Editor's note: The following is from an article by John Koegler in the October 2009 Newsletter from the Jersey Coast Anglers Association.

Over Fished Tuna

Internationally ALL tuna are over fished. The EU countries have during the last 33 years refused to impose any tuna regulations on themselves. They had more reasons not to regulate their country’s tuna landings than Bayer has aspirins.

There is a slight chance something will be done next year. The EU fishery management has specified that bluefin tuna are over fished and that something must be done. What they propose is to list bluefin tuna under the CITIES endangered species regulations. EU countries have never followed any tuna regulations regardless of the rules. It is doubtful after so many wasted years that anything will be done. Such an international listing, if approved, will fall primarily on United States and other North America fishermen. Because of total lack of EU enforcement nothing will likely happen for another 10 years.

Those who have followed such matters know that Spain and France have built super purse seiners so large that they can now operate in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. These new seiners have exploded their country’s landings of yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna of all sizes. The impact on US east coast fishermen is their summer yellowfin tuna landings have been lower every year for the last 8 years.

Their once great yellowfin tuna fishery has disappeared. Not because of lack of bait but because France and Spain are now catching over 15 million pounds yearly. This is a massive increase from the less than the million pounds they previous reported.

NO ONE at NMFS cares that US yellowfin tuna are being slaughtered in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. Despite ICCAT approving yellowfin and Bigeye tuna landing limits, such limits are totally ignored by all European and African nations!

NMFS representatives to ICCAT have refused to allow US members to challenge these illegal yellowfin/bigeye landings for whatever reason. The slaughter goes on with no end in sight. The result is the US east coast once great summer and fall tuna are being sold by the French and Spanish seiners.

The result is most canyon anglers now chunk all night and catch not a single tuna. When NMFS is challenged at the ICCAT advisors meeting, the advisors demand for action is ignored. Does anyone care? I guess not since nothing has been done to stop this outright theft of a once great United States east coast fishery. Save jobs and business at the economically starved marinas and tackle stores on the east coast? What a stupid idea!

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