The bluefin tunny has been known since very ancient times, the name " tanin " being 

 among the few fishes that are mentioned in the Bible. The Phoenicians had already developed 

 a fishery which they took to Carthage, where tin anchors used for fixing the madragues (tunny- 

 nets) in position, have been found. They are still in place and also at Gades (Cadiz) beyond 

 the Pillars of Hercules. Aristotle describes migrations of " thunnos " that are still watched 

 by seamen in the Bosphorus. He points out the regularity of these migrations and remarks 

 that the fishes always travel along the left shores, this enabling the nets to be nicely directed. 

 From this he infers that the fishes are blind in the right eye. Arriving tunny that spawn in 

 April in the Black Sea are distinguished from the returning tunny that go back to the Aegean 

 Sea in September. 



In the Mediterranean, ancient traditions have been preserved. Indeed, the recognised 

 spawning centres of tunny (" atun " of the Spanish and " tenn " of the Arabs) are situated off 

 the coasts of Libia and Tunisia, around Sicily and in the dulf of Cadiz from Cadiz to Morocco. 

 Large reproductive tunny with a weight of 330 to 660 pounds arrive at the Syrtes (Gulfs of 

 Sidra and Gabes) in April, May and June, when the water temperature rises to 18oC. and the 

 salinity is 38 "/og- Later in the season, smaller fishes that are also sexually mature appear when 

 the sea is still warmer and more salty. It is to a head of the tunny-nets, who is called rois 

 after the old Berber name, that we owe a description of the spawning. According to him, the 

 male and female rise to the surface close together so that their bellies are touching. At the 

 same time the female releases the eggs and the male the milt and this occurs several times during 

 the day. Just as the spawn is produced, mendoles (maena fishes) swoop down in a body to 

 devour the eggs, which cloud the water by their abundance. Their development has been 

 followed. Hatching occurs at the end of two days and a larva with a length of about J inch 

 is born. Growth is rapid; a length of about 3 feet is reached at 3 years; about 5 feet towards 

 5 years and 6 J feet towards 10 years. Old tunny weigh more than 880 pounds and there is a 

 record of a fish of some 1,580 pounds from the Gulf of Maine. 



The great feeding migrations begin after spawning. The young adults do not move very 

 far, but the old fishes venture far afield at top speed. In July they round Cape Ortegal, appear- 

 ing ofT Saint-Jean-de-Luz; then they enter the Bay of Douanienez; the English Channel ; the 

 North Sea, and even swim as far as the Norwegian coasts, having travelled 2,500 miles in one 

 month. During this period they are no longer strictly stenothermal, but do not leave the high 

 salinity waters of 35.5 "/qq- Even when they are hungry they keep to the waters of the Atlantic 

 transgressions, where they find, moreover, sufficient food, anchovies, sardines, mackerel, crusta- 

 ceans, cuttle-fishes etc. When ravenous they attack large fishes, like bonitos and albacores. 

 When they are famished they fear no enemy, neither sharks nor cetaceans, whereas in their 

 reproductive phase they are easily frightened. 



In the western Atlantic, to the south of Bermuda, probably in the Sargasso Sea, there is 

 another spawning centre. Like their European relatives, these American tunny spawn in 

 spring, then proceed in June and July to feed off the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia and over 

 the Newfoundland Banks. The younger fishes often spend the winter close to the coasts, 

 thereafter disappearing in spring to spawn in tropical regions. 



Pacific tunny (" bluefin tuna ") have a similar biology. In February and March they 

 may be seen passing Guadalupe Island and they gather together further to the south, probably 

 in the regions of Central America or the Galapagos Islands. From June onwards they reappear 

 off the coasts of California. In the Japanese area, the bluefin tunny (var. orientalis) reproduces 

 around the Ryu-Kyu Islands and then makes off northwards from July to November towards 

 Hondo and Hokkaido. In the southern hemisphere it is reported off the coasts of South Africa, 

 around Australia and in the Pacific near the Juan Fernandez Islands, where there seems to be 

 a spawning place. 



Throughout the Mediterranean, tunny have been salted in barrels for thousands of years 

 to form part of the local diet. There are very important preserving trades for it in Italy and 

 Spain. The salted and pressed eggs or " poutargues " are in great demand throughout Moham- 

 medan countries. There are canneries for bluefin tuna (red-meat tuna) in California. 



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