does anyone know anything (credible) about the mediterranean stock status for bluefin tuna?

1/12/2009 12:54:30 PM

that the northern med countries have had to move to western africa since there's essentially no bluefin stocks left in their waters

1/12/2009 1:04:52 PM

i read on Sport Fishing that Italy is by far the worst as far as overfishing, with the capacity to catch something like 40% over their quota

1/12/2009 1:05:52 PM

I thought I read in an old saltwater sportsman magazine that the Mediterranean overfishing was or could affect the tuna population off NC's coast.

which sucks.

1/12/2009 1:50:25 PM

they're really fucking big

1/12/2009 2:22:41 PM

the Med purse seine fisheries are supposedly capable of catching way over their quotas, which they often do, and then just ask for forgiveness later.

SF had a pic of a grander that was tagged this season too

1/12/2009 4:31:22 PM

I think domestic "overfishers" should get jail time. And foreign ones should be rounded up, guantanamo-style.

1/12/2009 4:47:55 PM

they're delicious.

1/12/2009 6:52:23 PM

^^ there will always be folks who exceed the regulations, but as far as i know from the areas i've fished, recreational fishermen with hms permits generally don't exceed their catch limits (3 per permit/season)

^ yes they are. sorry i couldn't buy the omega off you. it's a hell of a nice watch.

1/12/2009 7:11:07 PM

^no problem dude, I sold it when I was in Vietnam for $2K.

1/12/2009 7:15:37 PM

^ good deal for you- no way i could have paid that much. if i had caught more fish this season then maybe, but that's why its called fishing.

1/12/2009 7:22:45 PM

^do you really fish for bluefin? that's awesome. I need to see some pics.

1/12/2009 7:37:35 PM

BFTs FTW

1/12/2009 8:04:53 PM

boat owner has this year's pics. here's one from last year:

1/13/2009 12:52:30 AM

Holy crap.

So okay, fishing. You put bait on line with a hook in it. Fish bites bait, gets hooked. Once you get a fish that big hooked, you tire it out, and it's basically right next to the boat, right? What do you do from there? How do you get it in the boat?

1/13/2009 2:27:02 AM

judging from the neck, i'd say the next step was "throw a hand grenade at it"

1/13/2009 3:54:06 AM

the tiring it out part can take around 5-6 hours for a 350+ lb tuna. you have to remember that it's about 80% solid muscle. that fish is designed with one main purpose: sustained high speed swimming. they have countercurrent artierial circulation to constantly supply their muscles with warm, oxygenated blood, so they don't wear out as easily. that's why that reel in the pic has 750 yds of 80 lb Momoi on it.

The size of the tuna determines what you do with it once you have it alongside the boat. Once killed, if the tuna is short enough to fit into the boat, we pull it in (three big dudes can manage this). if not, we'll tie a swimming hook up to a cleat on the stern of the boat and put the hook i through the mouth and out through the gills and tow the fish back to shore.

1/13/2009 3:54:29 AM

i saw a pretty badass discovery show where they had commercial tuna fishers in the Mediterranean getting their catches thwarted by pods of orcas...was hilarious

on a side note, my dad and I went out for some bluefin/yellowfin a few years back. The boat hooked up with 4 bluefin which took over and hour to bring to the boat each...didn't keep any...but each were 300-400lbs...caught 2 smaller yellowfin for keeps as well

great times on a 9/0 international

1/13/2009 6:24:17 AM

^^do you usually just catch one at a time or multiples?

1/13/2009 8:02:56 AM

yeah, sometimes they get them two at a time on a two hook bottom rig

the real professionals tie on a three hook bottom rig and go to town

1/13/2009 9:21:13 AM

hearing one reel sing is great. hearing multiple reels sing is like multiple christmases coming all at the same time.

multiple hookups can be harder to fight, and with the decreased stocks, are less likely these days. we did catch a fair amount of blackfin tuna though, which made for some delicious sushi.

we use penn 80's and 50w's (long range series) with 80 lb Momoi diamond on the 80's and 80 lb Momoi diamond leader attached to 200 lb braid on the 50's. for baits we use bionic ballyhoo wire rigged to a 10/0 j-hook and an ilander (most success with pink and green).

1/13/2009 10:01:53 AM

how much can you get for one of those bluefins? blackfins?

1/13/2009 11:42:20 AM

bluefin can sell for anywhere from $10 to >$20 a lb fro the US. By the time the fish is flash frozen and shipped to Tokyo (or some other asian fish market), it has more than doubled in value. one sold in early december for 100k, and it was split between two buyers.

this year, the guy i fish with sold two fish for a total dressed weight of 424 lbs. they sold at market last thursday, so he should get paid any day now.

blackfin aren't typically sold by recreational fishermen, but i would suppose you could get >$6 a pound or so. we keep, give away, release, or bait rig the blackfin we catch.

1/13/2009 1:14:13 PM