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Every fishery has it's own set of variables and factors, as well as different people fishing for them - recreational, small commercial (solo tuna boats) and large commercial (seiners).
Each one of these groups also get something out of fishing for the tuna - recreational get fun and some food, "small" get some money to supplement either a tradesman wage or the measely dollars they squeeze out of a few other fisheries, "large" get money money and support people working in their operation, job's, business, etc. That being said, all the groups have their own reasons and maybe "right" to fish their style.
Yet, as somewhat of an outsider, I look at the seiners making three sets, well over 100 large total, and I wonder what the impact of that is, and question whether it's almost as bad as what is going on over in the Mediteraean (spelling?). I know for sure that it is basically killing the "small" boats out of all the Mass Harbors - Green Harbor, Marshfield, Provincetown etc. for this fishery. Slowly these guys are getting their profession chipped away and each year more and more are dropping out.
On the recreational side fish are being taken every day, but I'm not sure it's two to three hundred a day (based upon what I've seen at the docks and on the radio, as most of the recreationals can't help but broadcast their success!).
I don't know the right answer, as Ronnie rightly points out it really goes back to the bait. But until that is solved maybe we try to slow-up the take of so many fish - large and small?
Learn from the striped bass fishery - step back and take a look. What would all the bassmasters say if a large commercial operation was permitted to go out and seine up about 1000 30 to 40 pounders in the deep water? Would we protest then?
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