They have been getting tuna from shore on the outer beaches

and I was told that you can not keep it if caught. the tuna permit is for the vessel and not the angler so it must be released right away.
I thought if you had a boat you had to get a permit and if you caught a tuna from shore it was yours no permit.

I think the fish have to be 47" now anyways to keep if you're a recreational angler.

Also, as far as I know, being on shore isn't a valid excuse if you're caught with one. Boat only, and only if you have a permit.

I heard it was a 25# bft from the horses mouth. The guy kept it too. Saw the steaks and everything. He was in the unit right next to me at the hotel I stayed at. 47" would be @ 50# I'm guessing. And yes, caught on a darter from shore. If I knew the regs I might have turned him in. Honestly though, I think I would have a hard time throwing one of those babies back myself. (I would though after a quick pic) It still would be hard.

I also heard that tins and metals were getting them.

You said unit ha haha ha

I almost said back-side too. :faga:

When I was at the Race last weekend ,there was talk of a tuna hookup each day ,although I never saw one .Everybody sure was yackin about it enough though so I guess it was true. Anyway on Saturday Ranger Rachel was drivin up and down the beach lookin' very hard ,they said she was lookin for the guy with the tuna. ;) Personally , I think she was looking for Habs so's she could get a needlefish plug.

I heard the same thing about the rangers.

Tuna from shore - sweet.
Permits?
We don't need no stinkin' permits.
Stuff that baby under your arm, run off the beach like OJ in a Hertz commercial and get some lemons on the way home..

Although the chance of getting caught is minimal (and fresh tuna steaks do taste incredible) getting caught could get real ugly.

Fines for possession are very steep. I can't find any numbers right now but I'm pretty sure it's thousands of $$, not hundreds. You can probably say goodbye to any fishing gear you have on you at that moment and if they were in a bad mood your beach buggy as well.

They take it very seriously.

I can't believe what some of you guys are saying, and then you have the nerve to bitch abut some guy from CT who wants to illegally sell a couple of hundred pounds of fish? Not only don't you have the required permit but its odds on that the fish is undersized as well, yet you think you have divine right to keep it. How are you different thn the guy selling fish without a license?

Hey, I said I'd throw it back. I just said it would be hard, that's all. In fact, I think everyone else on this thread was talking about regulations. Accept Joe of course, but it was obvious to me he was just joking @. Lighten up a bit will ya??

What if the tuna is in a can? Can I keep it?

:jester:

How are you different thn the guy selling fish without a license?

You're not selling it.

MoroneSaxi????

Only if it was caught on a barbless circle hook.

The way I had it explained to me was you needed a permit and you only could fish for them from a boat. Like Pete said major fine if you get caught with one without a permit. ThomT

"I can't believe what some of you guys are saying, and then you have the nerve to bitch abut some guy from CT who wants to illegally sell a couple of hundred pounds of fish? Not only don't you have the required permit but its odds on that the fish is undersized as well, yet you think you have divine right to keep it. How are you different thn the guy selling fish without a license?"

How is a surfcaster who has the good fortune to catch a tuna from shore different from a guy who got caught selling two hundred pounds of poached bass?

Ya kiddin' right?

Well.....
Maybe because the surfcaster will probably get between 0-1 tuna in his lifetime from shore and the guy caught with a couple hundred pounds of poached bass has most likely made a part-time job of it long before he was caught?

I don't think I'm ever gonna catch a tuna from shore but I would not worry about the Rhody DEM Officers catching anything other than a few z's in their green machines until their pensions kick in.

Why would there be a law that allows you to catch a fish from a boat but not from shore? What difference does it make to the fishery if your feet are in a boat or on the dirt when you catch that fish??

I wonder if you threw it back minus the stakes would you get a fine.
If you can't land and keep a tuna from shore there is definitely something
wrong with that law, and why do only Boat guys get a chance to keep
them, are they special?

