The Hyannis Anglers giant bluefin tourney boasted fifty four of the best tuna boats in the country. One giant was caught in three days of fishing. For a month prior to the tourney the herring seiners had pounded the area. And they continued right through this weekend. Last Wednesday Capt. Ed Carreiro on the Reel Attitude was chumming east of the BB Bouy with two seiners trawling right behind his lines. On one haul back he saw school tuna floating away on the surface. He caught and released a medium bluefin that had net marks all over the body. Last year hundreds of large dead stripers were observed floating in the area the herring seiners were working.
After ruining the tuna fishing in the Gulf of Maine these vessels were restricted. Now they have moved their effort to the Great South Channel and decimated the herring stocks and any hope of a Fall bite. No bait, no fish.
A number of fishing groups have organized to put pressure on NMFS to curtail this slaughter. You can help. Please visit:
http://www.choircoalition.org/about/
Thanks,
Capt. Jack Riley