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Vanishing Tuna Affecting Cape Fishermen
Last Year, Fishermen Caught Less Than 14 Percent Of Quota
POSTED: 7:29 am EDT March 19, 2007
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HYANNIS, Mass. -- Cape fishermen are pulling in diminishing numbers of the prized Atlantic bluefin tuna, exposing their families to financial hardships and concern over the future of the industry in the region.
Bluefin tuna's dark red meat produces some of the most expensive fish dishes in the world. The species is one of the largest bony fishes and can reach lengths of up to 9.8 feet. Adult weights range from 300-1,500 pounds.
More than 5,000 commercial fishermen along the Atlantic coastline pursue them each year as they migrate north in the summer and south in the fall. They are typically seen in New England waters from June to November.
The past two years, however, have seen historic low landings for bluefin. Last year alone, fishermen caught less than 14 percent of their quota -- one of the worst harvest in more than five decades of record keeping, biologist Brad Chase of the state Division of Marine Fisheries said.
The decline is reflected elsewhere in the world. Globally two years ago, Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks have dropped by 80 percent over the past 30 years. The global tuna export market in 2002 was $5 billion, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Andy Baler, owner of Nantucket Fish Co. in Chathan and Dennis, is one of those hit by the trend.
"Last year's tuna season never happened," Baler told The Cape Cod Times.
Baler said he used to process 800 tuna caught in Cape waters for shipment to the Japanese sushi market. Last year, he handled just 60.
"Tuna really helps the commercial guys. When you catch five or six giants, that puts $20,000 in the house," he said.
Bluefin tuna feeds on smaller fishes such as herring, mackerel, whiting, flying fish, and mullet.
Baler believes that the prized tuna are bypassing near-shore waters and heading to Canada because the inshore stocks of herring have all been caught by large vessels towing huge nets.
Canada does not allow such vessels to fish inshore areas.
Peter Baker of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, hopes that recently passed regulations that ban the bigger herring boats from fishing inshore waters along the Gulf of Maine will leave enough fish to attract Bluefin to coastal waters this summer.
"Tuna (season) was a huge part of the year for our fleet," Baker said. "With the collapse of cod, the shutdown on dogfish and with no tuna, it's the perfect trifecta."
Efforts to step up protection of the threatened species are underway.
Last month, the European Union's top fisheries official pressed for stronger protections for the overfished bluefin tuna.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said he wants to extend the fishing offseason, reduce tuna sold on the black market, and impose new worldwide cuts in catch quotas as quickly as possible.
The proposal would reduce catch quotas this year for bluefin tuna caught in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean to 29,500 tons from 32,000. The EU's 27 member states were expected to approve the measure within weeks, officials said.
In Japan last month, worldwide regulators adopted a plan aimed at slowing the decline in global tuna stocks by reining in illegal fishing, controlling the growth of fleets and sharing data on stock assessments.
Illegal fishing has been a curse for the species. In EU waters, it is estimated that one in three catches goes undeclared onto the black market, or an additional 18,000 tons.
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