The wars on the high seas over the ranching of wild bluefin tuna could be over as a result of a breakthrough in a scientific study looking into the breeding of the lucrative fish in captivity.

Following three years of research involving 13 institutes, including one in Malta, the European Commission yesterday announced that scientists had managed, for the first time, to obtain a viable mass of eggs from bluefin tuna in captivity, using natural means and without any hormonal induction.

The European Commission said that, if breeding could be developed on a commercial scale, pressure on endangered wild stocks could be significantly relieved.

The development is the result of a research project called Selfdott, which is funded by the EU to the tune of €2.98 million and co-ordinated by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography. The Maltese research effort is led by the Malta’s Centre for Fisheries Studies (MCFS).

The eggs spawned are being held in Spain and at the MCFS’s centre in San Luċjan, Birżebbuġa for further studies. The Selfdott team will now study the embryonic and larval development of the eggs and seek to improve the survival and growth of the juveniles.

The project aims also to develop sustainable feeds for bluefin tuna juveniles and to produce a protocol for commercial-scale larval rearing.

According to the researchers, the latest results show the tuna’s ability to adapt after more than three years of domestication as a total of 10 million eggs were produced in a single day.

The Commission said that getting naturally spawned eggs from captive individuals represented an important step forward in research on bluefin tuna aquaculture, bringing commercial breeding of this species closer.

Malta has already been farming other species of fish for years but the lucrative bluefin tuna has been an elusive goal. Presently, tuna is caught and fattened in large pens off shore, which means the industry is totally dependent on stocks caught in the wild.

The pressure on the Mediterranean stocks has put the fish on the endangered list, leading environmentalists and now even the European Commission to push for a ban on its fishing.

But farming could change all this as fishermen would not have to depend on wild tuna but could breed their own stocks.

EU Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn said the project was another example of EU-funded research contributing to tackling the most important global challenges today.

“If the results of this research can ultimately be commercialised, it can improve food supplies and contribute to economic growth and employment while also helping to ensure a sustainable management of bluefin tuna.”

The Selfdott consortium includes 13 government bodies, research institutes and industry organisations from France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, Norway and Spain.

Last year, the researchers had already succeeded in controlling the reproduction of the bluefin tuna in captivity after hormonal stimulation and began larval rearing work.

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