Tuna Wrestling?!

[Sea Draggin]

An HMS permit is required to fish for tuna in federal waters. You can fish for tuna in state (coastal) waters w/out a permit. MA doesn't have a saltwater permit...at least not yet.
But you need an HMS permit to keep them. Sound about right?
I guess they were doing OK up until the gill rake

About 8-9 years ago right after a hurricane, a guy caught a yellowfin while surf fishing down around Long Beach, NC or somewhere down there. He took it to the pier to weight it, where he was promptly ticketed by the man for not having an HMS permit.

The story was all over the news when it happened.

[twofinbluna]

Cool, but I don't think its very legal.

That was my reaction, too.

[giggyfish]

Come on guys, if you ever caught a tuna while fishing the surf do you really think you would release it? For most surf casters it would be a catch of a lifetime. If it were some of my surf rat buddies I bet I'd be headed over for some charlie steaks on the barby. Now I don't know about wrestling them in or posting evidence on the internet but for such a rare occurence it ought to be allowed to be brought home and enjoyed. Just my 2cents.
giggy

[shoefish]

In spirit I understand what you're saying giggy, but in application it would get abused....

"Nope, I caught it from the surf officer....see my surf rod right here? Strangest thing, I was fishing for stripers when my line started smoking..."

You gotta pay to play, that's just how it goes.

[chumtini]

Exactly my point. You don't need a licence to fish for bass or anything else off the beach (state waters). But if you keep a tuna, your required to count it via NMFS. For that, you need a permit #

Vessel Name: Beach Chair
Length of Vessel: 6' (2' folded)
Holding Capacity: 12 pack w/t ice
Registration #: huh?

Hmmm....


PS Still wondering why that tuna was swimming in circles???

[Squidnation]

I thought angling permit said hook and line. how do you classify this. Not possitive and dont feel like looking it up but what type of angling would be considered here. It is also illegal to spear fish for them but they weren't using spears.

technically speaking that fish washed up on the beach and they kept it. Although it may have been coeresed a little bit.

[shoefish]

PS Still wondering why that tuna was swimming in circles???

I was talking to Danny about that last night Chum...it sort of looked like it was anchored down and swimming in a radius

[giggyfish]

You're right Shoe I didn't think about how easily people could abuse the system. And if you think about how much dough we throw around to play this game 29 bucks is cheaper than a rigged ilander.
giggy

[KnotGolfin']

FYI.

Q: May I fish for Atlantic tunas without a vessel (e.g., from an oil rig or from shore)?
A: No, only permitted vessels may fish for Atlantic bluefin, bigeye, albacore, yellowfin, and skipjack tunas in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. If one of these species is caught incidentally during fishing activities from shore or from an oil rig, it must be released immediately.

source: https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/faqs.asp#faq40

[shoefish]

Nice work Jim- I'd bet there are a couple of folks who might be realizing that and wishing they didn't put that video up...