The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Office of Protected Resources will host two listening sessions with bluefin tuna fishermen in New England this week as part of its review of a petition to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna as an endangered species. The first meeting takes place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 6, at Mariner’s House, 11 North St., Boston (617-227-4201). The second will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 7, at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, Maine.
Fishermen who attend the listening sessions are asked to limit their comments to the status of the bluefin stock as they see it and not to address the economic hardship that may arise from an endangered listing. A spokesperson for NMFS said the agency is not allowed to consider economic hardship as a criterion for listing something as endangered.
Questions attendees may consider include the following: What are your general impressions of the abundance and distribution of Atlantic bluefin tuna over time? If you have experienced a decline or increase in bluefin tuna catches, what do you attribute this to (abundance, distribution, availability, gear changes, regulatory effects, etc.)? Are there particular areas where you typically encounter larger numbers of bluefin tuna? If so, where are they (e.g., inshore or offshore)? Do these areas change on an annual basis? What is the average size of bluefin tuna being caught by different gear types or fisheries?
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