Video credit: Abdallah Elmgawshi (Libya)
Review: Abdallah Elmgawshi and Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
The video was filmed in the north of Mosrata (Libya) during May, 2012.
Once a squadron of Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is spotted using telescopes or fish finders, its location is identified and approached quickly. Then the bait of sardines is thrown in large quantities over a short period of time (about 20 min) to enable the circling of tuna with a large seine.
The divers are responsible for estimating the number of tuna specimens confined within the fishing seine. They are also responsible for connecting the fattening cage to the fishing seine.
The tunas passing from the large circular seine into the target cage are photographed and displayed on a monitoring apparatus in the attendance of the representatives from the vessel, Libyan marine resources and ICCAT “Iinternational Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas”. Once the target number of tuna specimens for a given cage is reached, the cage opening is closed and pulled away at one-knot speed to the fattening location.
In such fishing process, several vessels are involved to support the main fishing vessel. The same is true in regard to the fishing crew including the sailors, divers and others.
According to the fishing report for this particular fishing trip, 1503 specimens of Bluefin tuna were caught with a total weight of 222 tons.
This method of tuna harvest is preferred when live tuna is targeted for further fattening in cages.