tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51198983717149918312009-11-25T09:37:32.461-05:00The search for bluefin tuna is on! A team of scientists from Stanford University and other partner institutions is scouring waters in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The goal - to place electronic tags in giant bluefin tuna to learn more about their migrations, behavior, and environmental preferences. Read about their adventures below...The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-52251781749232708582009-11-03T14:54:00.023-05:002009-11-04T09:53:02.564-05:00

TAG's 2009 Canada campaign has come to a close. In total we deployed 19 tags on 10 giant tunas, including 9 double-tagged fish with satellite and acoustic tags! It's thrilling but exhausting, technically challenging work for the fishermen and scientists in the field. All of us at the Tag-A-Giant Foundation would like to express our sincere appreciation to the TAG 2009 Canada team -

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-75105389722844577532009-10-31T16:55:00.012-05:002009-10-31T22:10:32.993-05:00

TAG A Giant fishers from Nova Scotia and PEI- teamed up to produce 4 hook- ups and while one fish pulled hook, three giant bluefin made it to the back of the tagging vessel. Angel Brailyn hooked up first- made the transfer and than we lost the fish just at the lip hook point when the leader touched the hull. It's happenned before for sure (ask TAG wiremen CP Perry & Daryl Brower). Neptuna hooked

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-43673797579736695702009-10-26T08:45:00.004-05:002009-10-26T15:00:24.210-05:00

Here's another take on Saturday's tagging from Aaron Spares, one of the field scientists tagging in Port Hood...Sunrise was a pink sky highlighted with gold-rimmed stratus clouds, the kinda morning sky that turns to satin streams as the day goes on. Gannets soared everywhere as they and tuna boats fished for ‘pig-sized’ mackerel. Steaming offshore brought more birds, gulls and guillemots, but no

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-10945217334798924172009-10-24T19:21:00.011-05:002009-10-24T20:08:32.355-05:00

The TAG A Giant team let by scientists Steve Wilson of Stanford University, Aaron Spares of Dalhousie once again aboard the TAG vessel Bay Queen IV owned by Captain Dennis Cameron have had a busy day in Canada. Giant bluefins were hooked again by many of the TAG teams vessels fishing together from the ports of Nova Scotia and PEI. Three of these fish were taken to the tagging vessel. Two

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-58055625278380357142009-10-23T18:06:00.005-05:002009-10-23T18:47:42.662-05:00

You know it must be fishing when the celebrity angler leaves just in time for the big fish to start showing up! Yesterday the bite was on, with three big ones tagged and a fourth that broke off. Steve Wilson tags a 950 pound tunaSteve Wilson reports:Like Tuesday, the day started off slow and then exploded in the late afternoon. Bait was on the surface with birds and white-sided dolphins foraging.

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-57309800824334213862009-10-21T15:24:00.004-05:002009-10-21T15:45:14.223-05:00

The weather kept us on land in the morning, but we decided to take our chances and were on the fishing grounds by lunchtime. The decision paid off, and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. There were fish busting everywhere, but they weren't biting. We tagged one bluefin, hooked by Capt. Bruce Keus aboard the F/V North Lake Breeze. At 84-inches long, the fish was small (at least by Canadian

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-63807871216058154562009-10-19T15:48:00.010-05:002009-10-19T18:37:44.172-05:00

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

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-87986305135418681012009-10-19T15:42:00.005-05:002009-10-20T09:35:57.390-05:00

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!

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-57866738921197503962009-10-16T11:45:00.005-05:002009-10-16T12:02:24.345-05:00

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

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-51360499805967464672009-10-07T13:22:00.003-05:002009-10-07T13:38:46.164-05:00

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.

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-65198140633418340872009-09-23T13:31:00.002-05:002009-09-23T13:41:46.933-05:00

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

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-44588891904881491572009-09-16T14:03:00.002-05:002009-09-16T14:07:12.930-05:00

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

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-37168580266980546402009-09-15T10:03:00.008-05:002009-10-20T13:05:25.686-05:00

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

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-17035190428647062662009-07-24T20:43:00.002-05:002009-07-27T15:48:18.047-05:00

Bluefin finally cooperated today. With a tremendous effort by all involved we loaded up the wells to maximum capacity - it took all day and diligence at every stop. This size class we're collecting are extremely picky eaters. The Shogun crew led by Norm, Gunny, Cha-Chi, Matt, Pat and Randy along with our team had to have extreme patience and perserverance. These fish are very tough to collect.

