In Vitro Fertilization Technology Successful in Bluefin Tuna
Local scientist’s technology used in breeding tuna overseas

Baltimore, MD - Dr. Yonathan Zohar, Director of UMBI’s Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB), serves as an advisor for the REPRODOTT consortium in Europe in which in vitro fertilization technology was used for the first time to reproduce bluefin tuna.

REPRODOTT stands for Reproduction and Domestication of Thunnus thymus, the Atlantic bluefin tuna. The research team is funded by the European Union and includes researchers from France, Germany, Israel, Greece, Malta, and Spain. Using a hormone based spawning-induction technology developed by Dr. Zohar, scientists successfully obtained eggs and sperm which were fertilized in vitro to produce viable bluefin tuna larvae. (Click HERE to see the EU release.)

“This success marks the first ever induced reproduction of captive bluefin tuna, which is the initial step towards closing its life cycle and eventually farming this globally important fish through aquaculture” explains Dr. Yonathan Zohar, spawning induction advisor to REPRODOTT. “This is a breakthrough in controlling the reproductive cycle of the bluefin tuna, which may pave the way for developing strategies to prevent this over-fished species from possibly becoming extinct”.

The technology developed by Dr. Zohar is based on the sustained administration of a reproductive hormone normally found in the brain. Administration of this hormone to captive fish is able to overcome the failure to reproduce observed in many farmed fish. With the success of this research, scientists hope to be able to use juveniles produced in captivity to farm the bluefin tuna for fish markets across the globe. This will ease pressures on bluefin tuna fisheries while providing sustainable supplies of this important fish for human consumption. Scientists also hope that the availability of captivity-produced bluefin tuna juveniles will also advance the understanding of the basic biology of this species.

For decades, humans have been harvesting and consuming tuna to the point at which fishing stocks are currently at critical levels of depletion. In response to environmental, political, and social pressures to prevent the bluefin tuna from becoming extinct, the European Union has provided support for this research with the aim of eventually domesticating this species for large-scale farming.

Dr. Zohar explains, “The bluefin tuna is a universal fish migrating across our oceans that is threatened by the sophisticated harvesting techniques that contribute to over-fishing. Farming of this fish through aquaculture will not only alleviate fishing pressures, but will also provide the growing human population with a sustainable source of healthy proteins and lipids. Our success in inducing this species to reproduce in captivity, which will enable us to control its life cycle, is an important first step to achieving that goal”.

For more information, please contact Dr. Yonathan Zohar at zohar@comb.umbi.umd.edu

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Celebrating our 20th anniversary year, UMBI is the primer biotechnology research institute within the University System of Maryland and was established in 1985. The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) consists of five major research and education centers and is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. UMBI’s centers of research include: CARB, the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology located in Rockville; CBR, the Center for Biosystems Research located in College Park; and COMB, the Center of Marine Biotechnology, MBC, the Medical Biotechnology Center, and IHV, the Institute of Human Virology, all located in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.umbi.umd.edu