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Lets first be honest, The GBFT fishery is dead on the east coast. Let me say it again it is DEAD. Without a consistent supply of bait i.e. herring due to over fishing for them by the trawlers they wont be caught in huge numbers like before. Secondly until the population of tuna and the ocean is looked at as ONE ecosystem and one cohesive population to protect, the fish (tuna) will continue to be raped by other countries who either dont have stringent rules or who dont care because of the financial windfall they might reap by over harvesting these fish. Look what goes on over in the Mediterranean. The farming and killing of juveniles and the spawning sized fish is horrible and irresponsible. Penning fish to fatten them up and then sell for big $$$ leads itself to overfishing and should be outlawed.
The fishery has changed due to the above reasons and other factors but tuna fishing is now a RECREATIONAL game and one we should be careful on how we manage this resource. Personally I think the regs are NOT conducive to sustaining a healthy population. Why wouldn't we want a strong year class to develop to 47" which is considered by the experts sexually mature and reproduce? I wish the regs were 50" and one per day. 27" is nuts. How much meat is that 27" fish really going to yield? I understand that only 5% of all the boats catch and that the recs dont really have much if any of an impact on the population but are the regs shortsighted? I hope not. My greatest wish for these fish is to be able to see the giants return in the numbers of a decade ago or even more and ensure that my daughter will be able to fish for these fish when she is old enough.
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