From: levesque@wahoo.enet.dec.com (Mark Levesque)
Subject: Re: New Jersey Tuna Fishing
Reply-To: levesque@wahoo.enet.dec.com (Mark Levesque)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 12:29:20 GMT

 Peter Cherasia (cherasia@viper.bear.com) wrote:

>water around our chum slick exploded with school bluefin tuna busting water.
>The school covered an area at least 1mi square and we were able to troll
around
>them for 3-4 hours catching 17 fish in the 15 - 30# class and keeping 3 of
them.

 Then, in the next paragraph-

>The problem lies in the fact that the fish take a long time to reach 
>maturity and their breeding population keeps dipping lower and lower every 
>year. 

 Yes, it is a problem that the fish take a long time to mature. People catching
and keeping juvenile fish exacerbates this problem by ensuring that a smaller
population
will get an opportunity to reach maturity in the first place.

 These aren't bluefish. It's not like the fish you kept had reached their
potential.
You stopped them before they even got started. I'd be ashamed to say that
I kept a 15 pound bluefin, just as I'd be ashamed to say I kept an 8" striped
bass.

>There are still relatively 
>vast numbers of bluefins roaming the east coast and they are fairly well 
>protected. 

 How do you figure? The catch per effort metrics have plummeted by two orders
of magnitude in the past 30 years. This means it now takes roughly 100 times
the effort to catch a fish now that it took 30 years ago. How does this
translate
into "vast numbers" and "well protected"?

 The simple fact is that yes, there are still fish out there, but no, they are
not doing well
in any conventional or historic sense of the word well. The tuna industry is
following
in the wake of the swordfish industry. Massive exploitation of the resource,
wholly inadequate and ineffective management, and a live for today attitude on
the part of the commercials- this is a recipe for disaster. And the dramatic
decline
in the numbers of fish is a testament to the depth of the problem.

 What is needed is a comprehensive plan to reduce the strain on the resource.
If I were in charge, here's what I'd do.

 1. No bluefin taken in the gulf of Mexico

 2. Minimum size of 200 lbs for all bluefin- violations may cause seizure of
boat and all equipment.

 3. 1 fish maximum per boat per day/ 2 fish max per season

 4. No purse seiner licenses. No harpoon licenses. Only "general" licenses.

 5. Export fee for giant bluefin tuna = 100% of dock price; money earmarked
for use in reestablishing the fishery

 Drastic? Yup. Necessary? Only if you want the stocks to return. The status
quo is what has caused the problem. We really don't want to see tuna
go the way of swordfish.

 There's no reason that we have to experience a complete collapse before
we act. The commercial interests are a formidable political force, however,
and rational limitations are extremely difficult to impose. The NMFS is
indeed nutless, and is unfortunately a part of the Commerce department...

 It's a bleak picture. Not entirely hopeless, but bleak nonetheless. 

  The Doctah 

  Mark Levesque
  Digital Equipment Corporation
  Littleton, Massachusetts
  levesque@wahoo.enet.dec.com