Abstract
The yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788), covers majority of the Philippines’ tuna catch, one of the major fisheries commodities in the country. Due to its high economic importance sustainable management of these tunas has become an imperative measure to prevent stock depletion. Currently, the Philippine yellowfin tuna is believed to be part of a single stock of the greater WCPO though some reports suggest otherwise. This study therefore aims to establish the genetic stock structure of the said species in the Philippines as compared to Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea using nine (9) DNA microsatellite markers.DNA microsatellite data revealed significant genetic differentiation between the Philippine and Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea yellowfin tuna samples. (FST = 0.034, P = 0.016), which is further supported by multilocus distance matrix testing (PCoA) and model-based clustering (STRUCTURE 2.2).With these findings, this study posits that the yellowfin tuna population in the Philippines is a separate stock from the Bismarck Sea population. These findings add evidence to the alternative hypothesis of having at least 2 subpopulations of yellowfin tuna in the WCPO and calls for additional scientific studies using other parameters to investigate this. Accurate population information is necessary in formulating a more appropriate management strategy for the sustainability of the yellowfin tuna not only in the Philippines but also in the WCPO.
Highlights
Tuna production has constantly been an important source of annual total marine production for coastal countries
Ten microsatellite loci were analyzed for significant variation among the yellowfin tuna samples
Other studies in another tuna species, the skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), support this divergent tuna stocks scenario, as they revealed a possible stock delineation in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean using serum esterase & transferrin system allozymes [34,35]. The analysis of these Yellowfin tuna (YFT) samples using DNA microsatellite markers exhibited moderate variation between the pooled Philippine samples and the Bismarck Sea samples. This strongly suggests the existence of a distinct YFT stock in the Philippines different from the YFT stock found in the Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
Summary
Tuna production has constantly been an important source of annual total marine production for coastal countries. Distinct Yellowfin Tuna Stocks in WCPO and production These three species alone contributed an approximate 2.2 million mt in the region’s fishery catch in 2011, representing 79% of the total Pacific Ocean catch [1]. The Coral Triangle, a region considered to be the global center of marine biodiversity and one of the world’s top priorities for marine conservation, spanning eastern Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines, has become a priority for monitoring and conservation, especially the marine environment [4] Conserving this region requires that the species in it are adequately sustained to prevent imbalances that could result to stock depletion, which could have devastating effects on both biodiversity and fisheries. Studies that could further identify both population connectivity and structuring are useful in improving management and conserving the region’s marine resources [5]
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