Skipjack Migration in Pacific Ocean Tracked Using Archival Tags

Copyright Ajinomoto Co.

Ajinomoto Co., a leading food and amino-science company, announced on June 15, 2012, that it has successfully recorded the migratory movements of skipjack tuna, for 102 days in the Pacific Ocean using archival tags (a data-logging device). This skipjack-tracking project was conducted in collaboration with the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, one of the institutes under Japan's Fisheries Research Agency.

The research team attached archival tags on 169 fish and released them in the waters around Yonaguni Island in February and April 2012, in order to track their migratory movements from the waters off the Southwest Islands into waters off the coast of western Japan. By recapturing two of these tagged fish, the team was able to obtain the recorded data on the skipjack migration routes, and the depth and temperature of the waters the fish had traveled through. By the end of June, four more tagged fish got recaptured, and the company recorded the migratory movements for 349 days in total.

The company hopes to find out more about skipjack migratory patterns around Japan's coasts, and to contribute to more sustainable tuna fisheries in the central and western Pacific Ocean.