August 13, 2007Atlantic bluefin tuna swim inside floating tanks that tow wild fish from the waters off Libya to tuna ranches off Sicily, Italy.
The environmental group Greenpeace released this image on May 30, 2006, as part of its protest of tuna "ranches," a practice that rounds up wild fish to be fattened before they are harvested.
Experts say the bluefins are at risk of being fished to extinction, but a lack of data on the fishes' breeding and feeding habits has complicated conservation efforts.
Now a set of new studies is using data from high-tech satellite tags to offer insight on the bluefin's migrations, helping scientists craft better protections for the commercially important species (read "Tagged Tuna Reveal Migration Secrets" [August 13, 2007]).