Migration and behavior of juvenile North Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga)

Abstract

Archival tags were used to study the seasonal movements, migration patterns and vertical distribution of juvenile North Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga). Between 2001 and 2006, archival tags were deployed in North Pacific albacore in two regions of the Northeast Pacific: (i) off Northern Baja California, Mexico and Southern California, and (ii) off Washington and Oregon. Twenty archival tagged fish were recovered with times at liberty ranging from 63 to 697 days. Tagged albacore exhibited five distinct, seasonal migratory patterns. Depth and temperature data also showed a broad range of vertical behaviors. In certain regions such as off Baja California, Mexico, juvenile albacore make frequent dives to depths exceeding 200 m during the day and remain in the surface mixed layer at night, whereas off Oregon and Washington they remain near the surface both day and night. Water temperatures encountered ranged from 3.3 to 22.7°C. Peritoneal temperatures were significantly higher by an average of approximately 4°C, as expected in these warm-bodied fish. This study provides a comprehensive examination of horizontal and vertical movements of juvenile albacore in the Northeast Pacific. The results reveal diverse behavior that varies regionally and seasonally as albacore move among different habitats throughout the entire North Pacific.

Movements, behavior, and habitat utilization of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California, Mexico, determined from archival tag data analyses, including unscented Kalman filtering

“…Bluefin and albacore tunas tagged with ATs off northern BC (Boustany et al, 2010;Childers et al, 2011) were observed to remain off northern BC during the summer months, move southward and remain off southern BC during the winter months, and return to the area off northern BC and southern California during the following summer, similar to the horizontal movement patterns of yellowfin tagged and released off northern BC in this study. However, albacore and bluefin tunas, unlike yellowfin, are highly migratory species which eventually leave the waters off BC, and migrate back to their spawning grounds in the central and/or western Pacific (Schaefer, 2001).…”

“…6A) (Fiedler et al, 1998). Albacore tuna tagged and released with ATs exhibited different types of vertical behavior off BC during the day, which included repetitive bounce diving behavior to depths exceeding 200 m (Childers et al, 2011), similar to that of yellowfin in this study.…”

Assessing niche width of endothermic fish from genes to ecosystem

“…Our results do not represent a comprehensive comparison of behavior and diet of PBFT, YFT, and ALB throughout their entire ranges or ontogeny. Larger PBFT migrate to both cold temperate foraging grounds and subtropical spawning grounds (11); large YFT in the CCLME remain largely residential to EPO waters (14), and large albacore migrate to subtropical waters in the Pacific Ocean (31). The relative benefits of cardiac performance, concordant water column utilization, and foraging capacity have not been comparatively assessed in these adult tunas and are outside the scope of this study.…”

Fishery management, development and food security in the Western and Central Pacific in the context of climate change

“…Three species remain in tropical waters throughout their life cycle, skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), bigeye (Thunnus obesus), and yellowfin (T. albacares); while a fourth migrates between temperate and subtropical waters, albacore (T. alalunga) (Childers et al, 2011;Collette and Nauen, 1983;Kimura et al, 1997). These species support highly productive commercial fisheries in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and international waters across the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).…”