In the meeting the assembly of nations who fish for tuna decided to cut the U.S. share from 2,200 metric tons to 1,900 in 2009 and 1,800 in 2010. Other nations took a hit, too — on paper. The European nations’ quota, for instance, was set at 22,000 metric tons. James A. Donofrio, director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said the new quotas are a farce. He told that only the U.S. and Canada will adhere to them, as the other nations have never shown a willingness to comply.
Donofrio informed that the problems with tuna fishing go beyond the bluefins, and Shore area canyon fishermen may have seen the evidence this season with the poor bigeye and yellowfin landings. No doubt that this was the worst yellowfin tuna season in years, and the lack of yellowfins hurt charter and party boat revenue.
It is fact that there is tight ship in the U.S. The National Marine Fisheries Service put a three-tuna limit on U.S. yellowfin anglers in 1999 without regard for the economic impact on the recreational industry. NMFS claimed that it was a precautionary move in case yellowfin stocks got in trouble some day.
It is told that the U.S already had a 27-inch minimum size on recreationally caught yellowfin tuna while the rest of the world caught 65,400 metric tons, or more than half of the world’s total landings, that were under 20 inches in length. The worst part of the 1999 management debacle was that the U.S. delegation went to the ICCAT meeting with bad data.
