Thunnus alalunga (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Mylona, Dimitra, 2021, Catching tuna in the Aegean: biological background of tuna fisheries and the archaeological implications, Anthropozoologica 56 (2), pp. 23-37 : 28

Thunnus alalunga (Bonnaterre, 1788) –

Albacore, τόνος μαϗρόπτερος

Albacore is a large, cosmopolitan, migratory fish, reaching a maximum length of 140 cm and a maximum weight of 60.3 kg. A common length for mature individuals is 100 cm ( Froese & Pauly 2019). It is not encountered in the Black Sea. Albacore tuna seldom come close to the shore and they prefer wide, open waters, where they spawn. Their migration routes are fairly uncertain. Their schools are not as large and dense as some other tuna and they are not often mixed with other species. For physiological reasons, young albacore are not able to move up and down the water column, so they tend to stay near the surface. That is why today they are more efficiently caught by surface gear, while the adults are caught at all depths ( ICCAT 2006 -2016).

In the Aegean, the fishing period for the albacore tuna is from mid-August to November, with the most important fishing area nowadays stretching between the Sporades and the Chalkidiki Peninsula. Less important areas are the Gulf of Patras , and the islands of Lesvos, Kalymnos, and Leros. Most of the fish caught are two to three years old and they are captured in their feeding area of concentration ( De Metrio et al. 1989) .