Age, growth and preliminary estimates of maturity of bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, in the Australian region
Jessica H. Farley A D , Naomi P. Clear A , Bruno Leroy B , Tim L. O. Davis A and Geoff McPherson C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
B Secretariat of the Pacific Community, BP D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia.
C Northern Fisheries Centre, PO Box 5396, Cairns, QLD 4870, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: jessica.farley@csiro.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 57(7) 713-724 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF05255
Submitted: 21 December 2005 Accepted: 6 September 2006 Published: 13 October 2006
Abstract
Biological parameters such as age, growth and age (or size) at maturity are vital for accurate stock assessments and management plans to ensure that fisheries develop sustainably. Despite this, very few validated age studies have been conducted for large tropical pelagic species within the Australian region. Age and growth parameters were estimated for bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus (Lowe, 1839), sampled from longline fisheries in the Australian region using validated techniques based on counts of annual increments. Poor increment clarity reduced the number of otoliths included in the final analysis to only 50% of the 3200 selected for reading (39–178-cm fork length). Microincrement analysis confirmed the position of the first two annual increments in these otoliths. A maximum age of 16 years was obtained, but over 80% of fish in the Australian catch were <5 years old. Growth is most rapid in the first few years of life and asymptotic length is reached at about age 9 to 10 years. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated at L∞ = 169.09, k = 0.238, and to = –1.706 for the south-west Pacific Ocean and L∞ = 178.41, k = 0.176, and to = –2.500 for the eastern Indian Ocean. These parameters were significantly different, suggesting that there is little mixing between populations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Length at 50% maturity for females sampled in northern Queensland was estimated to be 102.4-cm fork length.
Extra keywords: age composition, longevity, microincrements, otoliths, stock structure.
Acknowledgments
There are many people we would like to acknowledge for support during this project. We are especially grateful to those who collected/coordinated otolith sampling around Australia and in Indonesia. These include: Retno Andamari, Thor Carter, Phil Crogan, Geoff Dews, Garry Fry, Mark Green, John Gunn, Daniel Joyce, Sandra Leeds, Toby Patterson, Ian Peel, Luke Short, Kiroan, Siregar, Clive Stanley, Peter Teale and Kevin Williams. The assistance given to us by Erica Starling, Marie Kruizinga and staff at Indian Ocean Fresh Tuna; Ross McGregor and staff at Lobster Australia; Brett Taylor, Sue Jones and staff at DeBrett Seafoods; and finally Bob Lamason and the skippers and crew at Great Barrier Reef Tuna Pty Ltd are also acknowledged. We are grateful to the Australian scientific observers aboard Japanese longline vessels who collected otoliths before 2000. Otolith sampling in Benoa, Bali, was carried out as part of a catch-monitoring program run by the Research Institute of Marine Fisheries in Indonesia and CSIRO. Otoliths were prepared and sectioned at the Central Ageing Facility at the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute, Queenscliff. We are grateful to Steve Campana who gave some helpful comments, and to Mark Bravington and Toby Patterson for statistical advice. Finally, we acknowledge Jock Young, Barry Bruce and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript. The project was funded by a Fisheries Research and Development Corporation grant No. 97/111.
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