Tagged Tuna Makes Epic Journey, Breaks Records

An albacore tuna caught and tagged off the coast of Spain in 2006 resurfaced this year near Venezuela with a surprise in store for the researchers who found it. The fish had traveled more than 6,300 kilometers, a record for a tagged albacore tuna, according to The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

When the fish was tagged in October 2006 about 20 kilometers to the north of Donostia-San Sebastian, it was a year old and 50 centimeters long and weighed 2.5 kilograms. When it was recaptured six and a half years later just off the coast of Venezuela by local fishermen, the tuna had doubled its length and weighed nearly 22 kilograms.

The record-breaking tuna has entered elite territory. There are very few records of an albacore tuna crossing the Atlantic Ocean, much less one being found so far south from its breeding ground in the North Atlantic.

The longevity of the tuna, in terms of when it was tagged and then recaptured, is nearly record-breaking as well. The longest period between tagging and recapture for an albacore tuna is about 8 years. The wayward fish was not too many months behind besting that record as well, according to the Basque Research center, which published information about the noteworthy tuna.

A similar case occurred in 2007 with a bluefin tuna. The fish has covered a distance of 6,170 kilometers, as the crow flies, before it was recaptured. Interestingly, that fish covered the distance in only two years and two months, whereas the recently recaptured albacore spent more than six years covering a similar distance.

More information about the tagged tuna is available from Basque Research.