Mass. fishermen snare 881-pound tuna, feds take it

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — It's the big one that got taken away.

Local fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael was elated when one of his trawlers snared an 881-pound bluefin tuna earlier this month.

But the joy was short-lived. Federal fishery enforcement agents seized the fish when the crew returned to port Nov. 12.

Rafael had tuna permits but was told catching tuna with a net is illegal.

Instead, it's got to be caught by handgear, such as rod and reel, harpoon or handline.

"We didn't try to hide anything," Rafael told The Standard-Times newspaper of New Bedford, a famous whaling era port 50 miles south of Boston. "We did everything by the book. Nobody ever told me we couldn't catch it with a net."

A fish that big is hugely valuable, prized by sushi-lovers for its tender red meat. A 754pound tuna recently sold for nearly $396,000.

Rafael's fish will be sold overseas, and he'll get no share of the proceeds if regulators find a violation, The Standard-Times reported (http://bit.ly/uczYap ). The money would instead go into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fund that also holds money collected for fishery fines.

Rafael said he thinks he's going to surrender his tuna permits now.

"What good are they if I can't catch them?" he said.

The tuna was likely inadvertently snagged as Rafael's crew set a net to catch bottom-dwellers, he said.

"They probably got it in the mid-water when they were setting out and it just got corralled in the net," Rafael said. "That only happens once in a blue moon."

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Tuna industry whistleblower reveals whale shark slaughter

SHOCKING video of whale sharks, rays and whales being slaughtered by tuna fishermen has been released by an industry whistleblower.

The never-before-seen footage shows protected marine life caught as bycatch, then killed after being lured into massive purse-seine nets by Fish Aggregating Devices, nicknamed death magnets.

The whistleblower, who worked as a spotter onboard a tuna fishing boat in the Pacific said marine species, such as dolphins, manta rays, marlin and whales, were caught almost every time FADs were deployed.  
Greenpeace Ocean Campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the majority of canned tuna eaten in Australia is caught in this manner.

WA shoppers eat more canned tuna than any other seafood, despite evidence that overfishing has pushed stocks into serious decline, with some on the brink of collapse.
Mr Pelle is urging WA consumers to demand retailers stock more sustainable tuna varieties, such as Safcol, which sources tuna not caught using FADs or purse-seine nets.

“Greenseas should be congratulated for recently pledging to stop using FAD-caught tuna by 2015, but that’s several years away,” Mr Pelle said.

“Brands like John West, Coles and Woolworths have refused to make any such commitments.”

Woolworths' media relations manager Benedict Brook said the company offer pole and line caught tuna in its private label brands.

"It is disappointing that Greenpeace has chosen to ignore this fact," Mr Brook said.

On its website John West states it is committed to supplying products that ensure the sustainability of marine resources. Their product compiles with dolphin safe requirements and they are part of the Marine Stewardship Council which works to ensure fish stocks are managed for the future.

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