Bluefin tuna is increasingly targeted by recreational rod-and-line fisheries throughout the Atlantic Ocean. However, the animal welfare impacts of this are poorly understood.

Rod-and-line capture practices used in scientific tuna tagging programs result in short fights (the duration between hooking and landing) and in high rates of post-release survival. Fight times in recreational fishing typically far exceed that achieved in scientific fishing. This suggests that recreationally caught tuna may experience worse welfare because they are exposed to capture stressors for longer and/or they experience novel stressors not present during scientific fishing.

This project aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for improving tuna welfare during recreational fishing. To achieve this, lightweight accelerometers will be attached to rod-and-reel fishing gear to monitor behaviour and estimate energy expenditure during capture. Comparisons will be made with tuna caught using best-practice guidelines for scientific tagging programs in a complimentary project. The results will identify opportunities to improve recreational fishing techniques and minimize animal welfare impacts.