“We had people running around with cars with giant bluefin tuna on top, people slapping signs on automobiles, there was even an assault or two,” Preble said. “It was a mess.”

Preble was a member of the United States delegation to the annual meeting of the 48-nation International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas held in November in Paris, France.

On one side of the contention, he said, were environmental groups that wanted to see bluefin tuna listed as an endangered species and wanted to stop fishing all together. On the other side, he said, were fishery managers who were attempting to weigh the merits of continued fishing at some level, given signs that some recovery is occurring.

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