A Battle Between Giants in Canada

The TAG team got on the board in Canada yesterday, releasing two giant bluefin tuna with satellite and acoustic tags thanks to the help of a giant that remained safely onboard. Even at 7 ft tall, angler Chris Mihm, center for the Los Angeles Lakers, was nearly dwarfed by the 98-inch and 107-inch fish he brought to the tagging vessel, Bay Queen IV, which was captained by Dennis Cameron.

TAG Angler Chris Mihm

After several days stuck onshore due to weather (during which time Chris stayed busy hanging out at the dock learning how to wield a saw to sample bluefin tuna earbones, called otoliths, and taking pictures with fans eager to guess who was taller - Chris or their fish!), the TAG team was thrilled to be out on the water yesterday. Three other vessels were fishing with the F/V Bay Queen IV - the F/V Pete's Pair-A-Dice, F/V Nicole Brandy, and F/V Carrie Anne. After a quick stop to catch mackerel on the way out of the harbor to use as bait, the fishing began. The ocean was alive. The team marked lots of fish under the boat, and they were surrounded by porpoises, pilot whales and minkes.

Capt Bernie aboard the F/V Nicole Brandy before transfer to the tagging vessel, F/V Bay Queen IV in the background

The first to hook up was the Nicole Brandy, and after a 72 min fight the ~750-lb fish was tagged and released under the direction of TAG scientists Dr. Steve Wilson and Robbie Schallert. Next to hook up was Pete's Pair-A-Dice, and after a 43 min fight, the ~950-lb fish was released with its brand new tag accessories.

Chris vs. Fish

Although the Carrie Anne hooked up and successfully passed their rod to the tagging boat, the fish pulled the hook after a half hour fight and the team had to go home content with two fish tagged.

It was good to break our duck, and hopefully the upcoming good weather will be productive. Stay tuned!

Success in Japan!

Chuck Farwell reports 11 Pacific bluefin tuna released with archival tags in Japan. All fish were 1-2 years old - the hope is to tag a fish that will soon migrate to the California Current in the eastern Pacific and record a detailed track of the trans-oceanic journey. Congratulations to the team!

TAG team returns to Cape Breton

TAG scientists Steve Wilson and Robbie Shallert returned to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia a week ago, hoping to tag more giant bluefin. This is the same area where last year they placed the 1,000th tag in a true giant - estimated to weigh over 1,250 lbs. Reports leading up to their departure suggest that there are lots of fish in the area, although the granders have yet to show.

The weather has been challenging, but on Tuesday Steve was able to get out for a few hours of fishing, while Robbie collected samples from fish coming in to Port Hood. Although they didn't catch any fish, they observed some feeding activity late in the day.

They are on the water again this morning, hoping to get some tags out before the wind picks up. I'll keep you posted as I hear more from them!

TAG in Japan

This morning Chuck Farwell, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Curator of Pelagic Fishes and long-time TAG collaborator, departed on a unique opportunity to tag Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of Japan. Chuck will be working with colleagues from Tokyo University's Ocean Research Institute. Their operation will be based in the port of Nagai, on the Miura Peninsula - at the northeast end of Sagami Bay.

We'll look forward to hearing more from Chuck in the days ahead!

La Bella Tonno Rosso

TAG is in Italia! TAG scientist Dr. Andy Seitz, with the generous assistance, support and hospitality of Daniele Crepaldi, is on the trail of Italian bluefin, or tonno rosso to the locals. The expedition began in the city of Imperia on the Ligurian Sea. The first day was windy so they toured the city. They fished the next three days and saw nothing. Just as they decided that there were no fish in the area and it started to pour rain, they caught a small bluefin of 103 cm (~40 in). Because it was too small to satellite tag, they tagged it with one of the new LAT tags - a more compact archival tag.

They are now in Livorno on the southern Ligurian Sea in the Tuscany region, where they will fish for a couple of days before heading over to the Adriatic Sea.

Tuna Tagging in New Zealand

After two weeks of bad weather, Tag-A-Giant finally made it out on the water. We left Greymouth September 4th for a 48 hour trip under blue skies and calm seas aboard Reel Passion captained by Mark Hoare and mates Paul Eyers and Craig Taylor. Within 15 minutes of arriving at the fishing ground, Reel Passion had her first tuna bite of the tagging season. After an hour and forty minute fight, 16 year old Shyloh Knight caught his first Pacific Bluefin tuna weighing in at 278.6 kg and 258 cm. We worked hard to catch some more and get our 9 satellite tags in the water, but we were unsuccessful. The TAG team moved up to Westport to give it another shot aboard the Te Ariki Nui captained by Jason Wootton...hopefully they will be snapping!

(Posted by Randy Kochevar for Robbie Schallert)

Monitoring tuna ranches

TAG-A-Giant descended upon Ensenada Mexico in mid-August to install an acoustic monitoring station in collaboration with Maricultura del Norte. The TAG team led by Dr. Barbara Block, Robbie Schallert, Luis Rodriguez and Dane Klinger successfully implanted twelve acoustic tags inside captured Pacific Bluefin tuna. The fish were then released back into their grow pen, where they will be monitored remotely from Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA. The internal tags measure the tuna body temperature and transmit the data to a receiver mounted on the outside of the cage. The receiver then relays the information to a satellite overhead, which downloads the information to scientists.