US will support Bluefin Trade Ban

[Block and Tackle]

If no bluefins are allowed to be imported into the U.S. wouldn't that drive the price of the few fish that are caught domestically and sold here substantially higher? Supply and demand.

You would think so in theory, but with such a small market and the bulk of our fish coming at the same points or in clusters through out the year the market will get flooded in a heart beat. The fall bite on the cape will flood a market in no time leaving pointless to even leave the dock. Also we do not have a fishery that can sustain the market for 12 full months. Buyers are talking about having to freeze fish to be able to make the supply last for an entire year. It is a ways off of a perfect example of a supply and demand curve.

[JD5652]

There's a very informative thread on the NE forum on this issue that's been going for some time.....

CITES update

Here's the current state of the U.S. domestic market quoted by one of those "in the know"......

"I did an informal survey of some tuna buyers for my distributor customers. I asked them what they were paying last year and most said they were PAYING $2 to as high as $7 a lb for domestic fish.

That was after it's gone to the buyer on the dock."

Let's see....$7 per pound at the market....how much of that do you think the fisherman would get??? ...$1-2 per pound??....may as well stay at the dock....

I have just joined the ABTA and sent them a few benjamins to help in the cause. If you care about the BFT fishery, I would suggest you do whatever is within your means to help out as well.....it's crunch time.....

http://www.theabta.com/

[rizzoads]

They can ban selling them. They can make a law that requires every American to take a 2 month leave from work to hand feed schools of bluefins and give them breeding advice. None of it matters unless they enforce it. The fact of the matter is, if they could just actually enforce the existing quotas in the Mediterranean, the limits we have now would probably at least be close to sustainable. (I'm sure most of you on this board share the opinion that the problem is NOT the US fishery.)

I read through the ICCAT reports every couple of months or so just to spark my frustration on this subject. It's disgusting how horrible the management of the BFT fishery is. Looks like they're preparing to botch another decision....

[KP161]

They can ban selling them. They can make a law that requires every American to take a 2 month leave from work to hand feed schools of bluefins and give them breeding advice. None of it matters unless they enforce it. The fact of the matter is, if they could just actually enforce the existing quotas in the Mediterranean, the limits we have now would probably at least be close to sustainable. (I'm sure most of you on this board share the opinion that the problem is NOT the US fishery.)

I read through the ICCAT reports every couple of months or so just to spark my frustration on this subject. It's disgusting how horrible the management of the BFT fishery is. Looks like they're preparing to botch another decision....

Point of this whole CITES thing is the U.S. & the world knows the U.S. isn't the problem.

When NC was going off back in the 90's and NC boats were releasing 4-10 big fish a day those were mostly Med fish that made the trip. Dumb Med fish that were eating frozen menhaden behind the boat out of the hand. Well all those fish got caught when they went back to the Med. And they never returned as you know. Now NC fisherman are left with the fish that stick to the Western side. Smarter/spookier fish. This is why last year someone would get a fish, then tell a few boats and the next day 30 boats would be right out there where the boat got the fish & shut the bite right down.