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1,000th Bluefin Tuna Tagged

Bluefin tuna are long-lived, among the largest fish on earth (up to 1,500 lbs.) and make trans-oceanic migrations in as few as 20 days. Placing 1,000 electronic tracking tags on giant bluefin has been a long quest for the Tag-A-Giant campaign of Stanford University, Dalhousie University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

A giant Atlantic bluefin tuna weighing more than half a ton has the honor of being fitted with the 1,000th tag placed on this threatened species. The prized fish, which measures 10 feet in length, is tagged by a scientific team off of Nova Scotia.

The TAG team has been tagging bluefin tuna since 1996, and its work has helped reveal the life histories of these amazing, elusive creatures at a time when their commercial value is soaring and their population has declined to a fraction of its historic levels.

Learn more about bluefin tuna