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Figure 61. Geographic references in the Aegean Sea area. 



30 r 

 20 



5 



it 30 



20 



10 



O 



1967 



^2- 



1966 



50 



100 



150 200 



LENGTH fern) 



500 



Figure 62. Length composition of samples of bluefin lima taken in fuikey in 

 1967 and 1968 ("+" on graph means less than 0.5%). 



53 cm) individuals in various locali- 

 ties in the northeastern corner of the 

 Mediterranean in November and De- 

 cember. They also noted catches of 

 young tuna off Haifa, Israel, in wa- 

 ters with salinities of 39.58 o/oo or 

 more. Sara (1964, Figure 1) indicated 

 that the northeastern comer of the 

 Mediterranean (Haifa. Israel, to the 

 Gulf of Mersin, and around eastern 

 Cyprus) is a year-around habitat of 

 5-25 kg bluefin and an August-No- 

 vember habitat of 0.2-3 kg bluefin. 



The southeastern corner of the 

 Mediterranean (coasts of Egypt and 

 southern Israel is evidently devoid of 

 bluefm tuna. The stranding of a single 

 bluefm near Alexandria (Heldt 1937) 

 was regarded as an extraordinary 

 event. 



d. Summary. 



Sara (1964, 1973) summarized 

 the distribution of bluefin tuna in the 

 Mediterranean Sea. From August 

 through November, almost all of the 

 Mediterranean is filled with large 

 schools of very young tuna born in 

 the year. After November, when they 

 have attained a weight of about 2 kg, 

 few are taken, probably because of 

 bad weather rather than because of 

 their absence. With the return of good 

 weather in late winter, they are found 

 in practically the same places, weigh- 

 ing 4-5 kg. These young tuna remain 

 in the areas where they were born, 

 making small movements in response 

 to changes in environmental condi- 

 tions, and in search of food, until 

 they reach sexual maturity. Sara's 

 (1964) distribution chart indicates 

 scattered concentrations of bluefin 

 weighing 5-25 kg near most of the 

 islands and coasts in the western and 

 central Mediterranean, except the Af- 

 rican coast between Morocco and Tu- 

 nisia. In the eastern Mediterranean, 

 concentrations are shown in the 

 Aegean Sea. around the Bosphorus. 

 and off the northeastern coasts. 



Medium-sized tuna (30-100 kg) 

 are found off many of the coasts 

 throughout the year. Sara's (1964) 

 chart locates these fish along the Af- 

 rican coast from Gibraltar to Bengasi 

 (mainly from Tunisia to Cape 

 Misurata). along the Spanish and 

 French coasts and around the Balearic 

 Islands, in the central, eastern and 

 southern Tyrrhenian Sea, along the 



66 



