4 November 2002
United States Marine life researchers have placed a 50-foot wide net near the Monterey Abalone Co. hoping to pique the curiosity of Bluefin tuna. The net is a first step in a tuna-farming venture by Florida-based company Tokaido. It will hopefully serve as a collector for Bluefin tuna migrating through the Monterey Bay, said Rory O'Dare, the Company's Director.
The company is trying to learn how to grow tuna to feed the growing demand, O'Dare said.
"Right now, we've just started setting up the pen," he said. "It's kind of like a receiver pen, which will be used for research and collecting data for the government as well as for commercial applications."
The net will remain at Fisherman's Wharf until next month when the weather gets bad, O'Dare said. Then, it will be removed from the water or towed south, he said.
Ocean pens are commonly used for a type of farming called ocean ranching, in which farmers capture young Bluefin tuna and corral them in nets, where they are fattened up.
An advantage of this arrangement is that fishermen can time their harvest to market conditions. Tuna farming allows farmers to plan their harvest to sell on the lucrative fresh market. In the past 30 years, tuna farming has grown from its roots in Nova Scotia to farms in Japan, Australia and Mexico.
Unlike canned tuna, fresh tuna commands premium prices. The biggest market for fresh tuna is Japan, where it is often sold raw as sashimi.
Chuck Farwell, curator of pelagic fishes at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said ocean ranching provides higher economic returns for fishermen, without taking more fish from the ocean than other methods.
"It's reasonably sustainable, though it still depends on good wild stocks," said Peterson. Aquarium staff has worked with tuna farmers while collecting tuna for exhibits, he said.
Like any farming method, tuna ranching has the potential to cause environmental problems. While wild tuna feed over a wide range, penned tuna are fed by fishermen, who may rely heavily on a local fishery to provide tuna food such as anchovies or sardines.
The company chose to set up shop in Monterey Bay because Bluefin tuna migrate through the area. O'Dare hopes to raise tuna in the net, but said there are also plans to help with research projects by towing tagged tuna out to sea.
The company has offered the Monterey Bay Aquarium its net for tuna-related research, but an agreement has not yet been made, said Ken Peterson, the Aquarium spokesman. The Aquarium tags Pacific Bluefin tuna with satellite microprocessor tags to determine migration patterns.
"We periodically release tuna, and we're going to be doing that sometime in the next few weeks, but whether it's with these guys or some other way remains to be seen," Peterson said.