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-33029827839283712442009-07-24T15:38:00.000-05:002009-07-27T15:43:21.283-05:00

Today we used stealth techniques on bluefin, and sure enough a few consistently bit the sardines. The crew loves to fish for bluefin on this trip- and everyone was on the decks as Norm consistently put us in the large bluefin tuna schools. We opened archival tagging station 1 led by Robbie Schallert and Dr. Barb Block. We were able to deploy 5 archival tags into small bluefin ranging in size from

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-69117912019817328442009-07-23T17:32:00.001-05:002009-07-27T15:38:39.241-05:00

The Shogun crew and research scientists spent a day looking hard for small bluefin tuna. We saw remarkable schools of collectable size bluefin tuna in the 10 to 15 lb. range, but we were unable to get a single fish to bite. We had a fantastic film day for our Ocean Futures colleagues filming a bluefin movie on the Shogun for the Cousteau team. It was an Audubon special- bluefin and a few albacore

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-12434102976423434242009-07-22T15:17:00.000-05:002009-07-27T15:32:03.226-05:00

The combined TRCC-Shogun team had a smooth morning offloading the bluefin tuna. The tuna transport truck "The Tunabago" arrived 9 hours later at the Stanford Tuna Research Conservation Center with all passengers in good condition. By 10am we were headed back out to sea and within a few hours were among dozens of blue whales. Late this afternoon a few spots of tuna made a showing underneath diving

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-55414337588808294172009-07-22T08:59:00.007-05:002009-07-22T09:06:40.918-05:00

Today was a beautiful day on the ocean - clear skies, warm temperatures and beautiful weather. We started the day with tremendous optimism after the our first day's success; however, we failed to locate Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis. A highlight of the afternoon was Jim Miller catching a 25 lb yellowtail- his first ever off a large kelp paddy. We did find one lonely albacore on the

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-35111226408993019562009-07-20T10:24:00.006-05:002009-07-20T10:34:15.891-05:00

The Shogun has become a Research Vessel for the week as the Tuna Research and Conservation Center team of Stanford University and MBA are out with Captain Norm and the Shogun Crew for our annual bluefin tuna tagging and collecting trip. The trip is supported by our Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) program (http://www.topp.org/), a 10-year program focused on using electronic tagging technologies

Dr. Barbara Blockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18258108383419398522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-78740003066505038762009-07-19T16:58:00.003-05:002009-07-19T17:09:40.943-05:00

I know, I know. This is a bit off-topic. But the Tag A Giant science team has a long history of tagging all kinds of cool animals. (In fact, Barb put out the very first electronic tag went out on a billfish!) This week, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT), we are launching the Great Marlin Race! Up to 10 teams will have a chance to tag

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-19679990388553619742009-07-02T10:06:00.006-05:002009-07-02T12:24:59.633-05:00

The US government is considering sweeping changes to the way we manage bluefin tuna domestically. The stated goal is to provide US fishermen with greater opportunity to harvest the ICCAT quota while balancing the need to end overfishing of the Gulf of Mexico-spawning, western Atlantic population by 2010 and rebuild the population by 2019.2003 was the last year that the US caught (or exceeded, as

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-41550085917526860072009-06-12T15:54:00.003-05:002009-06-12T15:58:28.009-05:00

This past weekend I was asked by the Monterey Bay Aquarium to provide commentary following a special screening of an edited version of the new film, “The End of the Line.” I had not seen the film, and didn’t know much about it – other than that it dealt with the decline of the bluefin tuna fishery.I was provided with a DVD of the edited film, which I popped into my laptop to view. For the next 23

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-58855818514553193312009-05-18T13:14:00.003-05:002009-05-18T15:45:11.256-05:00

Call it what you will..."an international disgrace" or "pirates of the Mediterranean" - there's no question that things have gotten out of hand in the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. Recent quotas have been set twice as high as recommended by scientists, and illegal fishing has resulted in landings twice again as high. A recent paper published in the

The Tag-A-Giant Foundationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972249432993390912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-71725906919290280222009-05-01T11:34:00.008-05:002009-05-01T12:15:26.298-05:00

Although we often focus on the work we do in the wild, tagging and tracking tunas in their migrations across the seas, there is also a massive research effort that goes on every day in our Tuna Research and Conservation Center here in Pacific Grove, CA -- a unique collaboration between Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. For the past several weeks, we have been using a large

Dr. Randy Kochevarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119379463425769151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5119898371714991831.post-83611216650827627552009-04-13T10:40:00.003-05:002009-04-13T11:28:35.883-05:00

Well, it took me a while to finally post an update and some pictures, but it was well worth the wait. We managed to get out for another day on the water out of Hatteras, NC on Thursday the 2nd of April. We were not disappointed as the fishing was similar to Tuesday, with plenty of bluefin tuna in the 160 pound range. These are the same fish that have been off the coast of Hatteras for several

Dr. Andre Boustanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17153590828932146658noreply@blogger.com2