Tuna pen? Fishing ? Trapped ? Photos wow wow

[Satans_Chariot]

Originally Posted by FishBlueWater

Exactly what I was thinking!!
Great pics though

From the report, it makes it sound like they went over the top of something rather low in the water. From the pictures, there is nothing low about the upper ring of that pen, that looks like its a few feet out of the water.

[Robja]

Thats one exciting story.

Hey Satans Chariot. I see you fared well with your dance with Dolly

[Trident]

Originally Posted by Satans_Chariot

From the report, it makes it sound like they went over the top of something rather low in the water. From the pictures, there is nothing low about the upper ring of that pen, that looks like its a few feet out of the water.

I think your right on the money and that should have been "seen".

But, dare i say proper running aside, That was a great read!!!!

and as far as who's water it is inside the pen? i don't think it matters for 2 reasons.. 1) the tuna are now privately owned by the Co. and they can sell or give away as the market allows.

2) the bigger prob. i see is upon sailing back to a US port with an over the limit on board. Can you imagine the look on the NMFS guys face when your telling him you got the fish from a mexican market

[flatbottom]

truely a great read. One of the best this season if not the best. Thanks for the post Admin. And thanks to the United States Coast Guard



Lights ...what lights??????????????

[Sterling]

That had to be INTENSE. Glad it all worked out. It will be interesting to hear if the seiners attempt any kind of insurance settlement for the pen.

Can't believe you almost started a war with Mexico man. Good catch at least.

[twofinbluna]

Now THAT is an amazing story.

[foxhole]

Here is an article from the San Diego Tribune...

As well as a pic that was taken on the boat just after the accident..It is still dark, looks like a radar reflector and a white light above it... This thing took off on another board..posted on the 20th. They would have been better off keeping this off of the boards...




http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...-1m24tuna.html

Tuna-ranching pen off Baja snares boat
By Terry Rodgers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

July 24, 2008


Wayde Nichols and four fishing pals looked forward to catching hard-fighting tuna as their sport-fishing boat motored out of Mission Bay on Friday night. They never expected to become the catch themselves.
In the middle of the night, their boat struck something that rendered it dead in the water.

Flashing a spotlight into the sea, they could hardly believe their eyes. Their 48-foot vessel, the Señor Hefe, had become entangled in a floating tuna pen half the size of a football field.

The collision, which occurred in international waters about 30 miles southwest of Ensenada, is one of the few maritime accidents involving the growing number of tuna ranches off Baja California.

During their 12-hour ordeal in the tuna pen, the Señor Hefe crew members alternated between terror and excitement. In between periods of intense negotiations to free their boat, they experienced the adrenaline rush of a wide-open tuna bite inside the pen.

Eventually, a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat and helicopter escorted the Señor Hefe back to Mission Bay early Sunday. The vessel suffered an estimated $75,000 in damage.

“We were so lucky. We could have easily sunk the boat,” said Nichols, 44, who lives in Vista.

Nichols praised the Coast Guard for arriving in a timely manner and preventing Mexican authorities from possibly arresting him and seizing his boat. He said a Mexican patrol boat had rushed to the scene, and the sailors weren't friendly.

Nichols, a former Coast Guardsman, contends the accident wouldn't have happened if the tuna pen had been properly lighted and outfitted with adequate radar reflectors.

“This thing should have been lit up like a Christmas tree,” Nichols said. “It was in the middle of an area where lots of sport fishers go.”

However, a spokesman for Acuacultura de Baja California, an Ensenada-based business that owns a tuna-ranching operation, said the company is not at fault.

The tuna pen, or cage, had two lights that were operating when the collision occurred, said the company's legal adviser, Matias Arjona.

“There are 50 to 60 floating cages out there from different companies,” he said. “All of them have the same lighting.”

Acuacultura's 10 tuna pens off Baja have never been hit by a vessel, Arjona said. The pen involved in the accident sustained $7,000 to $8,000 in damage.
The tuna-ranching segment of aquaculture is practiced worldwide, including in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It came to Baja California in 1996.

Each year's ranching cycle off Baja starts in the summer, when commercial fishing boats net wild tuna. The tuna are transferred to pens that have rings outfitted with buoys so they float. Nylon netting extends up to 130 feet under water, keeping the tuna in and predators such as sea lions out.

Commercial fishing vessels move the pens around, and the tuna are fattened with sardines or anchovies for several months before sale. Most of the grown fish are exported to Japan, where they can fetch up to $45 per pound.

The bluefin tuna raised in the pens off Baja were the same quarry being pursued by Nichols and his buddies: Gary Bobel of Carlsbad, Anthony Saputo of San Diego, Dan Liston of Oceanside and Tim Carew of San Clemente.

Their trip began at 8 p.m. Friday as they traveled toward a tuna hot spot called the 295 Fathom Spot, about 65 miles southwest of San Diego.

About 7½ hours into the voyage, the sleepy fishermen were jarred awake by a horrific noise. At first, they thought their boat had struck a weather buoy or a small skiff.

Further inspection revealed that the Señor Hefe had overrun the plastic framing ringing the tuna pen. The boat was marooned in the middle, its propellers entangled in the netting.

At first, the crew of the vessel towing the pen wasn't aware of the accident. It continued pulling the pen – with the Señor Hefe snagged inside – for two hours until spotting the Americans.

After the sun came up, the Mexicans tending the tuna pen transferred most of the fish to another floating cage.

Then, a Mexican patrol boat with armed sailors turned up and asked Nichols for permission to board the Señor Hefe. Nichols said he refused, citing his rights as a U.S.-flagged ship in international waters.

“They had every intention of taking control of my boat and taking us to jail in Ensenada,” Nichols said.

Just as the damaged pen was opened, freeing the Señor Hefe, a Coast Guard helicopter swooped down. The chopper's crew ordered the Mexican sailors to back away. Heavy turbulence from the propellers also forced the sailors to abort their mission.

“It was a bit of a showdown,” said Terence Cox, a San Francisco maritime attorney, who is helping Nichols deal with the insurance claims from both parties.

Saputo, one of those aboard the Señor Hefe, called the experience “the scariest and best fishing trip of our lives.”

The good part, Saputo said, was when the pen's operators allowed the bored Americans to fish inside the cage. The Señor Hefe returned with 20 bluefin tuna.

“Of all the far-fetched fishing stories in my life, I've never heard the likes of this one I just participated in,” said Bobel. “This is one I'll pass on to my grandchildren.”

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by tuna whacker

No wonder why Fred Archer can catch tunas in the pacific with those silly little bars of his. He's fishing in an olympic sized swimming pool

What a moronic statement!!!!!!!!!

Nice work USCG!

[twofinbluna]

I really do not get how they did not see this on the radar????

[waterman482]

Originally Posted by twofinbluna

I really do not get how they did not see this on the radar????

Or what about the boat towing the pen! why would you even bother going that close to a large vessel in the middle of the night! and the tuna pens show up very good on radar we were always picking them up on the long range boats! Someone is at fault here and i'm pretty sure its not the tuna pen!