“The data we have gathered so far reveal that tuna movements cover an impressive amount of nautical miles a day, travelling back and forth in a general north-south direction from where they were caught and released,” says Dr Jose Ingles, Tuna Strategy Leader of the WWF Coral Triangle Programme.
The Coral Triangle, which encompasses the seas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste, is a known tuna nursery and migratory path, producing about 30 per cent of the total global tuna catch.
“Through this activity, we hope to identify key spawning, feeding, and nursery grounds of this much sought-after species and make a case for governments to protect these sites,” adds Dr Ingles.
Tuna feeds millions of people in the Coral Triangle and providing jobs and livelihood to thousands of fishers and their families who directly depend on the ocean.
