2011 Bluefin Quotas Just Came Out

[KP161]

Not good. All categories are cut. General category took a big hit. Probably going to have to go to 1 or 2 fish a day in the general categoryto stretch the season out.

They deducted the 160 metric tons of dead discards from the longline fleet from the 2011 quota. What a shame. A group of guys who have a 70 metric ton quota can go out and catch their 70 metric tons and then dump 160 metric tons and the rest of us are hurt by it.

The other reason for the quota reductions vs 2010 is the lack of carry over. 388 metric tons were carried over from 2009 to 2010. 94 metric tons were carried over from 2010 to 2011.

Here's one of the kickers. In 2010 they offset 170 metric tons of dead discards in the longline fleet with 170 metric tons of carry over. So because of that carry over the rest of our quotas were not hurt last year. From what I have heard they are no longer allowing for much carry over. So we are going to have to absorb the dead discards!

Quota in metric tons
2010/2011
Angling 225/169
General 539/404
Harpoon 44/33
Purse 212/159
Longline 75/69

[twofinbluna]

Thanks for posting KP. Clearly there are some things in here that people will want to turn out in Gloucester (at the public hearing) to talk about...

But one thing I will say- do not go assuming they are going to 1 a day in the general.

[twofinbluna]

By the way, that meeting will be on March 21st from 3-5pm in Gloucester, I assume at the NMFS building. Will post once I know for sure...

[KP161]

Thanks for posting KP. Clearly there are some things in here that people will want to turn out in Gloucester (at the public hearing) to talk about...

But one thing I will say- do not go assuming they are going to 1 a day in the general.

I am not assuming they are going to 1 a day in the general but they should. Atleast to start with they definitely should. No sense in going to 3 a day and then on July 15 or Aug 1 boats go out to George's and tear through valuable quota on red meat $3-7lb fish. They should go to 1 a day until Aug 15 and then see where the quota is at. If at that point the quota needs a shot in the arm go to 3 a day on Sept 1 so boats can go to Georges. Atleast from Sept 1 on the fish should have some fat on them and be worth more money. Last year the early season Georges fish in August were not of good quality for the most part. No sense in tearing through quota on poor quality fish.

[Heli Sports]

Atleast from Sept 1 on the fish should have some fat on them and be worth more money. Last year the early season Georges fish in August were not of good quality for the most part. No sense in tearing through quota on poor quality fish.

No fat in August?

The poor quality and prices for much of the production from Georges Bank last season was mainly due to mediocre meat color and pulses of very high production. Not low fat/oil content...

[KP161]

No fat in August?

The poor quality and prices for much of the production from Georges Bank last season was mainly due to mediocre meat color and pulses of very high production. Not low fat/oil content...

Whatever negative nancy. Pick your poison...No fat, meat color, supply & demand...any way you slice it it wasn't good for the returns to the boats. And my buyers said low fat. Are you still shipping fish? You're posts at times can be informative but this aint jeopardy.

[28Conquest]

Based on the posted numbers the reductions are exactly 25% in every category except longline which has a reduction of only 8% though, of course, the total catch for longline is fairly small relative to the others.

[KP161]

Thanks for posting KP. Clearly there are some things in here that people will want to turn out in Gloucester (at the public hearing) to talk about...

But one thing I will say- do not go assuming they are going to 1 a day in the general.

More bad new for the New England tuna fisherman. The northern bluefin general quota for 2011 isn't really 404 metric tons it's really about 360 metric tons. Reason is December has a 21.0 mt quota and January has a 21.4mt quota. This was set aside for the NC fishery. Now believe me I am not saying NC should not have a fishery. On the contrary they deserve a slice like we all do. My whole point here is the U.S. should get more quota with bluefin coming back. And the general quota should start off as 1 per day on June 1.

The general quota break down:

January 21mt (basically whatever was caught in NC this year)
June-August 202mt
Sept 107mt
Oct/Nov 53mt
Dec 21

So the Northeast General category is down to 360mt. Don't hold me to exact numbers but I'm close in saying last year the northeast caught 510 mt. Something has to give. WHen would it have shut down last year? Then it went to NC and they kind of struggled and tacked on another 15 tons or so to make it 528 for the year.

If NMFS allows 3 fish per day starting June 1, you can bet your *** come August 9 you'll be sitting there waiting(been there) for the general category to re-open on Sept 1 so you can go fishing again all because a bunch of guys charged out to Georges the second half of July and caught low fat/red meat (it was red meat right heli?) fish. Either way they were cheap $3-7 fish. Have heli come down the dock and grade them for you.

My point is start at 1 per day and come Aug 15 evaluate where things are at. Alot of fish that were 70" last year will now be keepers. If come Aug 15 quota needs help open it up and let's take a ride.

