Bluefin tuna closure 8/12/25

[Broad Bill]

Saw they had two approximate 180lb. bluefins weighed in at the White Marlin Open today capturing 1st and 2nd place for total combined money of ~$850k. Wonder if the timing of the closure had anything to do with the timing of the tournament.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Did a bit more reading on this and it seems like the ICCAT organization manages the Bluefin Tuna fishery internationally. Kind scares me a bit just like the Word Health organization.

Maybe I'm not understanding it correctly, but it seems to me ICCAT decides what our and other countries Bluefin quota is and all we get to do is carve that up at a federal level with regulations. And, just like just like other fisheries, if we are deemed to have overfished in current years we're penalized in future years with reduced quotas.

Thinking the root of the problem and the main pressure point here is ICCAT and for the US to fight the science and or for a better allocations for us at ICCAT?

While that does not solve the inequities we currently have at a federal level with Commercial and Recreational regulations, it gets us more fish to argue over.

I'd be interested in other's take on this...

[AndyS]

On the other side of the Atlantic in places like Spain the Bluefin fishery is controlled by pirates and kickbacks. ICCAT knows there is nothing they can do to stop them.

Spain is a major player in the global bluefin tuna industry, both in fishing and farming. The Mediterranean and Atlantic are key fishing areas, with Barbate, Cadiz, and Almeria being important ports. The industry is tightly regulated by ICCAT quotas to ensure sustainability. Spain also leads in bluefin tuna farming, raising caught juveniles in sea cages. A significant portion of Spain's tuna production, especially from farming, is exported to Japan for sushi and sashimi.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by AndyS

On the other side of the Atlantic in places like Spain the Bluefin fishery is controlled by pirates and kickbacks. ICCAT knows there is nothing they can do to stop them.

Spain is a major player in the global bluefin tuna industry, both in fishing and farming. The Mediterranean and Atlantic are key fishing areas, with Barbate, Cadiz, and Almeria being important ports. The industry is tightly regulated by ICCAT quotas to ensure sustainability. Spain also leads in bluefin tuna farming, raising caught juveniles in sea cages. A significant portion of Spain's tuna production, especially from farming, is exported to Japan for sushi and sashimi.

Interesting....

More from AI https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...k7b9WA&csuir=1

[Gerry Zagorski]

And this which explains how bad we’re getting screwed by ICCAT since the US is only getting a 3% of the total allocation

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6376795835112

[Pennsy Guy]

looked this up on Wikipedia a few years ago...NMFS was formed back in 1871 but under a different name while U. S. Grant was president It had 3 sections: study of fish and U. S. waters: the study of fishing methods and collection of fish catch and trade stats and the introduction and propagation of food fishes in the nation.
Somewhere I read on Wikipedia it was really formed to protect the commercial sector, later primarily from the Brits coming over and depleting the cod population. It was made to sound like the recreational sector was equally important.
U.S. Fish Commision was formed with several reorganizations and name changes until Pres. Nixon, in 1970 transferred the then named Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and other formed bureaus to the Dept. of Commerce and it was then renamed the NMFS and on Oct. 3, 1970, through a reorganization of the Environmental Science Services Administration, NOAA replaced it with NMFS under its control.

Let's face it, without a total reappointment/election of members throughout all the Agencies, things will never get better for the Recs. here stateside and forget about any control in the Med or eastern Atlantic--the same with the Indonesian waters and their surrounds.
It doesn't matter how rebuilt any of the stocks are, the commercials will get them all while the recs deal with the reductions and closures.
There, my 2 cents...

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

And this which explains how bad we’re getting screwed by ICCAT since the US is only getting a 3% of the total allocation

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6376795835112

Reality sadly is bluefin have an insane price tag on their heads and for that reason alone, they're a money maker for the corrupt political machine, both domestic and internationally. Very complex and complicated situation, same as our domestic fisheries, only more so as it crosses international lines, governments and laws. Good news I suppose is it seems like the BFT population has improved over recent years, hopefully that's a true statement, and if so at least something appears to be working. But to think in the world we live in with fish having a much higher consumer demand than years past, commercial interests and economics I'm afraid will always be at the center of how regulations are set. Fish stocks are a gold mine for governments, politicians and corrupt business and political organizations so why share it with the recreational sector.

In 2022, NOAA estimated salt water angling alone in the US generated $138 billion in sales impacts so I'd imagine from their perspective why fix what isn't broken. Sad part is the recreational community contributes that much to the economy yet we can't manage enough funds to sue those same agencies depriving us access and our fair share of these public resources. Lot of people getting extremely wealthy at our expense, sound familiar.

[bunker dunker]

always about the money,never about the people.