The blue fin tuna is often described as the most exciting sport fish any fishermen can ever hope to catch. In New Hampshire alone, an estimated 200-to-300 fishermen hold tuna licenses. About one hundred of those licenses belong to commercial fishermen. For them, the blue fin tuna represents an increasingly critical component of a highly regulated industry.
But fisherman here on the Eastern Seaboard must contend with very tight quota restrictions. They say the restrictions benefit not the species ? but the fishermen?s competitors on the other side of the Atlantic.
New Hampshire Public Radio?s Doug MacPherson reports.
NIGHT HAS FALLEN BY THE TIME JOE JURACK GUIDES ?MYSTIQUE LADY? ALONGSIDE THE DOCK OF THE YANKEE FISHERMAN?S COOP IN SEABROOK.
TAPE 013 SFX, MYSTIQUE LADY PULLS IN, 016 let me go forward a little bit 017 /// Ok, snug her up right there.
[TAPE 020 SFX: to 027 ? ENGINE NOISE. /// SFX ? 037 ? FORKLIFTS]
JURACK AND A CREW MEMBER SET OUT AT DAWN. TODAY?S CATCH IS PRETTY GOOD -- ABOUT A TON AND A HALF OF SHRIMP. BEFORE HE UN-LOADS THEM, JURACK DOESN?T MIND TAKING A BREAK TO TALK ABOUT A MUCH MORE CHALLENGING FISH: THE GIANT BLUEFIN TUNA.
TAPE JOE JURACK 058 it?s very exciting. Your adrenaline really gets going. But the biggest thing is, they?re hard to catch. It?s just sheer nerve wracking for me. From the time we hook the thing -- It takes a lot to hook them up. You gotta be in the right spot, have the right bait, be there on the right day. :17
LIKE MOST COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN, JURACK FISHES BLUE FIN WITH A HEAVY-DUTY ROD AND REEL. IN SUMMER, WHEN THE BLUE FIN ARE RUNNING, HE?LL ANCHOR HIS BOAT AND PUT OUT A HANDFUL OF HOOKS WHILE HE ?CHUMS? ? SCOOPING HERRING OVER THE SIDE TO ATTRACT THE BLUE-FIN. DAYS COULD GO BY WITHOUT A HIT. WHEN HE DOES GET A HIT, THINGS HAPPEN FAST.
TAPE JOE JURACK 092 when you first hook up, there?s usually a good noise. You put the little clicker on the reel. And it makes a giant noise when the tuna first takes the line out, screaming. And you throw the anchor ball off. Then you wind the other lines in. If that all happens fast, it means you and your crew are working together well. Then you typically chase the tuna down for a little while. They usually swim up into the current to get as much oxygen over their gills as they can. And they get pretty tired after, oh, 40 minutes or so. But then there?s still all that body weight you have to get up to the surface of the water. :38
BLUE FIN ARE THE LARGEST BONY FISH IN THE WORLD, AND PERHAPS THE STRONGEST. THEY CAN SWIM UP TO 25-MILES PER HOUR. THEY CAN REACH 10-FEET IN LENGTH. THE AVERAGE BLUE FIN CAUGHT OFF NEW HAMPSHIRE WEIGHS 5 TO 6-HUNDRED POUNDS.
TAPE JOE JURACK 134 we have all the hydraulics and winches and stuff on the boat. We lift ?em right up, put ?em on the boat. But not before you swim them a little bit. Because of course the quality of the meat is very important when you send it over to japan. /// you know, just like a runner, I guess they build up lactic acid in the midst of their fight there so you have to kind of cool them down so you can get the highest price. :22
LACTIC ACID TURNS THE MEAT PINK. BUYERS LOOK FOR THE DEEP RED COLOR THAT SUSHI LOVERS ARE SERVED WHEN THEY ORDER MAGURO. BOB CAMPBELL, THE MANAGER OF THE YANKEE COOP, IS IN CHARGE OF SELLING THE FISH.
TAPE BOB CAMPBELL 260 we have a list of 8 to 10 buyers that we call that are registered here at our auction. And we tell them how many fish we have for em. The next morning they show up at 9 o?clock. They check em over and then they decide what they want to pay for a price. :14
ONCE SOLD, MOST TUNA ARE FLOWN IMMEDIATELY TO JAPAN ? BY FAR THE WORLD?S LARGEST MARKET. BUT INCREASINGLY, TUNA ARE SHIPPED DOMESTICALLY, TO SUPPLY THIS COUNTRY?S ESTIMATED SIX-THOUSAND SUSHI RESTAURANTS.
FOR THE COOP, TUNA EASILY FETCHES THE HIGHEST PRICE PER POUND. IT IS THE COOP?S SECOND MOST LUCRATIVE CATCH OVERALL, BEHIND GROUND-FISH ? AND AHEAD OF LOBSTER AND SCALLOPS. FOR FISHERMEN LIKE JOE JURACK, IT CAN REPRESENT AS MUCH AS HALF A YEAR?S EARNINGS.
TAPE JOE JURACK 156 Two years ago I got 17 of em. That was a lot. I got 17 of em and I got one that brought as much as 10-thousand dollars. I got 10 thousand dollars for one. :09
AN AVERAGE PRICE IS BETWEEN THREE AND FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS.
BUT UNITED STATES FISHERMEN AREN?T ALLOWED TO CATCH MANY TUNA. TWO QUOTAS ? ONE FOR THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC, AND A MUCH HIGHER QUOTA FOR THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE OCEAN, ARE SET BY AN INTERNATIONAL GOVERNING BODY BASED IN MADRID.
