I urge all of you who fish for bluefin tuna to sign this petition. This is just another ploy by environmentalists to destroy another fishery.
This is a very large effort to get bluefin listed on CITES (Commission of International Trade of Bluefin Tuna). If this does occur, and from all the meetings I have been too it looks like it is going to happen, depending on which appendix they get listed under you will not be able to recreational or commercial fish for bluefin tuna. In worst a case scenario, you will not be able to fish for any other fish where bluefin are know to forage and that would possibly include the mudhole and the canyons.
ICCAT has already stated that the stocks are very strong and has for the first time reduced the quotas in the Mediterranean, where the stocks have been over fished for decades, in an effort to get the stocks well replenished. A CITES listing is a far cry from being necessary, especially now with the reduced quotas.
Again, if you want to continue to fish for these fish or other fish for that matter, it would be in your best interest to sign the petition. It may fall on deaf ears, but it's worth 10 seconds of your time. If this does happen you can be rest assured you will never use your bluefin gear for a very long time.
http://www.petitiononline.com/tuna09/petition.html
