s (www.iss-foundation.org) “Purse Seine Bycatch Mitigation Research Project.” We are extremely grateful to Bruno Leone and Infripesca S.A. of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Captain Ricardo Diaz, and the entire crew of the purse seine vessel Yolanda L. for their extraordinary cooperation and assistance. We thank the IATTC Manta, Ecuador, field office staff for its assistance in monitoring the vessel unloading and recovering tags. We also thank William Bayliff and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on drafts of the manuscript.

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  1. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037-1508, USA

    Kurt M. Schaefer & Daniel W. Fuller

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  1. Kurt M. Schaefer
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  2. Daniel W. Fuller
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Correspondence to Kurt M. Schaefer.

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Communicated by J. D. R. Houghton.

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Schaefer, K.M., Fuller, D.W. Simultaneous behavior of skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), bigeye (Thunnus obsesus), and yellowfin (T. albacares) tunas, within large multi-species aggregations associated with drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean. Mar Biol 160, 3005–3014 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2290-9

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