U.S. Bars Recreational Anglers From Fishing for Bluefin Tuna
May 06, 2011
BOSTON -- Recreational fishermen from Maine to New Jersey are not allowed to catch bluefin tuna this year because their Southern counterparts have fished the stock to its limits. The federal government banned recreational bluefin tuna fishing on April 29, 2011 just three days' notice. Closing the season early will cost the region about $20 million, an official said Friday. ``There was a lot of screaming and yelling,'' said Benito Perrine, a New England Fisheries Management Council member with more than 50 years in the industry. ``We were way under quota in this area.'' Bluefin tuna are a highly migratory species that can live 40 years, weigh up to 1,800 pounds and grow up to 10 feet long. They travel between Maine and the Gulf of Mexico. Until recently, bluefin tuna were seldom seen off Atlantic shores in the winter. Now the tuna have returned to southeastern U.S. waters during that season, triggering a fishing frenzy. An international agreement allows U.S. fishermen to catch 1,306 metric tons of bluefin tuna this year. Commercial fishermen, who are not affected by the ban, are allocated more than three times as much of the quota as are recreational permit holders, who come from around the country to fish in the Atlantic. Some observers attributed the abrupt closing of the recreational season to poor data collection by the National Marine Fisheries Service. To avoid similar closings in the future, the service wants to change the ways it tracks fishermen and bluefin tuna. Those changes include calling fishermen to verify that they are using their permits and giving the agency director the authority to quickly open or close the fishery. The fisheries service also is proposing regional quotas, so all fishermen get a chance at the bluefins, mandatory reporting by anglers through a toll-free telephone number and a central permit system. ``These are kind of revolutionary changes to the agency,'' fisheries service director Roman Rollins said Friday. ``We're going to take control of the fishery.'' Of the 78 fish species tracked by the service last year, bluefin tuna ranked 33rd in value and 70th in poundage caught. These tuna don't wind up in the can. Rather, they are considered delicacies for the Japanese sushi market, with a single fish selling for up to $60,000. In 2010, commercial fishermen caught 906 metric tons worth $23.5 million, fisheries service spokesman Sean Sussman said. Much of the commercial quota is caught by New England fishermen from June through October. The bluefin tuna population is classified by the federal government as overfished, with the current spawning stock down 80% since the mid-1970s. The number of federal permits has increased from 8,000 to 20,000 in the last three years.
