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Implications of alternative spawning for bluefin tuna remain unclear
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2016
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Source: PNAS 113 (30) E4259-E4260; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605962113
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Journal Title:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
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Description:The discovery of 67 bluefin tuna larvae in waters off the northeast US continental shelf is certainly of considerable scientific interest, but the paper in PNAS by Richardson et al. (1) makes several broad assertions that go beyond what the data support. The authors extrapolate differences in larval catch rates to conclude that the majority of spawning occurs outside of the Gulf of Mexico. This contention equates 1 y of opportunistic samples with 32 y of a design-based survey, fails to apply standard larval data corrections (2, 3), and ignores the high variance that makes comparison of these catch rates unreliable. The situation resembles the 1985 discovery of larvae offshore of the Carolinas (4), a similar northward range extension presented with the caveat that “low catches limit the precision of results” and a need to “rein in unwarranted speculation.” Similar imprecision in Slope Sea catch rates warrants similar caution until the current and historical importance of spawning in this area to the population can be confirmed with additional research.
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Source:PNAS 113 (30) E4259-E4260; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605962113
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DOI:
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Pubmed ID:27436890
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC4968722
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Rights Information:Other
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Compliance:PMC
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