Acronym ACUSTUNA
Category
Fisheries
Title Acoustics and biometrics of bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National
Coordinator institution
UV - University of Valencia (Spain)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2016 End year 2019 Funding (€) € 290,400 Website NA Summary Acustuna project is addressed to obtain fundamental scientific information about bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), an emblematic species, both because of its position as pelagic presator in the ecosystem, and sea health indicator, and its economical and social significance. This last factor provoked the over-fishing during the last decades, and in consequent attempt of achieving its sustainbility, the imposition of severe catching quotas and miminum fish sizes. Our study is addressed to provide control tools for the bluefin aquaculture, and to lay the foundations of new acoustical methodologies for the good state of their populations assessment in the wild. Acoustics are the foundamental tool for biomass detection and characterisation, both with active and passive techniques. The first, with the application of vertical sicentific echosounders, offer the reference indicator for the stock assessment of smalll pelagic commercial species (herring, mackerel, sardine, anchovy, etc), perfomred in periodic surveys; nevertheless, for the case of tunids detection, because of their mobility and behavioural uses, horizontal sonar has been shown as more effective, and new quantitative or multi-beam sonar and echsounders have been proposed for their stock assessment. For this purpose it is necessary to characterise tuna as a scatterer, depending on its size and frequency and angle of incidence of the acoustic beam. In parallel, the use of synchronised echounders and stereoscopic vision systems revealed as a fish size estimation tool in tuna fattening cages, and our proposal pretends to go in depth in the evaluation of such process after the purse seiners catch, and the application of these techniques to the growth monitoring of the new bluefin tuna reproduction aquaculture. This is an strategical activity for the spanish adminsitration and scientific institutions, who led in europe its development, particularly by the works of the spanish oceanographycal institute (ieo) in national and european projects, and it has justified the creation of a new infraestructure for the control of bluefin tuna reproduction (icra), dependent of the marine cultive plant of the ieo at mazarron. This singular installation can lead to the closing of bluefin tuna production cycle, and offers at the same time exceptional conditions for other applied and fundamental studies. Acoustically, we pretend to study, both numerically and experimentally, the properties of bluefin tuna as a scatterer in well-defined geometrical conditions making easy to study wave directivity. Biometrically, we want to characterise dimensions and orientation of tuna by the use of image processing techniques using two or more synchronous video-cameras in fixed and stable positions, correlating them with acoustical recordings.
Also we will exploit the potential of acoustics to monitor bluefin tuna larvae development in tanks, offering information about their distribution, growth and detecting and quantifying the larvae fraction that develop swimbladder, critical aspect that constitutes and indicator of the juvenile production process.
Keywords
Engineering;
Fish;
Purse seine;
Tuna;
Broodstocks;
Fish biology;
Larvae;
Stock assessment;
Capture-based aquaculture;
Marine Region
49
Gulf of Lions (GSA 7)
1
Marine Region Map
