Abstract
Effective sustainable management of marine fisheries requires that assessed management units (that is, fish stocks) correspond to biological populations. This issue has long been discussed in the context of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT, Thunnus thynnus) management, which currently considers two unmixed stocks but does not take into account how individuals born in each of the two main spawning grounds (Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea) mix in feeding aggregations throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Using thousands of genome‐wide molecular markers obtained from larvae and young of the year collected at the species’ main spawning grounds, we provide what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first direct genetic evidence for “natal homing” in ABFT. This has facilitated the development of an accurate, cost‐effective, and non‐invasive tool for tracing the genetic origin of ABFT that allows for the assignment of catches to their population of origin, which is crucial for ensuring that ABFT management is based on biologically meaningful stock units rather than simply on catch location.
Highlights
Determining natal origin for improved management of Atlantic bluefin tuna Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta1*, Natalia Díaz-Arce1, John F Walter III2, David E Richardson3, Jay R Rooker4, Leif Nøttestad5, Alex R Hanke6, James S Franks7, Simeon Deguara8, Matthew V Lauretta2, Piero Addis9, Jose Luis Varela10,11, Igaratza Fraile1, Nicolas Goñi1, Noureddine Abid12, Francisco Alemany13, Isik K Oray14, Joseph M Quattro15, Fambaye N Sow16, Tomoyuki Itoh17, F Saadet Karakulak14, Pedro J Pascual-Alayón18, Miguel N Santos19, Yohei Tsukahara17, Molly Lutcavage20, Jean-Marc Fromentin21, and Haritz Arrizabalaga1
Using thousands of genome-w ide molecular markers obtained from larvae and young of the year collected at the species’ main spawning grounds, we provide what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first direct genetic evidence for “natal homing” in ABFT
Our population genetic analyses, which were based on thousands of genome-w ide single- nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers discovered and genotyped through RAD-seq from more than 200 ABFT larvae and small young of the year (YoY), revealed differentiation among Northwest Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea locations (Figure 1)
Summary
Determining natal origin for improved management of Atlantic bluefin tuna Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta1*, Natalia Díaz-Arce, John F Walter III2, David E Richardson, Jay R Rooker, Leif Nøttestad, Alex R Hanke, James S Franks, Simeon Deguara, Matthew V Lauretta, Piero Addis, Jose Luis Varela, Igaratza Fraile, Nicolas Goñi, Noureddine Abid, Francisco Alemany, Isik K Oray, Joseph M Quattro, Fambaye N Sow, Tomoyuki Itoh, F Saadet Karakulak, Pedro J Pascual-Alayón, Miguel N Santos, Yohei Tsukahara, Molly Lutcavage, Jean-Marc Fromentin, and Haritz Arrizabalaga. The development of successful fisheries management measures requires that reproductively isolated populations be assessed as independent stocks (Reiss et al 2009); defining marine fish stocks is difficult, given that intermediate scenarios that fall between full random mating (“panmixia”) and the total absence of genetic exchange among populations are frequent and difficult to discern Such a scenario appears to apply to the iconic Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT, Thunnus thynnus), a highly migratory, large pelagic (open-o cean) fish that inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas (Mather et al 1995; Fromentin and Powers 2005), and whose sustainable management is a priority due to high demand in the expanding global fish market (Sissenwine and Pearce 2017). This behavior, termed “natal homing”, suggests that ABFT should instead be managed as a mixed-stock fishery
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