Barbara Muhling

1 Introduction Tuna fisheries are vital globally due to their high ecological, social, cultural and economic importance (FAO 2024; Juan-Jordá et al. 2022). Ecologically, tunas play a crucial role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems by functioning as apex predators and contributing to nutrient cycling. Socially, they provide employment and hold cultural significance, particularly in coastal communities.

1 INTRODUCTION Food webs are shaped by trophic connections between predators and prey. Anthropogenic climate change is impacting trophic connections (Lurgi et al., 2012; Young et al., 2015) by altering species distributions across ecosystems (Hazen et al., 2013; Perry et al., 2005).

1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. STUDY SYSTEM 3 2.1. Physical oceanographic context 3 2.2. North pacific albacore biology, ecology, and life history 3 2.3. Fishery interactions 3 2.4. Management & stock assessment context 4 3. METHODS 5 3.1. Summary 5 3.2. Physical and oceanographic data 5 3.3. Biological data 5 3.4. Modeling 5 3.4.1. Vertical behavior models 6 3.4.2. Species distribution models 6 3.4.3. Vessel distribution models 8 3.5. Spatial niche similarity analysis 8 4.