I can't believe what some of you guys are saying, and then you have the nerve to bitch abut some guy from CT who wants to illegally sell a couple of hundred pounds of fish? Not only don't you have the required permit but its odds on that the fish is undersized as well, yet you think you have divine right to keep it. How are you different thn the guy selling fish without a license?

:rollem:

You gotta love the rainy days.....

:rotf3:

"...Rhody DEM Officers catching anything other than a few z's in their green machines until their pensions kick in.

I actually saw DEM officers at Watch Hill checking people for shorts (fish that is) It's the first time in 15 yrs I've seen them ANYWHERE other than fresh water. I'm sure that was it for the millenium.

I wonder if you threw it back minus the stakes would you get a fine.
If you can't land and keep a tuna from shore there is definitely something
wrong with that law, and why do only Boat guys get a chance to keep
them, are they special?

FWIW, the permit is issued to the vessel. So if I have one for my boat and I hook one while fishing with you on your boat, I can't keep it. OTOH, if you fish with me on my boat, you are covered even though I bought the license. At least it works both ways.

Even if you could buy a license to fish them from shore, how many surfcasters would pay $22 in case they hook an sbft? I'm guessing not many.

I'm kinda surprised that Joe has no problem with poaching. He uses the same rationalization that googans use to keep short bass. "hey, if I'm lucky enough ... I'm gonna keep it" :yak:

yes, as roger said, the permit is for your vessel only. not for the person. and, you are required to call in your catch as well within 24 hours. the feds do not screw around w/ tuna. also, you cannot even cast to tuna w/o the permit, never mind keep. tuna are one of the weathiest fish in our ocean and one with the most politics attached. ever wonder why there are many helicopters around occasionally when the tuna show up? or the coast guard and unmarked vessels are around looking for people illegally catching tuna?

on the subject of tunas from shore, how many anglers would be able to distinguish a bft from a yft or big eye? smaller species are very hard to tell apart from time to time.

If anyone gets a YFT or big-eye from shore then they must live with a 1000 horseshoes up their backside; I dont know of anyone who got YFT within 40 miles from the beahc and big-eyes from any closer than the edge or just up off the edge (close to 100 miles)

You gotta love the rainy days.....

:rotf3:
...and it's only October. Wait til Winter.

http://www.filmha.com/posters/minority_report_poster_02.jpg
I'm guilty of a "pre-crime" poaching tuna from shore.

I'm kinda surprised that Joe has no problem with poaching. He uses the same rationalization that googans use to keep short bass. "hey, if I'm lucky enough ... I'm gonna keep it" :yak:

That's exactly my point! Illegal is illegal regardless if its selling bass or illegally catching and keeping a tuna. How can you rail against anone else breaking the law when you condone breaking it in "certain" situations? Is it O.K, to keep 8 inch scup if you're going to live line them for bass? How about 6 inch Tog? I could go on and one, but I think you guys got the point.

As was said above, I think Joe's post was a bit of a joke.

-spence

MakoMike: You need to start fighting back whenever people complain about plovers and dogfish then. If you're so adamant about regulation then start backing them all.

I complain about the plover and dogfish regs. But just because I don't like them doesn't mean I go out and break them.

I emailed some of the Marine Fisheries folks and the answer I got as of Friday is this:
To possess an Atlantic bluefin, yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, or albacore an individual must have a federal permit. False albies, Little Tunnys and Blackfin can be taken w/out this permit.

These federal permits are issued to State registered or USCG Documented vessels, versus individuals. This policy was devised for a number of reasons, we can discuss in more detail.

Therefore, if a bluefin was landed by a surfcaster it would need to be released, as heartbreaking as it may sound. Keeping one would be viewed as a violation of the Atlantic tuna regulations.

I will give him a call tomorrow and see what is up

I complain about the plover and dogfish regs.
I hate them things. :whackin:

I've caught a few Tuna from shore in my younger days...Oh what a fight.

