The continued fouling of the Gulf of Mexico with crude oil from the wreckage of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig could not have occurred at a worse place or time for the future of the bluefin tuna and other large migratory species, the locally-based director of the Large Pelagics Research Center said Thursday.
In the spring, the Gulf becomes a nursery for bluefin, big eye and yellowfin tuna and swordfish too, explained marine biologist and center director Molly Lutcavage, who is working out of Gloucester.
"The Gulf is the major nursery and so this couldn't have been worse," she said in an interview.
Lutcavage said new research into the migratory patterns of the bluefin — which arrive in waters off Gloucester during the summer and is fished recreationally and commercially through the fall — suggests the species may breed in areas in addition to the Gulf, or may not breed annually.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.