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Eastern Little Tuna, Euthynnus affinis, (Cantor, 1849):
Reproductive Maturation within One Year of Rearing in Land-based Tanks
Eastern little tuna (ELT, Euthynnus affinis) has proven to have great potential for aquaculture due to its rapid growth and high commercial value. This study describes the successful closing of the complete life cycle of ELT in land-based tanks.
Yutaka Takeuchi et al., 2016
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lobal demand for tuna has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to an increase in capture production that affects the wild population. The eastern little tuna (ELT, Euthynnus affinis) is a commercially important species, widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region. ELT has recently drawn researchers’ attention, since it has great poten24 »
tial for aquaculture due to its rapid growth and increasing demand in the market.
Current Situation Nowadays, in Japan, wild-caught juveniles are used as seed for ELT farming. However, ELT’s large-scale farming has not been achieved because there are no large schools of this species in the area, and ELT seeds are usually
obtained as bycatch from fishing operations targeting other species. The majority of Japanese fish farming operations are small businesses focused on red sea bream (Pagrus major) and yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata) culture. The commercial size and weight of ELT (45 cm and 1.5 kg) makes it a suitable species to rear in conjunction with these species in small net pen facilities. As ELT