During the Oregon Albacore Commission's meeting Thursday, administrator Nancy Fitzpatrick presented a preliminary report from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on last year’s albacore season.
During 2009, ODFW says tuna had very good landings, bringing in roughly 10 million pounds, or about 4,500 M/T.
A topic at Thursday’s meeting was the continued promotion of tuna in local markets. "A couple years ago we realized that we're not getting the message of how good albacore is, what an incredible fish it is and traditionally all of our albacore has gone overseas," says Albacore Commission Chair Rick Goche.
He says, now about 20% of Oregon caught albacore is consumed domestically. Goche says part of what the commission is doing is working on promoting tuna around the state.
The commission has established a website and a call-in line so that commercial fishermen landing tuna can call on their way in and then that information is then put on a phone tree that allows consumers to know when and where fish are going to be in the port closest to them. The website is www.oregonalbacore.org.
ODFW says albacore tuna accounts for 11% of marine fish revenue for the state.