I just don't understand why NMFS won't issue the same boat permit for shore anglers, as crazy as that sounds. What's the big deal? Shore anglers are far less likely to land a tuna than their boat brethren, NMFS could rake in the bux. Kinda like the lottery.

my brother was fishing next too the guy from conn,who caught that tuna at ant hill, had a hell of a fight him and his buddy landed it and put it in the cooler a female ranger came down immieditly too look at the catch and told him to release it he said he had a permit but not on him it was in his boat ,she took down his numbers and other info he said he could keep the fish as he said it was a yellow fin not a buel fin so the ranger had a hand book as they treid too i d the fish she did not even know the rules looked real stupid looking at a book arguing with this guy as you cant keep a tuna from shore and it was not a yellow fin,are these rangers game wardens also?because if they are they need to go back to school , anyway the put the fish in the cooler and left,my brother continued to fish and he hooked up with a lg. bluefish right after the guy left the ,in which he released in the surf the female ranger then came down to him and wanted to know what he just released in the water acting real warden like,what business is it what you release in the surf my brother said she looked like a total fool arguing with this guy and did not know what she was looking at to begin with ,if your going too inforce the law please know it ,or stick too the beach stickers shawn from ludlow mass

Again this illustrates how rule makers are out of touch with reality. I don't understand the permit reasons in the first place! (I have one though) What are they actually doing besides issuing permits? I see no reason for permitting except that it is a baby step towards saltwater fishing lic's. I think what ever they are doing could be done without permits. For the most part there is little enforcement. It is nearly impossible to enforce this.

How many of you actaully sent in your catch results of tuna fishing EACH DAY YOU WENT? You are suppose to within 24 hours of fishing. I am calling the feds on you. :hs:

Surf fishing...If you catch one I doubt anyone will say anything but the rule is you have to release it. In my view, they never considered the possiblity of a surf caster being able to catch one so they made the lic for boats.

Whether it was a yellowfin or a bluefin would be pretty irrelevant, no? Both are regulated.

Juveniles are very tough to tell apart. It's blatantly obvious it was a bluefin by where it was caught though. Everyone and their brother were coming into the shop this summer telling me they were catching "yellowfin" a mile off Newport....

How many of you actaully sent in your catch results of tuna fishing EACH DAY YOU WENT? You are suppose to within 24 hours of fishing. I am calling the feds on you. :hs:



People SHOULD even if some don't. The catch reports help track where the fish are (for better enforcement) as well as how agressively any given age class is being fished. Catch reports are given to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. All our regulations and size restrictions are based on them.

You can even do it online. People should respect this incredible (and vulnerable) fishery. This fish isn't a scup or some other fast breeding, boring fish. What happened last year off of RI wasn't even remotely normal. People think I'm joking when I say it was probably once in a lifetime. Hopefully it will happen again. Better regulation will increase the chances of it.

Sandy,
FWIW, I heard numerous reports from earlier this year when the bluefins were close tot he beach in RI of RI DEM issuing citations to boats fishing for tuna without the federal permit. Supposedly the fines were a couple of grand.

Again this illustrates how rule makers are out of touch with reality.
I hope this isn't too far off topic. It's got nothing to do with tuna from shore, but is another illustration of how inept enforcement agents can be.
I was returning from a scalloping trip on George's Bank this past summer when we were stopped by the Coast Guard for a rountine boarding/inspection.
We are allowed to possess 300 lbs of monkfish for every 24 hours that we fish. We fished for 13 days and had about 3000 lbs of monk aboard. When they checked the fish hold, the CG told us we were in violation because the possession limit was 300 lbs for the entire trip.We assured them they were wrong, but they stated that they were certain. They proceeded to hold us up for over an hour while they flipped through regs in thier binders, contacted "the mother ship" to consult with other officials and so forth. Of course, they turned out to be wrong, and sent us on our way with profuse appologies and quite a bit of embarassment to themselves.

Moderators: Please move this to some other thread if it's too far :topic: