The swimming behavior of pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) in the offshore sea cage of the brass fishing net was observed and analyzed by imaging sonar techniques. The cultured fish spent most of the time swimming a circular path along the circular cage wall and continued to swim only clockwise direction without completely changing the swimming direction during the 23-hour observation time. In addition, changed swimming behaviors were divided into four categories: (a) the behavior of a large group temporarily swimming in the opposite (counter clockwise) direction, (b) the behavior of a small group temporarily swimming in a small circular path, (c) the behavior swimming small circular path in the center of the cage, and (d) the behavior of a large group swimming across the center of the cage. The maximum swimming speed of the cultured fish was from 3.5 to 3.8 TL/s, the mode was from 1.2 to 1.4 TL/s and the swimming speed during the day time was faster than at night time. It was confirmed the cultured fish swam not only on the surface but also near the bottom net of the cage during the day, but swam mainly at the upper part of the cage at night.
The food components of red sea bream(Pagrus major) cultured in copper alloy(brass) net(BN) and nylon net(NN) cages for nine months were investigated. The body weight was 234.9g at the beginning of the culture(the young fish), and then 692.1g(BN group) and 549.3g(NN group) at the fish cultured for nine months(the nine-month culture fish). The moisture content of the edible portion of the fish was higher in the young fish than in the nine-month culture fish. On the contrary, the lipid content was higher in the latter (9.1-10.6%) than in the former (7.6%). The lipid content in the nine-month culture fish was slightly higher in the BN group compared to the NN group. There was little difference in protein content between the young fish and the nine-month culture fish, or between the BN and NN groups. There was a slightly higher level of copper content in the liver (5ppm in the young fish and 5-6ppm in the nine-month culture fish) compared to the edible portions (1ppm in the young fish and 3-4ppm in the nine-month culture fish), but no difference was evident between the BN and NN groups. The prominent fatty acids were 16:0, 18:1n-9, 22:6n-3, 16:1n-7, 18:2n-6, 20:5n-3, and 18:0 in the edible portions of the young and cultured fish. The n-3 fatty acid content was slightly richer in the BN group.