Kayak Fishing for Bluefin Tuna: NOAA Rules and Regulations
Bluefin tuna. Note color, eye and scrapes left on the fish's skin left by leader.
Eric Faiola photo
This month I interviewed Brad McHale, Gloucester, Massachusetts-based NOAA and National Marine Fisheries' bluefin tuna expert, on recent catches of bluefin tuna by kayak fishermen off North Carolina.
The NC kayak fishermen's accomplishments notwithstanding (one tuna weighed nearly 170 pounds), their catches were illegal, and NOAA's enforcement division is conducting an investigation.
Long story short, the anglers were taken offshore by a commercial tuna captain. The captain found the fish on sonar, the guys launched their boats, and the mayhem began.
Problem is, there are strict retention limits per boat on bluefin tuna and the captain, by launching the kayakers, exceeded his limit retention by 400%.
Moreover the guys in kayaks didn't have NOAA bluefin tuna permits - NOAA regs say that each vessel that fishes for bluefin tuna must have a permit.
The interview runs about an hour. McHale gives pointers on how to target bluefin tuna from a kayak legally and safely, and comments, along with NOAA's Monica Allen, on the current stock of North Atlantic bluefin. Click the player below to listen. I had a bad cold the day I interviewed. Excuse the snorts and the sniffles.
Listen to the interview below:
Published by Dave Williams
Outdoors writer Dave Williams lives in Arlington, Massachusetts. View profile
- How to Go Kayak Fishing in the Fog on Cape Cod: Nantucket Sound to Billingsate Sho...Kayak fishing and fly fishing in the fog on Cape Cod.
- Bluefin Tuna May Be on the Verge of Extinction European officials blocked a proposal by the U.S. and conservation groups last week to put a nine month moratorium on bluefin tuna fishing.
- Bluefin Tuna Fishing in New England: Granite Pier at Rockport, MassachusettsRockport, Massachusetts's Granite Pier serves the bluefin tuna angler well, whether commercial or recreational, and for a handful of reasons.
- Bluefin Tuna: Top Five Bluefin Tuna Fishing VideosTop Five Bluefin Tuna Fishing Videos published on YouTube. Bluefin Tuna are among the largest in the tuna family. This potentially massive fish is a spectacle at any port and a prize catch around the world.
- Bluefin Tuna: On the Path to ExtinctionThe bluefin tuna are close to extinction. Fetching such a high value, often $100,000 a fish, it will take a lot of effort by the environmental community and scientists to save them.
- Sea Kayaking, Kayak Fishing Cape Cod: Minimoy and Monomoy Islands at Chatham
- Kayak Fishing for Bluefin Tuna Off Provincetown, Massachusetts at Cape Cod
- Kayak Fishing for Bluefin Tuna: Cape Ann, Massachusetts
- Fishing for Bluefin Tuna Off Gloucester, Massachusetts
- Commercial Bluefin Tuna Fishing: The Port of Gloucester, Massachusetts
- Fishing for Bluefin Tuna Off Jeffries Ledge, Massachusetts
- Sea Kayaking and Kayak Fishing with Google Earth and NOAA Charts
1 Comments
Post a CommentHiya, Dave (and Adam?). I found your article linked to mine and came over to check it out. I'd much rather see sports fishers having the opportunity to fish the bluefin than commercial interests. The fish is so hit.