Growth and mortality rates of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares (Perciformes: Scombridae), in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean

Age and growth parameters were estimated for the yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788). Atotal of 443 individuals were sampled from China longline fisheries in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean from February to November 2006. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated at L-infinity = 175.9 cm fork length, k = 0.52 year(-1), and t(0) = 0.19 year. The total mortality rate (Z) was estimated to be from 1.19 to 1.93 year(-1), the fishing mortality (F) and the natural mortality (M) were calculated to be 0.91 year(-1) and 0.65 year(-1), respectively. The rate of exploitation (U) was estimated to be 0.46. This study provides estimates of growth and mortality rate for yellowfin tuna in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, which may be used as biological input parameters in future stock assessments for the oceanic region. However, age analysis with other techniques, additional validation of the size composition and stock structure are also needed.