General Bluefin Tuna Fishery Closes Despite Quota Transfer
The National Marine Fisheries Service has decided to close the General category fishery for large, medium, and giant Atlantic bluefin tuna for the rest of the year. The closure takes effect 11:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday Dec. 6, 2017 and remains in place through Dec. 31, 2017. The quota for this particular fishery has been adjusted by NMFS three times during 2017 with quota transfers from other fisheries. Most recently, 25.6 mt were transferred from the Harpoon category to the General category Dec. 1, 2017, resulting in a greater quota. NMFS, however, has determined that the category’s quota has been reached
General Fishery For Atlantic Bluefin Reopens Thanks To Quota Transfer
The Atlantic bluefin tuna General fishery will reopen December 1 for the first time since early October, thanks to a transfer of quota. NOAA Fisheries is transferring 25.6 mt from the Harpoon category to the General category, part of which will fill in for overharvests made in the September, October, and November subquota. The unused portion, however, results in 12.7 mt for the General category’s December subquota period, thereby providing fishermen with a chance to participate in the December fishery and harvest the U.S.’s remaining quota. The Harpoon category closed for the year as of November 15. The
2017 ICCAT Commission Meeting Concludes With Quota Shifts
More than 700 delegates from 47 member nations met in Marrakesh last week for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to discuss management strategies for several valuable species. The United States is one of many countries party to the commission, an inter-governmental organization responsible for the conservation of tunas and other migratory fish in the Atlantic Ocean. This year, tunas, swordfish, and sharks were on the agenda as scientists brought recommendations based on research findings. The catch limit for western Atlantic bluefin tuna was increased to 2,350 metric tons (mt), resulting in a 17% quota
Sailfish, Ceviche, and Tag Cards At Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala
It was during the slow, hot days of a south Florida summer that The Billfish Foundation and Waterlust hatched a plan to boost each of their marine conservation efforts. The two groups have worked together in the past, creating a short film called “Moneyfi$h” that demonstrated the billfish conservation work to which TBF is dedicated. This time, the project focused on media: Waterlust has a new product design in the making, and needed high quality images of the various colors and patterns exhibited by sailfish, while TBF needed photo and video content of all kinds to help spread their
Atlantic Billfish & Swordfish 2017 Landings Update
NOAA Fisheries recently released an updated estimate of recreational billfish landings in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as commercial and recreational landings of swordfish, thus far in 2017. From January 1 through September 30, 2017, NMFS reports landings of Atlantic blue and white marlin, roundscale spearfish, and western Atlantic sailfish in number of fish. The table below identifies how many of each have been caught so far this year. This landings information is compiled from a number of sources: self-reports in the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Non-Tournament Recreational Swordfish and Billfish Landings Database, tournament landings from the
FAD Project Takes Next Step At GCFI Conference
Team members from The Billfish Foundation joined in the Gulf & Caribbean Fisheries Institute conference held in Merida, Mexico last week. It was the 70th anniversary of the conference, where scientists, managers, and fishers all come together to share information, new technologies, and collaborate on solutions. Both of TBF’s summer 2017 interns were accepted to present their projects at the conference: one a poster and the other an oral presentation. The poster’s topic was a study of consumer attitudes toward seafood and purchasing behavior. Do people really care where their fish comes from? The short answer is yes, the
TBF Calls For Collective Management of FAD Fisheries
Humans have known for centuries that fish are attracted to floating objects. Fishermen have taken advantage of this behavior by fishing around palm fronds, seaweed patches, and any debris that may be found in the open ocean. Theories for the behavior vary from protective sheltering to following food to stock enhancement, all attributable to the floating object. More recently, this behavior has been utilized by both the commercial and recreational sectors seeking large pelagic species, usually found scattered throughout the vast ocean. If a floating object attracts these fish, then it’s a floating object we’ll use to catch
Florida’s Saltwater Industry Back In Business After Irma
Following the wrath of Hurricane Irma came the destruction: downed trees, debris thrown across roadways, docks uplifted from their posts, boats sunken or tossed on land, and in some cases complete flattening of structures. The entire state of Florida felt the massive storm and its aftermath in some way, not least of all the recreational and saltwater industry. Tourism is a strong economic generator for the state, but took a beating during the hurricane. Entertainment parks like Disney World and Miami Seaquarium, water activities like charter fishing and craft rentals, and entire destinations like Key West all shut down
ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA GENERAL FISHERY OPEN 4 DAYS BEFORE ANOTHER CLOSURE
The Atlantic bluefin tuna General category fishery for large-medium and giant bluefin tuna closes Thursday October 5, 2017 for roughly two months. This comes just four days after the October 1 reopening of a previous closure instituted on September 17. The National Marine Fisheries Service made the decision to close the fishery based on the best available landings information in addition to current catch rates and fishing conditions. NMFS determined that the September subquota for the General category will be reached by October 5, warranting a closure. This closure applies to vessels permitted in the commercial Atlantic tunas General category as
TUNAS & FLOATING OBJECTS DOMINATE CONVERSATION AT ICCAT
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (and other highly migratory species, HMS) convened mid-September in Madrid, Spain specifically to discuss management of tropical tunas followed by the topic of fish aggregation devices (FADs). The first gathering regarding tropical tunas was largely made up of scientists, with heavy representation from Spain, France, and the U.S., as well as with individuals from Japan, Ivory Coast, the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, and more. The purse seine fishery is of primary concern when it comes to tropical tunas, as most are caught in this type of gear. Further, purse seine
