Satellite tagging used to track giant tuna

Shoals of tuna now appearing in Hebridean seas could generate a new line in tourism.

The big fish were first spotted in local waters just three years ago.

Harris tourism operator, Angus Campbell, is working with Marine Scotland to track tuna off the Hebrides.

Mr Campbell, from Kilda Cruises, caught a 515lb Bluefin tuna by rod off St Kilda in 2013.

Satellite tags are being used to trace their movements across the ocean.

Information so far suggests that they swim thousands of miles and dived to depths in excess of 1000 metres.

Satellite tagging used to track giant tuna

17 March 2015

More data is needed to assess the prospect of offering catch-and-release angling packages for big game fishermen which could extend the islands’ tourist season by an extra few weeks in the autumn.

Shoals of tuna fish spotted off the Western Isles are thought to be the result of warmer seas and climate change.

Large numbers of different species of tuna have been seen chasing prey off St Kilda and the Hebrides in recent years.

It is thought that they are gradually moving north as herring and mackerel stocks recover and the water temperature rises.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and the European Fisheries Fund are supporting the scheme.

Francis Neat, researcher from Marine Scotland, said: “Marine Scotland needed to learn more about blue fin tuna in Scottish waters - how many there might be, how long they reside here, where they come from, and where they spawn.

“By working with Angus we were able to satellite tag three of these giant fish last year.

“This study is aligned with the tagging programme of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna and is an important first step toward understanding blue fin tuna behaviour in Scottish waters and assessing in the longer term if a recreational catch-and-release sport fishery could be sustainable.”