Fisherman's 881-Pound Tuna Seized by Authorities: Why?

no, how the heck could arod and real pull in that much weight>!

No doubt! Really lame law, in my opinion. Anything to keep ya down, no?

wrong, see below.

He is a professional fisherman if he doesnt know the rules he should find a different job. If you are a truck driver and you are caught speeding should you get out of a fine claiming you didnt know you had to do the speed limit.

First of all, to make such a comment you apparently are unaware of fishing regulations and the story of the tuna. The only US entity with more regulations than the fishing industry is the IRS. That is actual fact. One of the most recent regulations to go into effect in New England, where this fish was caught and which governs Mr Raphael's boats such as the one on which this tuna was caught, is 800 pages long. That's just one regulation- and new ones are passed all the time, affecting various species. Not only that, but when you read the regulations, they are riddled with complex abbreviations that are continually changing. It is far, far, far more complicated than a speed limit. If you look at it compared to the IRS and the tax code- fishing regulations are about as complex as that- a lot of people hire full time accountants who spend their entire career just keeping up to date on these codes. Fishermen don't have that luxury. They, on maybe 2 or 4 hours of sleep a day for their week's fishing, have to come back to the dock, try to figure out what is going on with regs, then turn around and go back out. As soon as he knew his boat had caught this tuna, Mr Raphael (who is not a fisherman, but fleet boat owner) called National Marine Fisheries Service, the fishery regulatory body, to ask if it was legal for him to bring it in, since he had the correct permits. The agency told him it was OK, and to bring it in. So, Mr Raphael did the right thing- he contacted the authorities, was honest, and got the proper clearance. It is not his fault if the regulatory agencies themselves don't even know the law, and that is their business.

Ignorance of the law does not acquit a person, unless they are guilty of voter fraud. To my knowledge voter fraud is the only crime over-looked when the accused claims ignorance.

So... who gets the tuna?

I would think that Fish & Game in that jurisdiction would take custody.

This is ridiculous... And I would like to know who is going to profit from this if him and his crew do not. This is when I feel that our represenatives and government have failed us.
May God bless him double what they have taken from him.

wrong, see below.

Seriously?! Don't the Federal authorities have more important things to worry about than a how a man catches a fish?!!!

wrong, see below.

There's a missing fact that you guys do not seem to be aware of.

Bluefin tuna are on the way to extinction. If current trends continue, nobody will be catching them.
Why does Bluefin tuna cost so much? supply and demand. As a commodity becomes rare, the price goes up, which causes people to seek it ever more intently until there is none left.

It's called the tragedy of the commons. If you are going to feel sorry for the poor little fishermen who broke a rule and don't get to be rich, say goodbye to bluefin tuna, forever.

I am not making this up. Fishermen now have the technology to catch every bluefin tuna in the sea. The question is, do we let them do it.

Chris thank you for that infomation.

sorry Chris, this was not a target, it was a fluke!
The chance of a dragger catching a Bluefin is like hitting the lottery.
Besides, Bluefin as big as that one are faster than a nuclear sbmarine.
This fish may have been sick, or even dead when scooped up.
Is it just tuna you are concerned with?

I like tuna to survive, and an added benefit to tuna survival is that humans will still get to eat them in the future.

any more questions? :)

try this for perspective-
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/science/earth/28tuna.html

A couple facts that the article left out. Mr. Raphael is one of the most experienced, knowledgeable and successful fishermen in Massachusetts. He outfitted his vessels with a General Category Tuna Permit, which authorizes the take of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ABFT) by a number of methods including harpoon, and rod and reel. The catch of tuna by nets is restricted to purse seines and is highly regulated, allowing only retain large-medium ABFT (235-310 lbs). This species is tightly regulated because the species is overfished and overfishing is occuring and the US Govt committed to ICCAT (although the state of the decline of the western Atlantic stock is debatable) and nets are a highly efficient way of catching school fish, like tuna, so their use is restricted.

However, Mr. Raphael's catch was uncommon and highly unlikely. Tuna are a mid-water to surface fish and Mr. Raphael was setting bottom trawl gear. Therefore, the tuna must have become ensnared in the gear as it was being set, as it is very improbable that the tuna could have been captured when the gear was being retrieved due to the speed and size of the fish and the dynamics of otter trawl gear.

My opinion is that Mr. Raphael, considering his status in the fishery, should have been more aware of what his permits authorized and for a man with his experience and knowledge of the waterfront to claim ignorance is laughable. However, there is also the issue of whether NMFS should allow a small set-aside of the annual ABFT quota for incidental bycatch by bottom trawl vessels (not mid-water trawl b/c it may create a directed fishery). Then again it speaks to how rare this catch is, that having such a set aside has likely never even been considered.

And for what its worth you can absolutely catch a giant tuna on a rod and reel. A close friend of mine paid of his student loans with his share of the proceeds from a giant tuna.

thanks Jay, that is useful!