Mass. fishermen snare 881-pound tuna, feds take it

[lonestarnot]

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - It's the big one that got taken away.

Local fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael was elated when one of his trawlers snared an 881-pound bluefin tuna earlier this month.

But the joy was short-lived. Federal fishery enforcement agents seized the fish when the crew returned to port Nov. 12.

Rafael had tuna permits but was told catching tuna with a net is illegal.

Instead, it's got to be caught by handgear, such as rod and reel, harpoon or handline.

http://www.kpho.com/story/16101644/mass-fishermen-snare-881-pound-tuna-feds-take-it
____________________________

You can tune a piano, but you can't tune a fish cheater!

[flvegan]

1. I do hope all responders read the article posted. n/t

[lonestarnot]

2. I especially like where all that money is going to go since the big fishie is already dead.

[Atman]

3. The story isn't at that link.

My father was a sport fisherman. He caught a couple of 900lb + tuna in his day. By line. Takes all day and a seasoned crew to land one of those mothers. At first I was surprised the net would even hold him, but then I realized why it's not allowed...the fish can't fight back if it's all tangled up in a net.

[Ilsa]

4. Carlos Rafael needs to watch The End of the Line.

Bluefin will be extinct soon from overfishing and huge commercial fishing boats using dragnets. The prediction I heard was that we could be fished out completely by 2050. Of course, the biggest offenders are international commercial fishermen and foreign govts not willing to enforce international quotas.

[redqueen]

5. Everyone should be aware of it...

and no one should be consuming bluefin tuna.

[fascisthunter]

14. indeed

[B Calm]

6. I stand with the sport fisherman

[Scuba]

7. "Nobody ever told me we couldn't catch it with a net." is not a valid excuse ...

... for violating fish/game laws.

[ensho]

8. that old, that big, it probably contained a deadly amount of mercury

and should never be eaten

[backscatter712]

9. Was that an Atlantic Bluefin?

Aren't they endangered?

[Motown_Johnny]

10. cross posting a link to an OP from tuesday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2364008


^snip^

Why Are We Eating Bluefin Tuna to Extinction?

The Atlantic bluefin tuna—an animal that reaches 1500 pounds, swims at 40 miles per hour, heats its blood 20 degrees above ambient and crosses the breadth of the ocean—is in serious trouble. The Western, American stock has declined by about 80 percent, and by about 70 percent in its Mediterranean spawned-population. Even after the fish garnered a series of major PR hits (such as Greenpeace's and Sea Shepherds' campaigns to liberate netted tuna in the Mediterranean last year and my subsequent New York Times Magazine cover story) the bluefin remains persistently present on menus around the country and around the world.

[redqueen]

11. "Why Are We Eating Bluefin Tuna to Extinction?"

Thoughtlessness, selfishness...

Thanks for linking to that article.

[Logical]

12. And rightly so, if not then next week 100 tuna will be "accidentally" caught. Get a clue.

[fascisthunter]

13. sorry.. this sucks, but they didn't follow the law

and this law was meant to protect tuna. If all tuna was caught with a net, there may be no tuna left at all.