Research on the Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares in Panama

Abstract The yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus albacares ) (YFT) exhibits strong potential as a candidate species for full-life-cycle aquaculture. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) has maintained a spawning population and studied the reproductive biology and early life history of YFT for research purposes at its Achotines Laboratory, Republic of Panama, since 1996. The broodstock YFT have spawned in land-based tanks at near-daily intervals as long as water temperatures have exceeded 23.3 °C. Courtship and spawning behaviors and the effects of physical and biological factors on spawning dynamics have been studied, and growth and survival rates of broodstock fish have been estimated. Experimental investigations of the early life history from the egg stage to 115 days after hatching (dah) have been conducted. The larval and early-juvenile stages are characterized by fast growth, high metabolic requirements, and high mortality. The refinement of rearing protocols that increase survival in the yolksac and first-feeding larval stages, and the development of improved artificial diets and sea cage rearing of juveniles, will hold the key to successful development of full-life-cycle aquaculture of YFT.