Much of the bluefin tuna quota taken from U.S. State North Carolina fishermen late last year probably won't be given back.
Quota left over from the 2003 season would have to be considered for other states as well as for North Carolina, said Bill Hogarth, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service said Tuesday.
During a visit to the NMFS lab in Beaufort, Hogarth said he believes bluefin tuna fishermen in northern states generally support some quota allowance for a North Carolina fishery.
But that support has limits, he said. “If you start exceeding 70 to 100 metric tons in North Carolina, I think you're going to see a real turmoil that you're taking away from us,†Hogarth said.
Most North Carolina fishermen would probably agree that NMFS would be in a precarious position over the allocation of the fish, said Pete Manuel, president of Winter Bluefin Tuna Association. “If the agency voluntarily gave them to us, then the northeast groups would probably sue them,†Manuel said.
But North Carolina fishermen also believe they should have been allowed to fish on 150 metric tons of bluefin tuna that was transferred out of the commercial hook-and-line fishery in mid-November. The action came just prior to a December season opening when the fish had begun to migrate to waters off the North Carolina coast, Manuel said.
Winter Bluefin formed two years ago to persuade federal fisheries authorities to reserve some of each year's tuna quota for the south Atlantic winter fishery. The group has hired a Norfolk, Va., law firm to research whether the organization should ask the courts for an injunction requiring NMFS to save quota leftover from 2003 for winter 2004 fishing.
The 150 metric tons were moved to a reserve category after NMFS revised its estimated 2002 tuna catches in the recreational fishing category and found a possible overage that, under an international agreement, must be paid back the next year.
“The process of looking at that data is not complete,†Hogarth said.
North Carolina fishermen are increasingly concerned that the numbers will not be finalized in time to do them any good this year, should the totals reveal there were less overages than thought, Manuel said. “Right now, it doesn't look very favorable,†Manuel said.
The possible error also resulted in NMFS closing recreational tuna fishing in November, leaving only a tag-and-release option for the North Carolina charter boat fleet. Manuel said he has received about 50 e-mails from charter boat captains who lost business this winter because their fares would not be allowed to keep a fish.
If NMFS finds there was bluefin tuna quota leftover from 2003, it would rollover to the 2004 season, which begins in June, Hogarth said.
The National Marine Fisheries Service would have to consider allocations of that quota to different categories of fishing, some of which do not exist in North Carolina, he said.
North Carolina was successful in getting NMFS to extend the commercial hook-and-line season, which formerly closed Dec. 31, through January this season and fishermen were able to catch some tuna.
About 75 metric tons of quota had been reserved for that December and January season, Hogarth said. “Right now it's pretty close to about 106 metric tons that they caught,†he said.
Manuel said that Winter Bluefin has, for now, ceased considering a lawsuit against NMFS in order to obtain a set aside quota for the winter months each year because it appears the agency is acting on the state's petition on the issues.