IPAS+.

The study currently being conducted by the Directorate of Aquaculture within the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture is on the ‘Stable Isotopes’ of the Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and the Swordfish (Xiphias gladius), which provides inaccessible data on migration, diet, and the physiology of the analysed samples.

This type of study is novel and explores the population structure of these species. In this project, one examines the metabolic rates of the fish to investigate the physiology of the species in the wild, comparing them to those kept in captivity to evaluate the differences and discrepancies between them.

Thus, this study can provide more information on diet partitioning, spatial migration, and species-specific behaviour, but it also allows us to examine the potential effects of environmental changes related to climate change.

This study can also offer insights into the differences between wild Bluefin Tuna and those reared in cages with the goal of producing scientific information to improve feeding processes and rearing methods for these species.

This project involves direct collaboration with the University of Southampton. The study is nationally funded and partly co-financed by the MCST IPAS+ funds, which provided the opportunity for a public service officer to attend the University of Southampton in England. There, she worked on these samples in the laboratories of the National Oceanography Centre to design and analyse this study.