Honey I shrunk the bluefins!

[captnemo]

It's ashame none of the Asain nations back or follow rules kinda of like Virginia and NC enforcement of the EEZ with the bass. All political BS

I don't know how or if that will ever change. They have a different set of standards over there. Look at whaling, they almost single-handedly as a nation wiped out all the whales, and now they continue to whale, as "research". They have no interest in conservation, how do you motivate people who think like that?

[DarkSkies]

They have no interest in conservation, how do you motivate people who think like that?

I don't know Captnemo, but things are beginning to look very bleak. There are threads on most of the fishing sites now where seasoned Capts are lamenting how it seems the bluefin are not as plentiful. I recently started a thread called "How important are forage fish?",
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ht=forage+fish
based on an thread created by a guy known as bluewater sportfishing. Many of these things are inter-related.

Lots of guys are just not interested. A small % are passionately interested because they fish for them a lot, and are seeing what I and others have talked about here. The "holes" in the stock are now becoming more apparent.


Here's something sent in by Finchaser, courtesy of the Feb 2011 issue of Saltwater Sportsman:
www.saltwatersportsman.com

" ...At the same ICATT meeting, the United States suggested a 3 to 5 year ban on bluefin fishing in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea over concern that the stock might collapse if currentt overfishing continues. No action was taken on this, however."

A lot of the flack seems to come from countries like Japan, Korea, and China. It's time to set aside the political azz kissing and apply even pressure to these non-compliant countries to get with the program before these stocks actually do collapse.

[finchaser]

I don't know Captnemo, but things are beginning to look very bleak. There are threads on most of the fishing sites now where seasoned Capts are lamenting how it seems the bluefin are not as plentiful. I recently started a thread called "How important are forage fish?",
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...ht=forage+fish
based on an thread created by a guy known as bluewater sportfishing. Many of these things are inter-related.

Lots of guys are just not interested. A small % are passionately interested because they fish for them a lot, and are seeing what I and others have talked about here. The "holes" in the stock are now becoming more apparent.


Here's something sent in by Finchaser, courtesy of the Feb 2011 issue of Saltwater Sportsman:
www.saltwatersportsman.com

" ...At the same ICATT meeting, the United States suggested a 3 to 5 year ban on bluefin fishing in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea over concern that the stock might collapse if currentt overfishing continues. No action was taken on this, however."

A lot of the flack seems to come from countries like Japan, Korea, and China. It's time to set aside the political azz kissing and apply even pressure to these non-compliant countries to get with the program before these stocks actually do collapse.

Whose going to do this Obama,he proposed enforcement and the Asain nations basically told him to go Pound salt

[captnemo]

Bluefin tuna at 'risk of collapse' without drastic action.

Posted Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:00:01 GMT by Martin Leggett

The economics of supply and demand don't work in favor of endangered species, it would seem. A new report into the conservation status of tuna and billfish shows that the most endangered fish are the most high-valued - and the only way to prevent a total collapse is to close those fisheries down. The study is being published in Science today, and comes ahead of the third joint meeting of the Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, being held in California next week.

Tuna, which belong to the scombrid family of fishes - also including mackerel and bonitos - are some of the top predatory fish in the oceans, together with billfish such as swordfish and marlin. But many species of both groups are teetering on the edge of catastrophe, because of overfishing - driven in part by rising prices for ever scarcer fish.

This report is the first to assess the extinction risks of all 61 scombrid and billfish species, using the criteria for the Red List of Threatened Species. It is part of an effort by the IUCN to get 20,000 marine species assessed for inclusion on the Red List. This list helps conservationists worldwide to plan their work, telling them which species are most at risk of vanishing; but marine creatures have often been left out of assessments in the past.

According to this new study, 5 of 8 tuna species are so threatened as to make it onto the list - plus three billfish species, the Blue, White and Striped Marlin. But it is the Bluefin tuna which is closest to the edge of the precipice, according to Dr Kent Carpenter, from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and one of the paper's authors.

'All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure. The Southern Bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery. If no changes are made to current fishing practices, the western Atlantic Bluefin stocks are at risk of collapse as they are showing little sign that the population is rebuilding following a significant reduction in the 1970s.'

Part of the problem is that these large predators grow and reproduce slowly. Recovery is therefore a long-term game of patience and forbearance. Whilst temporary fisheries closure is seen as the best hope for Southern and Atlantic Bluefin tuna, in practice this could simply cause a greater loss, as illegal fishing takes over. So the IUCN sees closure as part of program with a wider, longer reach.

'Temporarily shutting down tuna fisheries would only be a part of a much needed recovery program. In order to prevent illegal fishing, strong deterrents need to be implemented,' said Jean-Christophe Vie, Deputy Director, at the IUCN. 'This new study shows that there is an urgent need for effective management. Scientific findings should not be discarded in order to maintain short-term profit. Marine life and jobs for future generations are both at stake.'

[finchaser]

Attachment 13760

Japan ,China,Korea or just plain Asian in general

[storminsteve]

The asians are the biggest rapers of the sea. Some people might think thats racist but all you have to do to check it out is go along their coasts and see how many fish there are. They wiped most of them out with their insatiable demand for fish, so now they have to patrol the oceans in search of more. And I have never seen a Japanese gov't official make a statement that they are killing too many tuna.

[basshunter]

Thought you guys might like this story, kind of ironic

"This week, the commercial fishing boat Roque del Águila, (Tenerife, Canary Islands) quickly sunk in calm waters off the Western Sahara.
By all indications and observations, the vessel’s tuna-fishing trip was ended when a huge swordfish gouged a 7-inch hole in the wooden ship’s hull.
The boat had been on a huge shoal of tuna, which were being put-upon by attacking swords.
Despite being equipped with both primary automatic pumps along with auxiliary pumps, the billfish-born hole was low in the hull. The pressurized incoming water easily overpowering the pumps.
All the crewmembers safely escaped on a life raft and were quickly rescued by nearby fishing vessels.
The owner of the Roque del Águila said he was worried about the swords when the tuna shoal surrounded his boat to essentially hide from the fast-moving predators. "