Hydrological and trophic characteristics of tuna habitat: consequences on tuna distribution and longline catchability

Abstract

We studied relationships between tropical tunas (albacore (Thunnus alalunga), bigeye (Thunnus obesus), and yellowfin (Thunnus albacares)) and their biotic and abiotic environments through simultaneous acoustic observations of tunas and their prey, experimental longline catch, and oceanographic data in French Polynesia. Vertical habitat limits were estimated based on temperature and dissolved oxygen at capture data. We then studied tuna-micronekton relationships to better understand how tuna occupy the pelagic space. At a regional scale, tunas were more abundant in areas rich in prey with favourable hydrological conditions. Inside such areas, at the scale of a longline set, however, the longline catches were maximal only when prey were not distributed in dense patches (except for yellowfin tuna). We interpreted this result by considering that areas with high prey abundance attract tunas, but at a small scale, if prey are patchy distributed, tunas are more inclined to feed on them rather than on longline baits. The effect of patches on yellowfin tuna catch per unit effort (CPUE) does not appear likely because this species also feeds on the mixed layer, where patch density was very low. Not only hydrological characteristics, but also prey density and prey patch characteristics, should be taken into account for interpreting longline CPUE data.