On May 11, 2021 at 11:30pm, the Northern Area Trophy Bluefin Fishery closed to angling. It will remain closed for the remainder of the year. The Northern Area is the area north of Great Egg Inlet, New Jersey. More specifically, it is the area north of 39°18’ N latitude. This closure applies to fishermen aboard Atlantic HMS Angling category and Atlantic HMS Charter/Headboat permitted vessels (when fishing recreationally).
The Northern Area closed because anglers met and exceeded the 1.8mt subquota of trophy bluefin tuna. These trophy bluefin are any bluefin 73″ or greater. However, angling for bluefin at least 27″ but less than 73″ is still open in all areas except for the Gulf of Mexico, where bluefin targeting is illegal due to the its importance as bluefin spawning grounds.
This closure comes just a week after the Gulf of Mexico trophy bluefin tuna fishery closed to angling. For more information on that closure, and NOAA’s modification of Atlantic bluefin daily retention limits, click here.
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