Tuna & Marlin Mayhem....

[Capt Josh]

We've been busy down here amigos!!!!

[CaptAnthony]

Beautiful fish dude!! Looks like lots of good times right there.

[lilharcher]

Nice pics.....looks like the fish are still on the chew. I am heading down there in a little over a month for some R&R.

[Wireman]

Why grease the marlin?

[Capt Josh]

Why grease the marlin?

That's a valid question. Here's the answer -

Because we can, it's perfectly legal to, a sport-killed marlin every year or two on our boat doesn't hurt global billfish populations at all, we release 99.9% of the billfish we catch, killing one is fun once in a while, the guy who's spent over $5mil on boats, tackle, wages, etc etc etc that are directly related to the viability of our sportfishing industry wanted to, a big fish on the deck now and then is good for everyone's business, and lets not forget that marlin are very good eating too.

[Questsportfishing]

I also know you can take one that is not doing so well from getting tail wrapped or gill/ gut hooked. I like your posts and all and I think you have a great time traveling but this explanation to me was not so cool. I fish also and I also know that a release on a big fish is also important no matter if you say it's just 1.. and you give this explanation with a deck load of fish.. good on ya there cap...

I do remember as a kid in Westport (they used to call it the Salmon Capital ) when the governor opened the rivers back up to the Indians they said that they can because it's perfectly legal.. the decimated the salmon stocks in a matter of months.. as captains we have a huge responsibility to teach or lead by our actions. maybe you do not see the purse seiners or long liners on your travels.. I do agree even a sail and marlin meat is great but just because the guy has 5 million wrapped up does not make it right in my eyes ..

[scattered_grass]

anything tastes good smoked..

[Rawhide]

[QUOTE=Questsportfishing;2254921
I do agree even a sail and marlin meat is great but just because the guy has 5 million wrapped up does not make it right in my eyes ..[/QUOTE]

While I personally would not choose to kill a marlin (outside of a tournament or a grander), what JT's jefe wants to do with a single fish is none of my (or your) business.

Let's not act like he's posting pics of dead billfish on the reg. Mentioning one dead billfish in the same breath as a group of natives to fished out a salmon population is out of line.

[Capt Josh]

I also know you can take one that is not doing so well from getting tail wrapped or gill/ gut hooked. I like your posts and all and I think you have a great time traveling but this explanation to me was not so cool. I fish also and I also know that a release on a big fish is also important no matter if you say it's just 1.. and you give this explanation with a deck load of fish.. good on ya there cap...

I do remember as a kid in Westport (they used to call it the Salmon Capital ) when the governor opened the rivers back up to the Indians they said that they can because it's perfectly legal.. the decimated the salmon stocks in a matter of months.. as captains we have a huge responsibility to teach or lead by our actions. maybe you do not see the purse seiners or long liners on your travels.. I do agree even a sail and marlin meat is great but just because the guy has 5 million wrapped up does not make it right in my eyes ..

You also make some valid points, and believe me healthy debate is good for everyone - i strongly encourage it. To clarify, we did not have any other fish on deck the day we killed the marlin. The tuna shots came several days later with an entirely different group on board.

If you have followed my posts over the last 10 years since i have been fishing billfish in mexico, panama, costa rica, and beyond - you would have a better understanding of how much billfish we release (99.99% is entirely accurate), how we have literally facilitated the switch to circle hooks with live and dead bait fishing in many of the places we have operated out of over the years, and how hard we have worked to encourage a more viable mentality when it comes to the promotion of catch and release fishing for all species of fish - not just billfish. And please believe me when i tell you that i know all-too-well just how much devastation a single seiner or large-scale long-liner can cause - i have literally fought AND shot at them on the water and risked personal injury and jail time in years past. So when i say i have fought for the cause, i mean it.

But in all reality, comparing my actions to those of large scale commercial or native operations won't garner you any support for your arguments in my eyes. Nor will saying that as captain and crew we are irresponsible in our leadership roles by allowing the boss to take a marlin. That is a tad overbearing in my opinion and if you truly followed my posts and positions over the years you would be hard pressed to make any of these statements.

What is truly hard for some of us to realize is that one dead billfish on the deck every one or two years makes next to ZERO difference in the grand scheme of global billfish populations. Really, it doesn't. Please talk to the Billfish Foundation's scientists if you would like further clarification in that regard. What one dead billfish every once in a while does ensure, however, is that people like my boss keep pumping vast sums of money into an industry that, perhaps now more than ever, desperately needs the support of big money players the most. Like it or not, if it wasn't for guys like him, and the far reaching ripple effects they have throughout the industry, this industry wouldn't exist.

And that would be far, far worse than one or two dead billfish on the deck of my boat every few seasons.

I do applaud you guys for having such tenacious opinions and encourage you to channel that energy into something that will not only benefit global fish stocks but also the sustainability of our great industry!

And I always welcome your opinions, thoughts, and suggestions...this is a safe and friendly place where we most certainly encourage healthy debate.

[Thynnus]

Very well said JT, succient, cogent, clear and to the point. I think we all have the same viceral reaction when we see a dead blue marlin on the deck of a sportie, and as sportfishermen we should, but taking one blue every few years to feed a hungry crew and friends back on land is the definition of being a responsible sportfisherman. For instance, I would never kill a blue marlin, but I think nothing of killing a bigeye tuna if I am lucky enough to get one up here in the NE canyons and both fish are just as rare to encounter. Guys like JT have done more to advance the techniques of catch and release and the use of circle hooks on billfish than most sportfishermen will ever get to, so comparing his operation to a large scale, industrial commercial fishing operation is a bit short sided. I know the logic was "both are legal but not necessarily the right thing to do," but that argument doesn't hold weight when you look at the context of why he kept this single marlin. I know none of the parties involved, I just love reading, writing, talking and breathing fishing so these debates are a great way to make the winter seem not so tough. The real question for JT is how are those Canucks of yours going to fare this season? We know our Bruins are right back where they want to be, but can Luongo recover from last year's cup finals? Keep the pictures coming and the debates flowing so we can live vicariously through your experiences