I don't think those were "recreationally" caught. There is no recreational fishing for Bluefin allowed in Nova Scotia other than a very limited amount of permits available strictly for the Tournament held from the 22nd to the 26th of September. I could be mistaken but believe this to be true.
Bluefin tuna fished in Atlantic Canada are part of the western Atlantic stock. Because of their highly migratory nature, bluefin are managed under the jurisdiction of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
Dates of season (subject to change)
The bluefin tuna commercial fishing season runs from January 1 through December 31 each year in Atlantic Canada but, the directed fishery for the individual fleets open on various dates as chosen by the fleet. Traditionally the fishery begins with the migration of bluefin into Canadian waters in early July and usually continues until late October. The majority of landings occur between late July and late September.
Total Allowable Catches and Sharing Arrangements
The Canadian allocation of bluefin tuna is set by ICCAT. The Commission allocates tunas in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, including the Western Atlantic bluefin stock which is shared by Canada, the United States, Japan, Bermuda, St. Pierre and Miquelon and Mexico. The Total Allowable Catch for the western bluefin tuna stock was set at 1,900t for 2009 down from 2,100t. The quota that Canada received from ICCAT was proportionately reduced from 546t in 2009 to 505t for 2009. The 505t quota is made up of an allocation of 432t from ICCAT plus a 73t transfer of quota from Mexico to Canada.
The overall Canadian quota for 2009 is 556.7t which includes the 2009 Canadian quota of 505t plus 51t of unharvested Canadian quota from 2008. The 2008 Canadian quota is split between; inshore fleets directing for tuna with total allocations of approximately 468t an offshore licence holder which receives 20t and a bycatch quota of 53t for the pelagic longline (PLL) fleet that has directed fisheries for swordfish and/or other tuna species. The PLL bycatch allocation of 67t which includes 33t of unused bycatch quota from 2008 from the central north Atlantic. There is also a 2 tonne allocation established for scientific tagging as recommended by industry representatives.
Quota transfers between fleets will not be permitted during the 2009 season. All inshore bluefin tuna quota that remains uncaught as of 00:01 on October 20, 2009 will be returned to the Department for re-distribution to inshore fleets based on the inshore fleet shares.
2009 Inshore Fleet Shares and Quotas of Bluefin Tuna
Fleet Inshore fleet % 2009 Allocation 2009 Quota*
Prince Edward Island 30.02% 142.39 138.77
Newfoundland and Labrador 12.84% 60.90 60.90
Gulf New Brunswick 7.81% 37.09 37.09
Quebec 5.09% 2 4.10 24.10
Gulf Nova Scotia 11.27% 53.46 50.53
Southwest Nova Scotia 21.70% 102.93 102.93
St. Margaret's Bay 11.27% 53.46 53.46
Total 100.00% 474.33 467.77
* Quotas adjusted to reflect overharvest by the various inshore fleets
Don't know if these rules differ in Canada, can't find differing info anywhere on the Canadian search engines. But here's the latest from NOAA.
NMFS published final specifications on June 1, 2009 (74 FR 26110),
and increased the default General category daily retention limit of one
large medium or giant BFT (measuring 73 inches (185 cm) curved fork
length (CFL) or greater) per vessel to three large medium or giant BFT
per vessel for June 1 through August 31, 2009. In addition, NMFS stated
that it would consider adjustment of retention limits for future time
periods, if warranted.
As of July 31, 2009, 53.5 mt of the adjusted 2009 General category
quota have been landed, and landings rates remain less than 1.0 mt per
day. Starting on September 1, 2009, the General category daily
retention limit, located at 50 CFR 635.23(a)(2), is scheduled to revert
back to the default daily retention limit of one large medium or giant
BFT per vessel. This scheduled retention limit applies to General
category permitted vessels and HMS Charter/Headboat category permitted
vessels (when fishing commercially for BFT).
THE BIG FISH ARE OFF THE CAPE RIGHT NOW, BITE IS ON FELLAS. A BIT EARLIER THAN LAST YEAR, IN THE LAST WEEK THERE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN 10 GRANDERS KILLED.
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Nice going James.
