WSJ Article on Tuna Fight

[SaltyDog]

Is there a bluefin tuna bite off of Key West as they migrate to the Gulf? I have not heard of one but there must be right?

[Heli Sports]

Is there a bluefin tuna bite off of Key West as they migrate to the Gulf? I have not heard of one but there must be right?

There is no Bluefin bite off of Key West, or anywhere else in Florida for that matter.

During the 1980's and early 90's, the longline fleet operating out of Ft. Pierce, Florida used to catch top-quality Giants during the winter months from the canyons just north of and around the Abacos.

There may be a very few Giants caught off of Cat Cay in the Bahamas each Spring, from a northward migration, but sadly this fishery is nothing compared the its heyday during the 1960's and 70's.

[CaptainAlex]

I hope that all of us who have the time to blow off work and read / write on this site also have the time to write a brief letter to NMFS (Kim Damon-Randall) to OPPOSE a BFT ESA listing, using first-hand observations of the vast amounts of fish of all year-classes and sizes as evidence ... otherwise, we're all gonna have a surplus of gold-plated Shimano and Penn paperweights.
I'm as guilty as the next guy, and sending my letter today.

[twofinbluna]

Thanks for reminding people Alex. Given how much time people spend writing on these forums, it should not be too much effort to send in a quick email with your observations. As that other thread shows, we are dealing with some delusional people here and we cannot take this for granted.

It will literally take you two minutes to send an email, SO DO IT!

[LuckyLady]

VITAL REC BLUEFIN SURVEY - 2 DAYS LEFT FOR YOU TO COUNT !!!

[LuckyLady]

VITAL REC BLUEFIN SURVEY - 2 DAYS LEFT FOR YOU TO COUNT !!!

Hi Mary,

I appreciate your help very much. I can give you a brief explanation which you could post together with the link to the survey which will help to explain to bluefin tuna fishermen what the survey is for:

Bluefin fishermen are fighting for their survival right now. This survey has been set up by recreational fishermen to get specific information from recreational bluefin fishermen on their catch. This information will be given to NMFS. Here is the background:

The Center for Biological Diversity [Phoenix AZ], an environmental group, filed a Petition with NOAA to list Atlantic Bluefin Tuna as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The Petition was accepted for study by NOAA and a decision on the Petition will be made in May. If they decide in favor of an "endangered" or even a "threatened" listing [the only two possibilities other than no listing at all], all fishing of bluefin tuna will STOP indefinitely. This could be the KNOCKOUT punch for bluefin fishing and needs to be taken very seriously.

One of the very important issues brought up in the Petition has to do with the issue of abundance of bluefin in our waters. If we have more abundance, we have a healthier fishery. One of the key elements in determining abundance is the status of new, young year-classes of bluefin. If we have strong young year-classes coming up we can expect to have more fish. The only way to determine this is to have the information from the fishermen themselves and the only fishermen that have this info are the recreational anglers because they catch the youngest fish. Unfortunately, NOAA does not collect this level of detail from recreational fishermen. A preliminary study was done by recreational anglers recently using some New Jersey bluefin fishermen. This data was shown to NOAA and they were very excited about it, saying that they never see this kind of information. So, it was decided that more information was needed and this survey was put together only a week ago.

The deadline is very tight. We need as many respondents as possible. If you, the fisherman, have not regularly caught bluefin until the 2010 season, as is the case with some Long Island fishermen for example, don't worry. Just provide whatever info you can even if it is only for one year. It's still vitally important info.

-------

Mary - Please feel free if you need to edit any of the above for space reasons, etc. if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will pass your email on to the directors of the American Bluefin Tuna Association. I'm absolutely certain that your forum can be very useful in helping to protect the interests of fishermen not only of bluefin but other species as well.

Thanks again,

David Schalit