SEA 



SCIENCE 



On the Trail of Giants: 



Bluefin Tuna Research Expands to Cape Lookout 



By Katie Mosher • Photographs by Scott D. Taylor 



director of the Duke University Marine Lab, angles for a giant tuna. 



Michael Orbach, 

 iglers were reeling in 



bluefin tuna weighing up to 600 pounds 

 off Cape Lookout this winter — but the 

 biggest catch of the season could be the 

 scientific data gathered on more than 100 

 of these giant fish. 



Bluefin have been caught and 

 studied off Cape Hatteras for several 

 years, but for the first time researchers 

 based in Carteret County tagged bluefin 



to gather data on migration patterns. 



"We are looking at how bluefin tuna 

 in the western Atlantic waters relate to the 

 rest of the bluefin in the Atlantic Ocean," 

 says Barbara Block of the Tuna Research 

 and Conservation Center on the Monterey 

 Peninsula in California. Block has led the 

 Tag-a-Giant bluefin research project in 

 North Carolina since 1996. 



The bluefin are noted not only for 



their size but also for their commercial 

 value. The meat can sell for $30 to $60 per 

 pound. "Bluefin tuna are the most lucrative 

 fish in the world today. A single fish can 

 sell for over $50,000," Block says. 



The value of the bluefin goes beyond 

 the commercial dock. The arrival of 

 sportfishers is a great economic boon to 

 coastal communities. These anglers spend 

 money on housing, meals and charter 



24 SPRING 1999 



