Bigeye tuna at higher risk near drifting FADs in Pacific Ocean.
The study looked at how skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna behave around drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the Pacific Ocean. They tagged and tracked the fish near FADs and found that bigeye tuna were more likely to be detected around FADs than yellowfin and skipjack tuna. The fish tended to swim deeper during the daytime than at night, with bigeye and yellowfin tuna diving to around 150 meters or deeper. Skipjack tuna stayed shallower than the other species. Overall, bigeye tuna were found to be more vulnerable to FAD sets than yellowfin and skipjack tuna.