9th inning Eyeball near Wash. 5/30

[Heli Sports]

Any canyon fishermen can tell you it's extremely rare to encounter YFT this size in the NE canyons...

Of course youre right. But this was not always the case. Years ago there were some extremely large Yellowfin taken out of the NE Canyons, including a few specimens with dressed weights exceeding 300 pounds (yes, dressed weights) caught at Hudson Canyon. I can recall a 300 lb dressed individual harvested by a longliner in 1986, and a few Yellowfin that dressed out over 300 lbs that were captured by a pelagic pair-trawler in 1994. During the 1980's and early 1990's, Yellowfin over 200 lbs where not that uncommon in our waters. There were even some very large Allisons caught at the Dumping Grounds South of Rhode Island during the mid 1980's.

As far as the tuna in question, it's certainly a Bigeye. Notice the rather long pectoral fin of this individual. The pec fin on Bluefin is shorter and does not reach all the way back to the leading edge of the second dorsal fin. This is a fool proof way to differentiate between a Bigeye and Bluefin. I honestly can't imagine how anyone could possibly mistake the tuna in this photo for a Yellowfin.

It's really not that difficult to differentiate between the various tuna species, especially large individuals. I wouldn't go by the length of the second dorsal and anal fins, though. Due to genetic variations, the length of these fins is quite variable. I've seen tons of Yellowfin harvested from the Gulf of Mexico that dressed out at 70 pounds or less with extremely long trailers, and loads of much larger Yellows taken on Georges Bank with rather short fins. The body shape of a large Bigeye is entirely different from a Yellowfin. Quite unmistakeable, even for a slender individual. Unless youre from Connecticut...

[Patudo]

It's pretty amazing to think that YFT that big existed in the Atlantic. I wonder are there any that size left in the Atlantic nowadays, or are they only to be found in places like Puerto Vallarta?

On an unrelated note, Heli - to the best of your knowledge, did the NE longline or pair trawl boats ever pick up any really big marlin - 1000 lb and upwards?

[Heli Sports]

...did the NE longline or pair trawl boats ever pick up any really big marlin - 1000 lb and upwards?

Back in the 1980's when the sale of billfish was permited, the NE longline fleet would land Marlin. A typical trip during August and September would include a few hundred pounds of White Marlin and an occasional moderate sized Blue Marlin. The skippers told me at that time that they released all Marlin if they were alive, and harvested dead individuals. Dock price was usually a buck per pound for both species. The proceeds from Billlfish were considered "shack" which meant the crew shared it up. Back then these vessels were catching tons of large sized Bigeye and prices in Japan were excellent at that time. It probably was not worth the time/effort to deal with Billfish, or use up fish hold space unless fishing was slow. I don't think Marlin are active night time feeders like Swordfish and Bigeye, though I'm sure the fleet caught plenty of Billfish, and I did hear of a few battles with monster Blue Marlin. But buyers and the Bluewater Fisherman's Association discouraged the landing of billfish. Swordfish stocks were being depleted, the fishery was under the threat of closure, they didn't need the publicity that dead Marlin bring.

The pelagic pair-trawlers caught everything. I don't recall anything specifically about Marlin, the sale of Atlantic Billfish was prohibited at that time. Though I did see some polaroids of a deckload of bycatch that a crew member showed me. Molas, Mantas, Sharks, Porpoise, Turtles, etc, etc, etc. That's why that fishery was closed. Of course by that time, the Bigeyes were already gone...