Biology Reference
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Catching two bluefin tuna out of the rearing pen. (Photo courtesy
John O'Sullivan)
caught the hook and neatly flipped it out of the tuna's mouth, releas-
ing the fish. It was a pretty slick operation. The fisherman then car-
ried the bucket to the front of the boat and gently released the tuna
into one of several small holding tanks below deck level.
I was surprised to see that each holding tank was square in shape,
not round, since I'd always assumed that a tank without corners would
be easier for a fish to navigate. The fish, however, immediately started
to swim around and very neatly turned before it even came close to
running into the sides of the tank. A number of small bluefin were
caught that day; I was very impressed at the e‹ciency of the operation
and how well the fish behaved in their tanks.
At the end of the trip the tuna were carefully transferred one by one
in buckets to one of the large pens anchored in the small bay. Here the
fish would be fed daily and in a year's time would grow large enough
to transport to Sea Life Park.
Leaving the little fishing village, we set o¤ for the fishing port of
Kashikajima on the island of Shikoku. Here were more large tuna-hold-
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