Spanish research facility achieves land-based life-cycle reproduction of bluefin tuna

Researchers from the Murcia Oceanographic Center of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography have achieved the successful reproduction of bluefin tuna in a land-based facility.

The researchers are claiming this is the first time bluefin tuna reproduction has taken place in a land-based facility, however several Japanese aquaculture firms have previously accomplished closed-cycle tuna farming.

The Murcia Oceanographic Center has been working in tandem with the Mazarrón Aquaculture Plant in Cartagena, Spain, on the project since 2015, with official funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation arriving in December 2018.

The milestone was achieved in Murcia's ICRA facility, which contains infrastructure devoted to the reproduction of the species. The facility has four tanks with a combined capacity of 7 million tons, and houses two bluefin tuna breeding stocks – one made up of 25 specimens born in 2017, and another with 8 specimens born in 2018, according to the center.

Researchers Aurelio Ortega and Fernando de la Gándara led a group that was able to induce final maturation and spawning via a hormone injection, resulting in the production of more than 100,00 fertilized eggs, with more than 3 million spawned in subsequent days. Previously, reproduction of bluefin tuna in land-based facilities had been impeded by the stress of captivity, according to the center.

The Murcia Oceanographic Center previously achieved the closure of the biological cycle of bluefin tuna in 2016, but in floating sea cages. The technology has been commercialized by a number of Japanese seafood companies. Two of Spain’s largest bluefin tuna firms, Balfegó and Ricardo Fuentes, have not yet expanded into land-based aquaculture.

Photo courtesy of Murcia Oceanographic Center