Crew and researchers inspect the fish and the transport cage, which was developed by HI engineer Jostein Saltskår. Do you see the 220 kilo sturgeon? (

Marine scientists have succeeded in 'saving' bluefin tuna in cages

It has never been done before in Norway.

For several years, marine scientists have tried to live-stock the world's largest tuna, bluefin tuna.

The breakthrough came on Friday at Stad. Then the researchers from the Institute of Marine Research, the fishing boat "Vestbris" and the Directorate of Fisheries' "Fjordgyn" managed to catch and transfer one bluefin tuna from the net to a self-developed transport cage, which they towed ashore.

Live storage is perhaps the solution to several challenges

"It is a great honor to finally succeed! We have learned a lot already. Now we hope to be able to scale up the experiment with a larger catch during the week", says project manager from the Institute of Marine Research, Manu Sistiaga.

Photo courtesy from Institute of Marine Research

Being able to store the huge bluefin tuna alive in cages is a kind of holy grail for the fishery. It is done in the Mediterranean, but under completely different conditions.

Through normal seine fishing, the sturgeon are difficult to handle quickly enough, and the quality deteriorates quickly. In addition, it is an advantage to be able to send the fish to the market little by little, instead of all at once.

Live storage can solve this. But there are many research questions.

Rest assured that even larger catches will be fine to move

"Now we know that we can achieve a controlled transfer from the seine to the transport cage, and we have documented that the sturgeon are doing well in the transport cage, even after two days of being towed to shore", says Sistiaga.

"The cage forms a large and deep pool. We are confident that we can have 50-100 fish in it", he says.

Once on land, the researchers could inspect the cage, the fish and euthanize it in a controlled manner using electricity (another, related HI project).

Photo courtesy from Institute of Marine Research

Solves many new questions

Researchers from NOFIMA and HI then took a number of samples to find out more about the quality of the meat. The fish was delivered for reception at Domstein Fish on Måløy and will be sent to Oslo to test the market.

"In the long term, we must also look at how long bluefin tuna can stay in cages, how much feed they need and what temperatures they can withstand. But first we have to improve capture and transfer", says Manu Sistiaga.

The researcher praises this year's cooperation with the fishermen and the Directorate of Fisheries.

Photo courtesy from Institute of Marine Research

Roser collaborated with the Directorate of Fisheries

In addition to providing the boat and crew, the directorate is responsible for coordinating the project and the contact with ICCAT - the commission that manages bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. There are strict requirements and a lot of reporting related to the species.

"ICCAT has strict requirements for catching and reporting bluefin tuna with seine. The regulations are adapted to fisheries in the Mediterranean, where the conditions are very different. There they use divers to a large extent, which we do not have opportunities for in Norway", says Hermann Pettersen, project manager in the Directorate of Fisheries.

Project managers Hermann Pettersen (Fisheries Directorate) and Manu Sistiaga (Marine Research Institute) with the authorization code from ICCAT for the first transfer.

Photo courtesy from Institute of Marine Research

Must create new methods adapted to Norway

He believes we must think differently here on the water, while at the same time creating a fishery that is sustainable, controllable and accepted by the other member states of ICCAT.

"The project shows the importance of good cooperation between administration, industry and research. This year we were lucky to be able to hire "Vestbris", with an experienced crew with good expertise in stair and lock setting. We would like to commend them and the rest of the team here. This is a big job, and we have only fired the starting shot", says Pettersen in the Directorate of Fisheries.

<--- Project managers Hermann Pettersen (Fisheries Directorate) and Manu Sistiaga (Marine Research Institute) with the authorization code from ICCAT for the first transfer.

The remaining days of the cruise take place at Byrknes and Fedje, where they have a more permanent storage cage at the Viking Delights facility. The aim is to catch more sturgeon and get them transferred to this one .

Author/Source: Erlend Astad Lorentzen/Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (translated from original in norwegian)

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