The Bluefin Tuna Fishery in the Bay of Biscay , 1st ed. 2019
Its Relationship with the Crisis of Catches of Large Specimens in the East Atlantic Fisheries from the 1960s
SpringerBriefs in Biology Series

This open access book is an original contribution to the knowledge on fishing and research associated with one of the most enigmatic fish of our seas: bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus (L.). Based on available evidence, it reconstructs the possible methods used to catch large spawners in the Strait of Gibraltar thousands of years ago and describes the much more recent overfishing that led to a great reduction in the catches of the trap fishery on the area and the disappearance of the northern European fisheries. It is the first book to relate the overfishing of juvenile fishes in certain areas to the decline of large spawners in other very distant areas, revealing one of the main underlying causes of this decline, which has remained a mystery to the fishing sector and scientists alike for over 50 years. This finding should serve to prevent similar cases from arising in the future.

Doctor in Biology. Since 1973 he has been a researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO). He has worked in the biology and dynamics of the populations of small and large pelagic fish of the Atlantic Ocean, and tropical tunas of the Indian Ocean. He chaired the scientific committee of the ICCAT (SCRS); worked in FAO Fisheries Department; and was Director of the Santander Coastal Centre of IEO. He has published articles and documentaries on biology, fisheries and population dynamics of exploited species, mainly tuna.

Pablo Abaunza

Doctor in Biology. Since 1990 he has been a researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), working on fishery biology of pelagic fishes. He is an expert member of several Working Groups on fish stock assessment mainly in ICES. He has worked in different positions of responsibility as Director of the Santander Coastal Centre of IEO, head of the Fisheries Department at IEO and recently as Deputy Director of IEO. He is co-author of several publications in specialized journals.

Reconstructs historic methods used to catch bluefin tuna in the Strait of Gibraltar

Describes tuna overfishing and its disappearance of the Northern European fisheries

Relates the overfishing of juvenile fishes to the decline of large spawners

Reveils the connection between the large spawner's decline in territories far away from that of juvenile tuna overfishing