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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 6
February 2007
NC bluefin season sputters: tuna avoiding warm water
MOREHEAD CITY, NC – In late January, the North Carolina bluefin tuna fishery was winding down toward the season’s end.
The overall general category quota this year was 1,163.3 metric tons (mt). As of Jan. 18, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reported that the general category had landed just 159.8 mt. The winter fishery’s quota share was 10.5% of the total.
So, while some big fish were landed, the catch rate was clearly short of spectacular as of mid-January. But fishermen and dealers were still hopeful that cooler water temperatures would liven things up for the last two weeks of the fishery, which ends on Jan. 31.
One New England fisherman who made the trip south for the fishery was Keper Connell of Rye Harbor, NH.
“I trailer my boat the 850 miles and fish out of Harkers Island because of the shallow draft,” he said. “This is my fourth year in North Carolina.”
The results weren’t too bad. All told, Connell hooked up four times this season, released one fish, lost three, and sold three.
As reported up and down the East Coast, water temperatures were mild for the month of December and into early January, and North Carolina fishermen reported that the catch dropped off with the arrival of warmer weather.
At times, the water was about 67°F. Some folks thought the fish might have been on the other side of the Gulf Stream where the water was cooler and the baitfish might be, said Connell.
Stanford University bluefin scientist Barbara Block was in the area during the month of January with her Tag-a-Giant team of fishermen and scientists, placing electronic migration-tracking tags on bluefin and making observations.
“Warm water is moving in very close to shore, potentially squeezing the available habitat for the 400-500-pound class of fish swimming nearby,” she wrote on her “Tag-a-Giant” blog posted on Jan. 17. “A strong cold front with a northerly wind potentially might help conditions.”
Bluefin dealer George Leone of Morgan Harvest Inc. based in Newport, NC said he thought the landings pattern was about the same as last year: Things started off decently but fizzled.
“A few were caught in the Southport area, but I’d say 90% of the fish has been caught in the Morehead/Beaufort area,” he said.
Overall the price was pretty decent, averaging $11 to $13 per pound for exported fish and $7 to $7.50 per pound for domestic fish. One exported fish netted a high price of $26.28 per pound.
Leone attributed that high price to good market conditions and marketing efforts in Japan, coupled with proper handling of the fish on the boat and at the dock.
Although most fishermen had caught at least one or more bluefin this season, a few had yet to catch their first fish as of mid-January, reported Charley Pereira, a board member of the Winter Bluefin Association.
“We’ll see what happens now that it’s getting colder and blowing north,” he said. “The hope is for a major bluefin showing.”
Green stick ban
One big change for some North Carolina bluefin fishermen was a last-minute prohibition on the use of green sticks.
In November, NMFS sent out a clarification notice explaining to fishermen that the gear could not be used to catch any tuna without a longline permit. Longline permits fall under a limited-access program and are only available by purchasing the permit from a vessel that currently holds one.
Green stick gear involves a 34'-45' stick mounted on the cabin from which ropes are run aft to a trolling bird some 100 yards back. Down lines are suspended from the ropes, and hooks rigged with artificial bait, such as flying fish or squid, are attached to the down lines.
The upshot is that the bait dances on the surface as the boat trolls along and the tuna come out of the water for the bait, according to Louis Daniel of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.
It’s considered an environmentally friendly gear type with no turtle and billfish bycatch and no marine mammal interaction. Tuna caught on green sticks are of high quality and undersized tuna can be released quickly because the fish are quickly brought in, Daniel said.
“In our opinion, green sticks are the most effective way to catch tuna, especially yellowfin tuna, and has the least bycatch,” he said. “We are working on this right now and a letter has been submitted to NMFS by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to try and resolve this situation.”
Anyone interested in viewing Block’s Tag-a-Giant blog can find it online at <http://tagagiant.blogspot.com/2007/01/welcome-to-tag-2007.html>.
Rosanne Mizzoni
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