Saving Seafood

Pacific bluefin tuna quotas soar by 80 percent in 2025

October 11, 2024 — According to NOAA Fisheries, commercial Pacific bluefin tuna fishermen in the United States will be able to harvest nearly 80 percent more tuna in 2025-2026, thanks to new catch limits set by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. The decision, made in September, follows an encouraging stock assessment by the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species, which found the Pacific bluefin population rebuilt a decade ahead of schedule. This increase offers a major boost for U.S. commercial and recreational fisheries, particularly in Southern California, after years of strict conservation efforts.

The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission increased catch limits during a meeting in Panama in early September.

U.S. fishermen harvest Pacific bluefin tuna using hook-and-line, purse seine, and drift gillnet gear and land their catch mainly in Southern California ports. Additionally, increases in commercial catch limits will benefit recreational anglers who also catch Pacific bluefin off Southern California. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission resolution that increased commercial catches also called for consistent management of sport fishing.

In 2022, U.S. commercial fishers harvested 368 metric tons, or more than 800,000 pounds, of Pacific bluefin tuna. They earned more than $2.2 million for the catch. The 2-year catch limit for 2025–26 is increasing almost 80 percent, to 1,822 metric tons from 1,017 in 2023–24. That means the U.S. fleet can bring more Pacific bluefin tuna to the docks and seafood markets. This would be a welcome change for captains, crew, and seafood distributors after more than a decade of belt-tightening in the fishery.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

MAINE: New School teaching commercial fishing course

January 5, 2016 — I have been privileged to help design and instruct a “public policy in the commercial fishing industry” course for high school students, along with teacher Steven Schaefer, at The New School, here in Kennebunk.

When Schaefer first approached me about working with him, he wanted the students to hear from real people working in the industry and to learn from the men and women who know the ocean intimately, as only those who navigate it and rely on it to earn their living can. He wanted the students to learn about the side of fishing that you do not see in picturesque summer tourist photos in quaint harbors.

You know the stuff people don’t want to talk about as much – like rough days and close calls at sea, days without catches when you still have to pay for fuel and your boat mate’s wages. The ever rising cost of boat and gear maintenance, upkeep, insurance. The frustration of being told that the days you have to make your living have been cut back or the prices being paid for the fish you harvest have dropped – even though the cost of bait to catch those fish has skyrocketed.

The important role that the fishing industry plays in the economy and infrastructure of a community is seldom realized until fishermen are forced NOT to work because of cutbacks, rules and regulations – and when this happens, we all pay the price. Bait dealers don’t sell bait, fish markets and processing plant employees lose work, seafood truckers and transporters lose out, and seafood prices go up. Fuel companies lose money, marine mechanics lose work, boat mates don’t have work, lobster trap mill workers and marine supply stores cut back – it is a trickle down effect. Even people like me who write about the commercial fishing industry feel the impact. If the fishermen don’t work, I don’t work either.

Read the full story at SeacoastOnline