Southern bluefin tuna ranching in sea cages (Port Lincoln)
Engorde de atún rojo del sur en jaulas (Port Lincoln)
- Date
- c. 1991 · confidence medium
- Place
- Port Lincoln, South Australia, Australia
- Credited to
- Fishermen of Port Lincoln (Hagen Stehr and others)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Southern bluefin tuna are caught alive in purse seines and towed to sea cages, where they are fattened for months on sardines until reaching the fat level the Japanese sashimi market demands. The Port Lincoln industry was created in the early 1990s.
The first cage-fattening trials date from 1991 and the industry consolidated in the following years; the origin is usually credited to Port Lincoln fishermen such as Hagen Stehr and Tony Santic.
What it led to
- an export industry of live tuna to Japan from Australia
- adoption of tuna ranching in the Mediterranean and Mexico
- debate on the sustainability of the bluefin tuna fishery