Combination Tuna Tag-And-Release And Sports Fishery May Be Optionff

DFO biologist at workshop says Gulf of St. Lawrence only exception to global depression of bluefin stocks.

Prince Edward Island bluefin tuna fishermen gathered in Charlottetown Tuesday to take a look at their industry from a scientific perspective and examine ways of dealing with the global decline of this valuable species.

Overfishing in the Mediterranean and other regions, plus the voracious demand of the Japanese raw fish marketplace, are key factors in a general depression of Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks world-wide, with the exception of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Now, with new international stock status assessments coming up in 2008, Dr. John Neilson, federal Fisheries and Oceans tuna biologist in St. Andrews, N.B., is taking a closer look at what is going on in the undersea world of the giant bluefin.

Neilson said 2006 assessments showed stocks well below the goal the International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) sets for healthy levels.

As a result, lower quotas were recommended and accepted and global quota was reduced last year from 2,700 tons to 2,100 tons. Since then, Neilson said additional research has come to light that will add greatly to the 2008 assessment.

Neilson has learned stocks from the two spawning grounds of the Atlantic’s giant bluefin, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico do, in fact, mix together off the Atlantic seaboard in the Boston area and southerly regions. Yet it is only those fish from the Gulf of Mexico which seem to make their way to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

“And although there is a global trend of stock decline everywhere else, only the Gulf of St. Lawrence is showing an upward trend over the past few years,” he said. “But in spite of these pockets of high catches, it appears that the fish population in general is in fact depressed, and some new views of science will help us decide which is correct, or if it is a combination of factors.” 

Neilson is also interested in conducting a tag-and-release study which would provide important information on the mortality rate in giant bluefin which are caught by sport fishers and released back to swim again.

The sports fishery in many areas of the world is proving to be even more lucrative than the current commercial fishery.

If the decline in stocks continues, a turn to catch and release could be an important alternative for Island fishermen.

Neilson said for a good study,  at least 50 fish would have to be tagged and released to have strong enough data on whether this will help conserve the species. But he is hopeful.

“In one small professionally handled study of 15 fish that were caught, marked and released, only one died,” he said. â€œIf (Island tuna fishers) like the idea of a field study, we could do one in 2009.” 

Ken MacLeod, a tuna fisher from Naufrage, is in favor of a study and of a sports fishery here in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as long as it would be open to all licensed Island fishermen who are willing to incur the $10,000 expense of gearing up their boats.

“In the rest of the world, the giant bluefin is the sport of kings, and with the quota situation the way it is now it is impossible to know what dates to book charters,” MacLeod said. “With a specific tag-and-release fishery, it would enable charters to book throughout the summer and put P.E.I. back on the map as the tuna capital of the world.”

Ed Frenette, managing director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said response to Neilson’s information by the fishers present was positive. In relation to the tag- and-release sports fishery, he said “it is something we would be prepared to examine.” 

Frenette said a key issue would be establishing the relationship of a sports fishery to the regular commercial effort.