2011/707 The 9th annual workshop on the reproduction and early development of Yellowfin Tuna - Year 2

By Lindsey Woolley

In South Australia, Clean Seas Tuna Ltd. (CST) is the leading company in Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) propagation and they have experienced some success with successful spawning since 2008. However, reliable availability of viable eggs and the larval rearing stages are currently major bottlenecks in the propagation of SBT. Research on Yellowfin Tuna (YFT) is far more advanced. Yellowfin tuna is considered a valuable surrogate species for research, including larval rearing, which could contribute to the future research on the more valuable SBT species.

This research travel grand funded a field trip which was part of the annual workshop that is organised by the University of Miami and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), conducted at the Achotines Research Laboratory in Panama. YFT broodstock have successfully spawned at this facility for many years. The research laboratory provided facilities to conduct scientific trials on the larval rearing of YFT.

The knowledge gained at this workshop will be shared with the project’s industry partners, CST. CST currently leads Australian tuna propagation and it is hoped that direct technology transfer between aspects of YFT and SBT rearing will be possible. This will aid industry in refining their rearing protocols for SBT. Better larval rearing protocols will allow higher survival and growth and thus aid the successful commercialisation of SBT in Australia.