THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504080388
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bob Hutchinson
LENGTH: Long : 152 lines
Contrary to what you may have heard, it looks as though Charlie the Tuna is alive and well after spending part of the winter and spring off the North Carolina Outer Banks.
Hundreds of giant bluefin tuna, many weighing more than 500 pounds, were caught over the various wrecks off Hatteras and Ocracoke islands this year. Very few fish were kept. Most were released during a season which only recently ended.
For the past month, rumors of dead and dying fish scattered throughout the area have been spreading like the flu. Supposedly, the fish died after being battled into submission by anglers.
There have even been rumors of divers spotting scores of dead tuna on the ocean floor around some wrecks. Other rumors had dead bluefins washing ashore on Ocracoke island.
Not!
So says Ron Rinaldo, a tuna specialist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Silver Spring, Md. Rinaldo went overboard, literally, to look for dead bluefins.
It wasn't that the federal investigators didn't find some dead fish. They did. Between 30 and 50, Rinaldo etimates.
But they were bluefish, not bluefin tuna.
``We videotaped the entire area around one wreck,'' Rinaldo said, ``and we won't have an accurate count until we get a real good look at the tape. But we did not see a single dead bluefin.
``We did see one big tuna. But it was swimming around, apparently perfectly fine. And this was one of the most heavily-fished sites. We were told that at least 150 tuna were caught and released there during the week before we investigated.''
As for the bluefish, Rinaldo said the investigation showed several pieces of gill net entangled in the wreck and that several bluefish were snared in the net. Also, a gillnet boat was nearby.
``It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that the dead bluefish were the result of a net, even the one in the wreck, and that this particular netter was responsible,'' he said. ``But we certainly don't have any proof of that.
``What we do have proof of is that there were no dead bluefins in the area, as so many people were charging. And that's not to say some of the released fish didn't die. Just that there were no dead tuna around the wreck the day we looked.''
At least three tagged tuna were caught and released in the area, according to Frank Pierce of Miami, who heads the agency's fish-tagging program for the Atlantic.
Pierce said he had not investigated the tags but that he felt certain at least two of the fish had been tagged off Hatteras and then recaptured.
``This (Hatteras bluefin) tuna discovery has been very exciting for those of us who are trying to get a better handle on the species' movements throughout the Atlantic,'' he said. ``I was excited enough to make a couple of trips up there myself.
``We all know that the Atlantic bluefin population has been seriously depleated. But this is the greatest concentration of giants that anyone has ever seen or heard about, at least to my knowledge.''
GAS PAIN: If your boat's fuel system contained ``oxygenated'' gasoline when you stored it last fall, you may want to get rid of the fuel. Pronto!
Hampton Roads is one of 38 areas in the nation required to use the fuel, usually oxygenated with either ethanol or methanol.
The fuel works fine.
But there is one problem: When stored and unused in cold weather, the methanol tends to separate from the gasoline. And it can be extremely corrosive.
Allowed to sit for a couple of months, methanol can eat a hole right through aluminum gas tanks and vital aluminum engine parts. This spring, you could find yourself with a bilge full of 92-octane.
Ethanol, on the other hand, doesn't separate.
Unfortunately, there is no simple way to tell which additive was blended with your fuel.
Your best bet was to have topped off the tanks with non-oxygenated fuel last fall. If you didn't, you could be hearing a loud explosion.
TURKEY TIME: Virginia' spring turkey-hunting season opens Saturday with wildlife officials saying it could produce another record kill.
``We have excellent numbers of birds,'' said Jerry Sims of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. ``On top of that, everything has been just about perfect, including last spring's nesting success.''
A record 8,981 gobblers were recorded by hunters during the 1994 spring season. That was eight above the previous record, set in 1992.
``The only real concern,'' Sims said, ``is having so many hunters in the woods when it's this dry. On the other hand, hunters have pretty good fire eyes. Hopefully, we won't have a problem.''
Sims said that while some areas had more turkeys than others, prospects were ``better than average'' throughout the state.
The season will run through May 20, with only gobblers legal. The dates are selected to parallel the normal spring mating season.
CAROLINA TURKEYS: Successful turkey hunters in North Carolina will be required to report their kills to a toll-free telephone number for a spring season which opened Saturday and runs through May 6.
Tar Heel State officials expect a kill of about 3,000. The call-in requirement is the way it keeps an accurate tally of the kill.
While Virginia complete its turkey restoration program several years ago, the North Carolina program isn't to wind up until 1996.
Presently, about 40,000 turkeys are estimated in North Carolina, up from a low of only about 2,000 in the mid-1960s.
The number to call to report a kill (it only works in-state) is 1-800-446-8663. Cordless and cellular phones may not be used and speakers must be turned off on speaker-phones. The system can handle 32 calls at once.
STRIPER HEARINGS: If you want to have a say in Virginia's 1995 striped bass season, mark your calendar for April 24 and 25.
The Marine Resources Commission, which will select the dates, bag limits and minimum sizes, will hold three hearings on the subject. The first two will be April 24 at 7 p.m.
One will be in Waterman's Hall at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, the other in the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce building on U.S. 13 near Melfa.
The final hearing, and the commission's decision, will be at the agency's April 25 meeting at its headquarters at 2600 Washington Ave. in Newport News, starting at noon.
With the once-beleaguered rockfish now officially described as ``fully recovered,'' all East Coast seasons will be expanded. The Chesapeake Bay season, for example, will go from 32 days to between 107 and 131, depending on the minimum size selected.
IMPROVED ACCESS: It will be easier, and perhaps even more productive, to go fishing at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach.
Groundbreaking has been held for a new public fishing area on the refuge, it has been announced by acting manager Joe McCauley. The project is to be completed early next year.
The project includes digging a canal and using the excavated material to create a dike or berm. A stonedust surface on the fill will make it accessible by wheelchair, McCauley said. Initial fishing may be limited to catch-and-release. Angling possibilities should include largemouth bass, bream, crappie, catfish and chain pickerel. Details are at 721-2412.
SHORT CASTS: Reynolds Aluminum Recycling Company of Richmond reports than 11.8 billion beverage cans were recycled nationwide in 1994. Included were almost a billion cans in Virginia. . . . Ellis Lewis of Virginia Beach has earned a citation from the Virginia Fresh Water Fishing Program with an 8-pound, 12-ounce largemouth bass, caught at Lake Smith. . . . David Wright of Virginia Beach has taken an early lead in the angler-of-the year competition in the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament by earning his second citation award. It was for a 5-pound, 8-ounce sea bass. The skipper of the charter boat High Hopes earlier scored with a big tautog. . . . Paul Jones of Virginia Beach has earned a tog citation with a 16 1/2-pound catch at Chesapeake Light Tower. . . . The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a public hearing in Virginia Beach April 18 on plans for managing Atlantic mackerel, squid and butterfish. It will be at the Holiday Inn at 39th Street on the oceanfront, beginning at 7 p.m. Details: 1-302-674-2331. . . . The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's volunteer speaker's bureau is now offering a one-hour slide presentation entitled ``Shad, Gone Forever?'' It's available to clubs and organizations. Details: 1-410-268-8833. . . . Entries in the annual Reedville Bluefish Derby have surpassed the number needed to guarantee all prize money, including the $10,000 first place. The contest is the largest fishing tournament on Virginia's portion of the Chesapeake Bay. It's set for June 8-10. Details: Roger Wilkins, 1-804-453-5325. by CNB