RICHARD RUAIS IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE EAST COAST TUNA ASSOCIATION.
TAPE RICHARD RUAIS 337 since 1982, we have had a complete mismatch, where the west ? the united states, Canada, and Japan, when they?re fishing in the western Atlantic /// we?ve been subject to incredibly tight restrictions on the quota front, and size limits. :15
THE INTERNATIONAL GOVERNING BODY IS KNOWN AS ?I-CAT? ? THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ATLANTIC TUNA. I-CAT WAS CREATED IN THE EARLY 80?S, WHEN BIOLOGISTS WERE WARNING THAT BLUE FIN TUNA WERE BEING HARVESTED AT DANGEROUSLY HIGH LEVELS. MOLLY LUTCAVAGE, A RESEARCH PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, EXPLAINS WHY FROM THE BEGINNING, I-CAT SET TWO QUOTAS.
TAPE MOLLY LUTCAVAGE 219 most people felt comfortable with the idea that you could have much higher catch rates in the eastern atlantic and the med, than in the west. Because it was felt that these were in fact separate populations that didn?t interact with each other. :13
THE BLUE-FIN IS A HIGHLY MIGRATORY FISH, WITH ONLY TWO CONFIRMED BREEDING GROUNDS. ONE IS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, THE OTHER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM WAS THAT MOST FISH BRED, LIVED, AND DIED, ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER OF THE ATLANTIC.
LUTCAVAGE BEGAN STUDYING BLUE FIN TUNA IN THE EARLY 90?S, WHEN NEW ENGLAND FISHERMEN APPROACHED HER. THEY CLAIMED THEY WERE SEEING MANY MORE FISH THAN REGULATORS ESTIMATED. LUTCAVAGE UNDERTOOK AN AERIAL SURVEY OF THE GULF OF MAINE. SHE FOUND AS MANY TUNA IN THE GULF AS REGULATORS ESTIMATED FOR THE ENTIRE EASTERN SEABOARD. LUTCAVAGE THEN BEGAN TO STUDY HOW MUCH THE SO-CALLED EASTERN AND WESTERN ATLANTIC POPULATIONS INTER-MIXED.
TAPE MOLLY LUTCAVAGE 223 our research, and others, that have been working on blue fin migration show that the degree of mixing between the eastern atlantic and the western atlantic can be very high. And that?s based on electronic tags. :13
THE TAGS CONTAIN TINY DATA RECORDERS IMPLANTED BY HARPOONS. THE DATA HELP RESEARCHERS DETERMINE WHERE THE FISH HAS TRAVELED. LUTCAVAGE SAYS INITIAL RESULTS INDICATE AN INTERMIXING OF BETWEEN 30 AND 50-PERCENT. SHE?S CONDUCTED MOST OF HER RESEARCH IN THE WESTERN ATLANTIC. SHE SAYS MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED IN THE EASTERN ATLANTIC.
TAPE MOLLY LUTCAVAGE 400 and if, for example, we learn that there?s a great deal of mixing between the east and west, or in fact that there?s only one atlantic-wide population, with, let?s say, some sub groups ? what?s going to be extremely important is that the research that?s conducted in the atlantic is conducted at the same intensity in all parts of the blue fin tuna?s range. :19
RICHARD RUAIS, HEAD OF THE EAST COAST TUNA ASSOCIATION, SAYS THE RESEARCH HAS PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS FOR FISHERMEN. THAT?S BECAUSE I-CAT SETS THE QUOTA FOR THE WESTERN ATLANTIC COUNTRIES AT 27-HUNDRED METRIC TONS. IT SETS THE QUOTA FOR THE EASTERN COUNTRIES AT 32-THOUSAND METRIC TONS. MEANWHILE, MANY OBSERVERS BELIEVE THE QUOTA IN THE EAST IS NOT WELL ENFORCED ? AND THAT THE ACTUAL CATCH NUMBERS ARE AS HIGH AS 50 OR EVEN 60-THOUSAND METRIC TONS. RUAIS SAYS FISHERMEN IN NEW ENGLAND ARE CONSERVING FISH ? SO FISHERMEN IN THE EASTERN ATLANTIC CAN CATCH THEM.
TAPE RICHARD RUAIS 367 we?re subsidizing a runaway fishery in the east. And when they make these biologically irresponsible, large catches, it?s not only hurting the future of the resource, but it?s hurting us economically in the marketplace today. :14
RUAIS HAS APPEALED TO THE U-S STATE DEPARTMENT AND TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. BUT NEITHER HAS HAD MUCH LUCK IN CONVINCING I-CAT THAT THE QUOTAS IN THE WEST ARE SET TOO LOW ? WHILE THE QUOTAS IN THE EAST ARE WAY TOO HIGH.
TAPE RICHARD RUAIS 384 we need, at the highest level of our government, somebody to go toe to toe with high ranking people in the European community and elsewhere and say, ?The united states takes fish conservation seriously. And if you don?t develop a conservation ethic, it?s going to cost you in your dealings with the united states.? :18
MEANWHILE, FOR NEW ENGLAND FISHERMEN LIKE JOE JURACK ? HOW MANY TUNA THEY CAN CATCH CAN REPRESENT SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN AN INCREASINGLY UNCERTAIN INDUSTRY.
TAPE JOE JURACK 150 anyone that was to go tuna fishing, if they could average one tuna a week, that?s pretty good. If you can do more than that, that?s real good. If you do less than that, then you?re probably starving. :10
FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
