With stiff wind and sea conditions, Capt. Birch aboard Fish Guts Charters, Seaside Park, felt the ocean was not an option. He was prepared to take a local charter, Tom and his son, Ryan, fishing. Father and son were scheduled for an inshore wreck trip, but were more than willing to give crabbing a try.
Capt. Birch reported that the crabs have been crawling in and around Seaside Park, and he proved just that with 10-year-old Ryan having the best time, with nonstop action. They called it a day with more than 70 big blue-claws and a crabbing trip father and son will remember for a lifetime. Check out Capt. Birch at www.fishgutscharters.com.
Fish Monger Charters from Brielle continues to stay on fish; Capt. Jerry had charter David Back and friends for a return trip and headed to the fluking grounds. What started as a slow pick got into a good drift, with sea bass and 13 keeper fluke up to 6 pounds. The Fish Monger knows how to improvise to save any trip. Check them out at www.fishmongercharters.com.
Capt. Nick aboard the Luna Sea had Uncle Luna and friend Matt aboard for some fluking. Capt. Nick worked it hard from Chapel Hill all the way to the tip of the Hook and managed to put six nice fluke in the box from 19 to 21 inches with plenty of short action along the way.
Who will look out for the future of tuna?
The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) is the intergovernmentalmanagement authority composed of 16 member countries with the mandate to regulate fishing fleets to avoid overexploitation of tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Tuna is not recovering from the fishing fleets, and it is not just conservation groups that say so, but also the IATTC’s own scientists. With increasing urgency, these fisheries experts have used some of the best information in existence as the basis for recommending urgently required actions to avoid overfishing of tuna stocks.
Things are not looking good for the fish, especially the region’s big eye tuna, which may be on the same downward spiral that has taken blue fin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean to the brink of economic extinction. Conservation, research and nongovernmental fisheries organizations argue that either hard decisions are taken now, or impacts on the fish and people dependent on marine resources will only get worse.
A new consortium known as the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is bringing together tuna processors, scientists and environmental nongovernmental organizations to get behind the IATTC and other fisheries management organizations so they base management on scientific recommendations aimed to protect tuna stocks and reduce their impacts on nontarget species such as dolphins, turtles, sharks and seabirds.
If the IATTC does not act soon, it will fall to consumers to make their tuna purchases from responsible processors and brands that offer fish from areas that are acting to ensure that tuna populations stay healthy for the long term. This would be not only good business and good news for the fish, but also for the consumers who enjoy tuna that is responsibly captured. But for now, all eyes are on the IATTC. For updates and more information log on to www.billfish.org.
Fish On!