Miguel Furtado

Large tunas are archetypal predators of the marine pelagic environment. They are also one of the most valuable, yet endangered fishing resources (~50% spawning biomass reduction in half a century). Tuna management has traditionally relied on fishery-dependent data that do not consider their behavioural ecology (e.g. movements, feeding habitat), hindering the implementation of robust spatial conservation strategies, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean. The overall goal of this proposal is to combine various fishery-independent data (e.g. biotelemetry, stable isotope analysis, antioxidant strategies, modelling) to examine how do environmental conditions constrain the movements and foraging behaviour of two contrasting tuna species – bluefin and bigeye – and how may these be influenced by their physiological limitations/adaptations. This comparative approach will allow exploring fundamental questions on tuna behavioural physiology, with the ultimate goal of informing conservation measures about their critical habitat and areas of higher vulnerability to fisheries and a climate changing north Atlantic Ocean.