Piemma, that is correct, you do need a federal permit, there are 3 different catagories, commercial to sell, Charter-Head boat, & recreational. The Permit can be purchsed online for $22. There are also size catagories depending on which permits you posses and limits on catch and retain. All football tuna kept must measure at least 27 inches- 72 inches from the tip of the mouth, over the peck fin to the fork in the tail to keep. the quota's on the number of fish you can keep, change thruout the season and right now it is one fish per vessel for recreation, 1 for charter head boat and 2 over 72 inches for commercial I believe.
But I gotta tell ya when you see these fish out there it is an awesome site and a total adrenaline rush!!!! Yesterday we probably saw around 300 + tuna from 6 am to 3 pm. We had alot of shots at them but they can be finnicky at times but thats just the way fishing for these tunoids go. But you can't catch them if your not out there.
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