NOTICE 



The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any proprietary product 

 or material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to the NMFS, or to this publication furnished 

 by NMFS, in any advertising or sales promotion which would indicate or imply that NMFS approves, recommends, 

 or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein or which has as its purpose any intent 

 to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of NMFS publication. 



This report should be cited as follows: 



Mather, F.J., J.M. Mason, and A.C. Jones. 1995. Historical document: life history and fisheries of Atlantic bluefm tuna. 

 NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC - 370; 165 pp. 



Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Contribution Number - 8986 



AUTHORS' NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This report is based on extensive studies of Atlantic blucfin tuna carried out over many years by the senior 

 author. The report was prepared in the late 1970s but not published. It is published now to provide a historical 

 review of the biology and fisheries of bluefin tuna, based on knowledge available at that time. More recent studies 

 have expanded the information base for bluefm tuna; however, that information is available, mostly in reports of the 

 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Consequently, we have not attempted to 

 include a review of that information in this document. 



We acknowledge financial and other support received from the following institutions and persons: the 

 National Science Foundation, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Sport Fishing Institute (now the American 

 Sportfishing Association), the National Sea Grant Program, the Charles W. Brown, Jr. Foundation, the Lou Marron 

 Science Fund, Mrs. Raymond J. Kunkel, Mr. William K. Carpenter, the Lemer Marine Laboratory, the Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution, and the Associates of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In addition to persons 

 mentioned here and in the text, numerous individuals and fishery and research organizations contributed valuable 

 information. 



Copies may be obtained by writing: 



National Marine Fisheries Service 

 Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

 75 Virginia Beach Drive 

 Miami, Florida 33 149 



or 



National Technical Information Service 



5258 Port Royal Road 



Springfield, Virginia 22161 



(703)487-4650 



FAX; (703) 321-8547 



Rush Orders: (800) 336-4700 



