Several huge bluefin tuna, some weighing more than 300 kilos, have washed ashore on beaches in Torrevieja and Pilar de la Horadada, raising questions over possible losses from offshore fish-farming operations.
Three dead tuna were discovered at separate points along the Torrevieja coastline on Saturday. The specimens were recovered from Cala del Palangre, the Los Locos beach area and close to the Juan Aparicio promenade, according to the council’s Beaches and Environment Department.
Their removal was coordinated by municipal technicians, the Acciona-Actúa cleaning service and the Environmental Unit of the Local Police.
The operation at Los Locos attracted a large crowd of onlookers near the Luz Mar building at the northern end of the beach. Officials acted quickly to remove the carcass before the busiest part of the day. Stranded marine animals of this type are normally taken away for incineration.
The discoveries appear to form part of a wider series of incidents. Cleaning teams in Pilar de la Horadada recovered another dead tuna on August 12, while similar cases have recently been reported around the Mar Menor.
It is also possible that specimens have reached the neighbouring Orihuela Costa shoreline, although Orihuela City Council has not reported any such incidents.
All the tuna were already dead when they reached the coast. Their bodies can travel many kilometres before washing ashore, carried by winds, currents and waves.
Fish-Farming Operations Suspected
Without carrying out examinations of the carcasses, it is impossible to establish exactly how the fish died. However, the arrival of several large tuna along the Vega Baja coast has prompted speculation that they may have been lost during the transfer, handling or fattening of bluefin tuna in offshore cages.
The Murcia coastline contains several open-sea tuna-farming facilities, including operations near San Pedro del Pinatar, close to the boundary with Alicante province.
Adult bluefin tuna are captured alive during their migration, usually using purse-seine nets near the Balearic Islands. They are then transferred into transport cages and slowly towed to offshore farms.
Once inside the floating cages, the tuna are fed for several months to increase their weight and fat content before being commercially harvested. Mediterranean bluefin tuna is particularly valuable in Japan, where much of the production is exported either fresh by air or deep-frozen by sea.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, tuna typically enter Mediterranean fattening facilities weighing between 150 and 200 kilos. However, farms in Spain, Italy and Malta can handle much larger animals, sometimes weighing as much as 600 kilos.
Although bluefin tuna are exceptionally powerful, they are also highly vulnerable to stress during capture and transfer. Deaths can be caused by collisions, oxygen shortages, disease, damaged nets, storms or problems while fish are being moved between cages.
If dead fish are not recovered immediately, their bodies may escape and drift towards the coast.
A similar large-scale incident occurred after the destructive DANA storm of 2019, when fish cages near San Pedro del Pinatar were damaged. Thousands of tuna escaped and numerous dead specimens subsequently washed ashore on beaches in La Manga, San Pedro del Pinatar and southern Alicante.
Authorities say quickly locating and removing stranded fish is essential, particularly during the busy August holiday season, to prevent unpleasant smells, disruption and potential public-health concerns.
