Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Spawning Sanctuaries

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Projects: Global Tuna Conservation
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Spawning Sanctuaries

The bluefin tuna is not only the world's favorite fish, it is also one of the most remarkable. This great fish weighs up to 700kg (1,500 pounds), migrates across the Atlantic – a distance of more than 7,700km (4,800 miles) – and can dive to depths greater than 1,000 metres (3,000 feet). Like us, bluefin are warm-blooded. As these tuna traverse the Atlantic, their ability to regulate their body temperature enables them to survive a wide range of conditions and depths.

Equally impressive is the bluefin's reproductive potential. They typically spawn at least a dozen times in a given spawning season, and a large female can produce upwards of 45 million eggs each time – that's roughly 540 million eggs per spawning season.

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