Best thing we can do for prices back to boat is keep supply trickling in and on Nov 1 hit our Northeast quota. Let's not be Canada and dump 200mt on the market in 2 days or whatever it is.

And for Charter guys(Greg your geneorosity to abta is admirable) trust me you don't want to see the fishery close on August 9th, then re-open in Sept for 5 days then re-open in Oct for 5 days. Just because it's 3 fish a day. Ask for your 1 fish a day. That way we all get to fish until Nov. 6th to fill the quota, we all get top dollar, charter guys get to fish for bluefin.

I know this has been long winded but what is ABTA's stance? Many of us support ABTA but aren't quite sure of their stance on things like this.

[KP161]

Based on the posted numbers the reductions are exactly 25% in every category except longline which has a reduction of only 8% though, of course, the total catch for longline is fairly small relative to the others.

Hello Sir,

All I can say about total catch of longliners is their quota is roughly 70 mt and the dead discards 160mt in 2010. Total fish not making it 230 mt.

[Captain Greg Sears]

KP..... This is the issue I had when I was bashed for wanting a charter category quota..... I now see the reasons why this category would not work. Changing the laws could just lead to ICQ or sector quotas and the end to the derby tuna fishery, no good for anyone.

The only reasonable way to keep the season open is to do exactly as you say.. Start off slow and keep the season open for the fatties in the fall. Halloween produced a few fish in the $20 range in the bay. My son and his friends got one of them. The Canadians feed their fish for months before they go out in one day in October and get their fattened up fish. But the influx of supply drops the price. I have personal knowledge that Canada is now considering a one tag per year - per boat to keep the supply spread out.

My boys and I discussed keeping these 75" fish in the spring. But decided we better have the gold rush attitude and keep every fish we can, or someone else will. I do not like to think that way but I am kind of forced into it. I do want to keep the derby style fishery, "may the best guy win" but I would like to keep it open as long as we can. I am lucky though, my business can survive with catch and release but we will take a hit.

Not that I want to say fishermen are dishonest but a problem with a one fish limit would be Culling. One fish would have to be a good one to cover any costs if you go to Georges to catch it. Even I would be tempted to throw back for a better fish. We could also put a lot of pressure on the inshore smaller fish because the fleet would stay in close. The issues stink on all accounts, there just is not enough quota and thats that.

I hope the ABTA takes the stance to keep the fishery open as long as it can. For the behalf of every tuna fisherman Commercial and Recreational. What is going on with the purse Category quota that has not been used? I was under the impression unused quota could be loaned to other categories?

More bad new for the New England tuna fisherman. The northern bluefin general quota for 2011 isn't really 404 metric tons it's really about 360 metric tons. Reason is December has a 21.0 mt quota and January has a 21.4mt quota. This was set aside for the NC fishery. Now believe me I am not saying NC should not have a fishery. On the contrary they deserve a slice like we all do. My whole point here is the U.S. should get more quota with bluefin coming back. And the general quota should start off as 1 per day on June 1.

The general quota break down:

January 21mt (basically whatever was caught in NC this year)
June-August 202mt
Sept 107mt
Oct/Nov 53mt
Dec 21

So the Northeast General category is down to 360mt. Don't hold me to exact numbers but I'm close in saying last year the northeast caught 510 mt. Something has to give. WHen would it have shut down last year? Then it went to NC and they kind of struggled and tacked on another 15 tons or so to make it 528 for the year.

If NMFS allows 3 fish per day starting June 1, you can bet your *** come August 9 you'll be sitting there waiting(been there) for the general category to re-open on Sept 1 so you can go fishing again all because a bunch of guys charged out to Georges the second half of July and caught low fat/red meat (it was red meat right heli?) fish. Either way they were cheap $3-7 fish. Have heli come down the dock and grade them for you.

My point is start at 1 per day and come Aug 15 evaluate where things are at. Alot of fish that were 70" last year will now be keepers. If come Aug 15 quota needs help open it up and let's take a ride.

Best thing we can do for prices back to boat is keep supply trickling in and on Nov 1 hit our Northeast quota. Let's not be Canada and dump 200mt on the market in 2 days or whatever it is.

And for Charter guys(Greg your geneorosity to abta is admirable) trust me you don't want to see the fishery close on August 9th, then re-open in Sept for 5 days then re-open in Oct for 5 days. Just because it's 3 fish a day. Ask for your 1 fish a day. That way we all get to fish until Nov. 6th to fill the quota, we all get top dollar, charter guys get to fish for bluefin.

I know this has been long winded but what is ABTA's stance? Many of us support ABTA but aren't quite sure of their stance on things like this.