The Truth About Bluefin Tuna with Molly Lutcavage — WildFed Podcast #016

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In this episode:

Dr. Molly Lutcavage | Oceanographer, Tuna and sea turtle physiologist, Director of the Large Pelagics Research Center at UMass Boston

Podcast discussion:

• The important role of Gloucester in the history of American fisheries

• Molly's background

• Similarities between bluefin tuna and leatherback turtles

• How Molly started working with bluefin tuna

• The start of the bluefin fishery

• What distinguishes tuna from the rest of the tuna family?

• Defining giant

• Spotter pilots explained

• How Molly's bluefin research program started

• Environmental bullies

• The garage lab & funding

• Controversy over the endangered status of bluefin tuna

• Bluefin spawning discoveries

• Myth-busting methylmercury levels in tuna

• What’s next in bluefin science

• Molly’s hope for the legacy of this project

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WildFed Podcast is brought to you by:

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Episode Resources: 

• Large Pelagics Research Center at UMass Boston

• Large Pelagics Research Center on Facebook

• Tag A Tiny

• FishToday.org

• Video: Large Pelagics Seminar Series 2013 Dr. Molly Lutcavage on bluefin tuna research

• United States Fish Commission

• Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)

• Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

• Dr. Scott Kraus - Kraus Marine Mammal Conservation Program

• National Marine Fisheries Service

• Article: Environmental Bullies: How Conservation Ideologues Attack Scientists Who Don’t Agree With Them.

• Article: In her garage lab, a scientist looks for answers about skinny tuna

• Endangered Species Act (ESA)

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

• Frank J. Mather

• Research article: Comparative Assessment of the Reproductive Status of Female Atlantic Bluefin Tuna from the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea

• Research article: Comparative ecology of widely distributed pelagic fish species in the North Atlantic: Implications for modelling climate and fisheries impacts

• Article: Everybody knows to avoid tuna when pregnant, right? Not so fast. Eating tuna might actually yield better results, says a large new study.

• Study: Relationships between seafood consumption during pregnancy and childhood and neurocognitive development: Two systematic reviews

• Article: Fish fight: Scientists battle over the true harm of mercury in tuna

• Life History and Fisheries of Atlantic bluefin tuna by Frank J. Mather

• Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg

• Giant Bluefin by Douglas Whynott

Above are two photos along with an explanation that Molly shared of the PopUp archival satellite tags (PSATs) discussed in this interview.

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Meet Molly Lutcavage

Dr. Molly Lutcavage is an oceanographer and a tuna and sea turtle physiologist. She is the director of the Large Pelagics Research Center at the School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Boston.

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