MEPS 734:91-104 (2024)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14555

ABSTRACT: Yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares stock assessments use age-structured models; therefore, accurate methods for ageing the catch are required. Age estimation techniques need to be validated at the population level to ensure accuracy. However, otolith-based age estimates of yellowfin tuna have never been validated in the Indian Ocean. The current study provides the first age validation for Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna using the post-peak decline period of the bomb radiocarbon (¹⁴C) chronometer. A ¹⁴C reference chronology based on accelerator mass spectrometry assays of known-age yellowfin tuna otoliths was consistent with published regional coral records, with all showing similar rates of decline during the 2000 to 2019 study period. After back-calculating the birth years of sub-adult and adult yellowfin tuna from otolith increment counts, Δ¹⁴C values measured in the early growth portion of the otolith were compared with the observed decline slope of the reference chronology. There were no significant differences between the birth years of validation and reference samples, supporting the otolith increment age determination methodology between the ages of 2.2 and 10.5 yr. The validation of age and growth estimates is expected to benefit assessment models for Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna. We recommend that otoliths from large fish continue to be collected to expand the validation to older fish. Greater precision in the validation results will also require a larger reference chronology.

KEY WORDS: Bomb radiocarbon · Carbon-14 · Yellowfin tuna · Otolith chemistry · Age validation