Tuna Buyer Barge

[SaltyDog]

Heard from someone yesterday during a tuna conversation that there was a boat from Japan that prowls the coastal waters off the cape and buys tuna for cash from people. Ayyone heard of this factory boat?

[Cpt Dave]

Possibly they were reffering to the moonies base boat out of Gloucester many, many years ago. It was the only one I ever knew of that did it.

[backman]

I heard they took Chet Hathaway's old fuel barge that used to be moored down in the dump and changed one of the fuel cells over to a 10,000 gallon brine tank.

[wrap-check]

Heard from someone yesterday during a tuna conversation that there was a boat from Japan that prowls the coastal waters off the cape and buys tuna for cash from people. Ayyone heard of this factory boat?

Sure - in 1983

[Block and Tackle]

Sure - in 1983

That was going to be my exact response.

[sashamy]

Late 80's and early nineties it was on the northwest corner...

[AlloyToy]

So does this mean that boats would illegally sell their catch to this boat, or were the rules different back then??

[twofinbluna]

That was a long time ago, and nothing about it was illegal.

[sashamy]

no u caught sold and got a check all at the same time...then went home fat and happy

[Big Fish Billy]

So does this mean that boats would illegally sell their catch to this boat, or were the rules different back then??

To answer your question, yes, the rules were different back then...buy boats run by different organizations would come out to the fishing grounds and pay cash for your fish and supply you with ice, beer, food, or anything else you needed to keep fishing. Much like a coop, you could still give your fish up and have them send it to auction if you didn't like the price they were paying that day. The Moonies, Chinese/Korean mostly and some Japs, had their own Jap buyer, tended to pay the highest prices anyway and most guys sold their fish to them, they used the proceeds supposedly for their church organization, but it was revealed at some point that it was just enriching Sum Yung Moon or whatever his name was. Moon actually started the idea of the buy boats, and the coops followed suit. Most guys don't know, but before the Jap market opened up, we actually used to catch big tuna, and had to pay to have them processed. Then the rules were changed, demanding you had to "land" the fish yourself, meaning you had to bring it back to land on your own, which exist today. After Moon was arrested, when down in the NWC area, we used to take the fish to Provincetown, the lesbian buyers there payed the highest rates. Hope that answered you.

Billy