Discover the latest in ARF Pacific Albacore Tuna research.

These studies are peer-reviewed and conducted by scientists at independently funded organizations.

Juvenile Albacore Tuna (Thunnus alalunga) Foraging Ecology Varies With Environmental Conditions in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
Catherine F. Nickels, Elan J. Portner, Owyn Snodgrass, Barbara Muhling, Heidi Dewar, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography - University of California San Diego Michele Amar Catherine F. Nickels, Elan J. Portner, Owyn Snodgrass, Barbara Muhling, Heidi Dewar, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography - University of California San Diego Michele Amar

Juvenile Albacore Tuna (Thunnus alalunga) Foraging Ecology Varies With Environmental Conditions in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.

Characterizing changes in albacore diet with changing environmental conditions is key to understanding variability in albacore abundance, distribution and availability to recreational and commercial fisheries. ARF has been keenly interested in changes in albacore foraging characteristics and has actively supported diet studies through the collection of stomach contents and associated data necessary to carry out these studies.

*Juvenile North Pacific Albacore refer to fish of 1 to 5 years of age that have entered the surface fishery but have not yet returned to the western Pacific to spawn. These are the fish that are sustainably harvested by ARF member vessels using troll gear.

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Risk and Reward in Foraging Migrations of North Pacific Albacore Determined From Estimates of Energy Intake and Movement Costs
Barbara Muhling, Stephanie Snyder, Elliott L. Hazen, Rebecca E. Whitlock, Heidi Dewar, Jong-Yeon Park, Charles A. Stock, Barbara A. Block, Institute of Marine Sciences - University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Department of Biological Sciences - Thomas More University, Department of Aquatic Resources - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences - Jeonbuk National University, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hopkins Marine Station - Stanford University Michele Amar Barbara Muhling, Stephanie Snyder, Elliott L. Hazen, Rebecca E. Whitlock, Heidi Dewar, Jong-Yeon Park, Charles A. Stock, Barbara A. Block, Institute of Marine Sciences - University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Department of Biological Sciences - Thomas More University, Department of Aquatic Resources - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences - Jeonbuk National University, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hopkins Marine Station - Stanford University Michele Amar

Risk and Reward in Foraging Migrations of North Pacific Albacore Determined From Estimates of Energy Intake and Movement Costs

Archival tags are implanted in the body cavity of fish and record the internal body temperature at frequent intervals. This study used these temperature recordings to identify times and areas of feeding to examine the benefits vs costs of moving to seasonal feeding or wintering grounds that had been previously identified (Childers et al. 2011). The migratory paths and increased feeding were found in areas of estimated high plankton concentrations in the California Current and the North Pacific Transition Zone.

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Dynamic Habitat Use of Albacore and Their Primary Prey Species in the California Current System
Barbara Muhling, Stephanie Brodie, Owyn Snodgrass, Desiree Tommasi, Heidi Dewar, John Childers, Michael Jacox, Christopher A. Edwards, Yi Xu, Stephanie Snyder, Thomas More University, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, University of California, Santa Cruz - Institute for Marine Science, Ocean Sciences Department - University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Delta Jade Gonzales Barbara Muhling, Stephanie Brodie, Owyn Snodgrass, Desiree Tommasi, Heidi Dewar, John Childers, Michael Jacox, Christopher A. Edwards, Yi Xu, Stephanie Snyder, Thomas More University, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, University of California, Santa Cruz - Institute for Marine Science, Ocean Sciences Department - University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Delta Jade Gonzales

Dynamic Habitat Use of Albacore and Their Primary Prey Species in the California Current System

Juvenile north Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga) forage in the California Current System (CCS), supporting fisheries between Baja California and British Columbia. Within the CCS, their distribution, abundance, and foraging behaviors are strongly variable interannually. Here, we use catch logbook data and trawl survey records to investigate how juvenile albacore in the CCS use their oceanographic environment, and how their distributions overlap with the habitats of four key forage species.

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A shallow scattering layer structures the energy seascape of an open ocean predator
Martin C. Arostegui, Barbara Muhling, Emmett Culhane, Heidi Dewar, Stephanie S. Koch, Camrin D. Braun, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Institute of Marine Sciences - University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Thomas More University Jade Gonzales Martin C. Arostegui, Barbara Muhling, Emmett Culhane, Heidi Dewar, Stephanie S. Koch, Camrin D. Braun, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Institute of Marine Sciences - University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA Fisheries - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Thomas More University Jade Gonzales

A shallow scattering layer structures the energy seascape of an open ocean predator

Large predators frequent the open ocean where subsurface light drives visually based trophic interactions. However, we lack knowledge on how predators achieve energy balance in the unproductive open ocean where prey biomass is minimal in well-lit surface waters but high in dim midwaters in the form of scattering layers. We use an interdisciplinary approach to assess how the bioenergetics of scattering layer forays by a model predator vary across biomes. We show that the mean metabolic cost rate of daytime deep foraging dives to scattering layers decreases as much as 26% from coastal to pelagic biomes. The more favorable energetics offshore are enabled by the addition of a shallow scattering layer that, if not present, would otherwise necessitate costlier dives to deeper layers. The unprecedented importance of this shallow scattering layer challenges assumptions that the globally ubiquitous primary deep scattering layer constitutes the only mesopelagic resource regularly targeted by apex predators.

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