New Bedford fisherman forced to give up 800-pound tuna

[Oro]

This fish story may lack the epic qualities of Ernest Hemingway's 1952 classic“The Old Man and the Sea,” but for New Bedford's Carlos Rafael, the outcome was about the same. In both cases, despite capturing and bringing home a huge fish, powerful circum­stances conspired to deprive the luckless fishermen of a potentially huge reward.

Boat owner Rafael, a big player in the local fishing industry, was elated when the crew of his 76-foot steel dragger Apollo told him they had unwittingly captured a giant bluefin tuna in their trawl gear while fishing offshore.

“They didn't catch that fish on the bottom,” he said. “They probably got it in the mid­water when they were setting out and it just got corralled in the net. That only happens once in a blue moon.”

Rafael, who in the last four years purchased 15 tuna permits for his groundfish boats to cover just such an eventuality, imme­diately called a bluefin tuna hot line maintained by fishery regu­lators to report the catch.

When the weather offshore deteriorated, the Apollo decided to seek shelter in Provincetown Harbor on Nov. 12. Rafael imme­diately set off in a truck to meet the boat.

“I wanted to sell the fish while it was fresh instead of letting it age on the boat,”he said.“It was a beautiful fish.”

It was also a lucrative one. Highly prized in Japan, a 754­pound specimen fetched a record price at a Tokyo auction in January this year, selling for nearly $396,000. These fish can grow to enormous size. The world record for a bluefin, which has stood since 1979, was set when a 1,496-pound specimen was caught off Nova Scotia.

However, when Rafael rolled down the dock in Provincetown there was an unexpected and unwelcome development. The authorities were waiting. Agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Law Enforcement informed him they were confis­cating his fish — all 881 pounds of it.

Even though the catch had been declared and the boat had a tuna permit, the rules do not allow fishermen to catch bluefin tuna in a net.

“They said it had to be caught with rod and reel,” a frustrated Rafael said.“We didn't try to hide anything. We did everything by the book. Nobody ever told me we couldn't catch it with a net.”

In any case, after being towed for more than two hours in the net, the fish was already dead when the Apollo hauled back its gear, he said.

“What are we supposed to do?” he asked. “They said they were going to give me a warn­ing,” Rafael said. “I think I'm going to surrender all my tuna permits now. What good are they if I can't catch them?”

No charges have yet been filed in connection with the catch, but a written warning is anticipated, according to Chris­tine Patrick, a public affairs specialist with NOAA who said the fish has been forfeited and will be sold on consignment overseas. Proceeds from the sale of the fish will be held in an account pending final reso­lution of the case, NOAA said. No information on the value of the fish was available Friday.

“The matter is still under investigation,”said Monica Allen, deputy director with NOAA Fisheries public affairs. “If it's determined that there has been a violation, the money will go into the asset forfeiture fund.”

“I think I'm going to sur­render all my tuna permits now. What good are they if I can't catch them?

[Cape Fisherman]

This is pathetic. I am one for sensical regulations with oversight, but this creates the "us versus them"
atmosphere that scientists and policy makers claim they want to end.

I urge everyone to place a call to the Gloucester office of NOAA and express your disdain of this!

A POC for HMS is: Sarah McLaughlin. Phone number: (978) 281-9300 sarah.mclaughlin@NOAA.gov

[twofinbluna]

Surprised he did not know that you cannot catch bluefin with a net. One of the more cut and dry rules going.

[On The Edge]

What permit did he think he was going to sell it under?

[LadyB]

What permit did he think he was going to sell it under?

This is not the first tuna landed in a net and it won't be the last. They usually have a better method of dispatching them.

[SoBoSlow]

Intentionally or not they are chumming them to the boat when they toss back the by-catch. It would seem the incidental catch, when they set back out while still picking the catch, would be unavoidable.

The thought that the "regulatorily compliant" thing to do would be to throw back a dead 800# bft as by-catch, when others are steaming 12-16 hours each way to target 1-3 of these fish in a trip, is about the clearest indication of the ineffciencies in our fisheries managment that I can think of.

[lowlands]

So what would a bft sell for after it had been cut up by nets for two hours and probably struggled until it suffocated full of lactic acid?

Sounds like cat fud to me.

And no, letting him proft by it doesn't sound like a good idea. Allow that and they will be accidentally targeting them.

[wrap-check]

What permit did he think he was going to sell it under?

General Cat - they wouldn't have anything else.

He just forgot the magic words - "We got it on a Handline"

[SoBoSlow]

I'ld rather they sell $5,000 worth of fish for cat food, or strip mall sushi, and count it towards the harvested quota rather than drop it to the bottom to count against bycatch allotments for $0.00 of crab food.

[clt_capt]

Yup - I think my words would have been "we were waiting for our next set and so I dropped a line over the side to see if I could reel anything in"

Or "We saw it in the propwash and I couldn't pass up the harpoon shot"

Way to go Jane's Cowboys - Score another one for the bad guys