Reconstructing transoceanic migration patterns of Pacific bluefin tuna using a chemical tracer toolbox

Abstract

Large pelagic predators play important roles in oceanic ecosystems, and may migrate vast distances to utilize resources in different marine ecoregions. Understanding movement patterns of migratory marine animals is critical for effective management, but often challenging, due to the cryptic habitat of pelagic migrators and the difficulty of assessing past movements. Chemical tracers can partially circumvent these challenges by reconstructing recent migration patterns. Pacific bluefin tuna ( Thunnus orientalis ; PBFT) inhabit the western and eastern Pacific Ocean, and are in steep decline due to overfishing. Understanding age‐specific eastward transpacific migration patterns can improve management practices, but these migratory dynamics remain largely unquantified. Here, we combine a Fukushima‐derived radiotracer ( 134 Cs) with bulk tissue and amino acid stable isotope analyses of PBFT to distinguish recent migrants from residents of the eastern Pacific Ocean. The proportion of recent migrants to residents decreased in older year classes, though the proportion of older PBFT that recently migrated across the Pacific was greater than previous estimates. This novel toolbox of biogeochemical tracers can be applied to any species that crosses the North Pacific Ocean.

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