THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120382
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR
DATELINE: HATTERAS, N.C. LENGTH: Long : 167 lines
The run of giant bluefin tuna that has exploded off Hatteras Island in the past few years has become what just may be the world's greatest fishery.
But it has produced many more questions than answers as it attracts anglers from throughout the United States and several foreign countries.
Small wonder. The bluefin is arguably the world's greatest game fish. It ranges throughout the Atlantic, reaching weights in excess of 1,500 pounds.
One fact remains solid, however: The fishery has had a profound effect on this 60-mile island that is the heartland of the Outer Banks.
From January through mid-April, virtually every marina slip in the village of Hatteras is occupied, many by sleek million-dollar sportfishing boats, private and charter, from as far away as Massachusetts and Texas.
While not all the island's restaurants and tackle shops are open, those that are report brisk business.
On weekends, it's not unusual to stand in line while awaiting seating in some dining establishments.
Many charter boats that at this time of year would otherwise be in Florida or the Bahamas, or idle in their slips or even converted to seasonal commercial operations, are booked five and six days a week. On calm weekends, it's not unusual to see as many as 200 boats on the fishing grounds.
As for the questions, they begin with how long these tremendous concentrations of bluefins have been spending the winter a few miles south of Hatteras Inlet.
No one knows.
Some bluefin scholars believe that the fish have been there, unnoticed, for decades - perhaps as long as the species has existed.
Others are convinced that great schools of giant tuna have been wintering near these warm waters of the Gulf Stream for only the past four or five years.
Still others are just as sure that the fish have been there for at least five years but no more than 20.
This question may never be answered to everyone's satisfaction.
But scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service are working to answer some others - answers that will come neither quickly nor easily, and may never be conclusive. The questions include:
If the Atlantic bluefin population is in serious trouble, as international scientists have been saying, why are they so abundant off Hatteras?
Where did the fish come from? Did they come up from the Gulf of Mexico or the Bahamas, down from Canada and New England, or west across the Atlantic? And where will they go when they leave?
What has held the fish in such a relatively small area? Has it been an abundance of smaller fish on which to feed? Has it been ideal water temperatures? Has it been that warm waters of the Gulf Stream are so close to the feeding grounds? Has it been, until recently, a haven from fishing pressure?
What can scientists learn from the tremendous tagging effort of the past few years? Can they learn about migration patterns? Growth rates? Feeding habits?
Should local commercial fishermen, now banned from catching bluefin until June 30, after the fish have left this area, be granted some midwinter access to the fish? After all, a single giant can fetch as much as $80,000 on the Japanese market. For many commercial fishermen, that's a year's work.
If a commercial season is allowed, should out-of-state fishermen, especially New England purse-seiners, be included?
And perhaps most important, because almost all the tuna are being tagged and released, what effect does this have on them? How many die? How many survive?
If you believe some recreational fishermen, virtually every released tuna will live to fight another day, little worse for the experience.
But if you believe some members of the commercial set, virtually every released tuna will die in a short time.
The truth probably is somewhere in between but closer to the former, says Dr. Eric Prince, a federal fish-tagging researcher with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Miami.
``Our studies indicate that the shorter the fight, the better chance the fish has of making it,'' Prince told a recent gathering of anglers, charter skippers, commercial fishermen and local residents. ``Researchers are finding higher concentrations of lactic acid in the muscle tissue of fish fought for long periods of time and brought to the boat exhausted.
``These same researchers can show a direct correlation between high lactic acid levels in muscle tissue of fish and higher mortality rates of fish when released. Fortunately, most fish are being released very quickly.''
Bob Eakes, who operates the Red Drum tackle shop in nearby Buxton and has pioneered fishing for Hatteras tuna, is convinced that most fish, properly fought and handled, will survive.
Eakes and his contemporaries, including the entire charter fleet, agree that there are right and wrong ways to handle the tuna.
To begin with, they say, bluefins should be fought with heavy tackle and tight reel drags, applying as much as 60 pounds of line-drag pressure, to keep the fight as short as possible.
``You can easily see the difference in a fish fought for 15 minutes, which is a good average, and an hour or more,'' Eakes says.
Local veterans also use 16/0 tuna-circle hooks, which almost invariably hook bluefins in the corner of the mouth, rather than a life-threatening throat or stomach hook-up.
Once alongside the boat, the hook should be removed without additional damage, the fish tagged in the fleshy area behind the gill cover and below the dorsal fin, and the tuna slowly moved through the ocean to get oxygen-rich water flowing through its gills.
Still, the weather may the bluefin's best friend. It forces many boats to remain in port when they otherwise would be on the tuna grounds.
Kenny Sexton, who seasonally skippers the charter boat Sea Jay IV out of Teach's Lair Marina, said recently that he had made 14 tuna trips this season but had canceled 17 others because of the weather.
``It's been even worse for some of the guys who have had more bookings because they've been doing this longer,'' Sexton said.
``The weather's starting to improve, so the percentage should start going up. But we've had a pretty rough winter. January and February can be windy months all up and down the East Coast, not just at Hatteras.''
This reporter recently spent three days unsuccessfully waiting for Hatteras weather to break. If you want to catch a giant tuna here, you must be prepared to wait out the weather.
If you are, the fishing can be incredible. However, so far the year's average Hatteras bluefin has not been as large as the 1995 average. That probably was well over 300 pounds, the minimum for ``giant tuna'' designation.
But numbers have been astonishing. Individual anglers have caught as many as 30 tuna a day.
By comparison, only seven or eight giants were taken in the Bahamas, another bluefin ``hot spot,'' last spring, the peak season.
Even though most Hatteras bluefins have been released, enough have been boated to affect what recreational fishermen in other areas will be allowed to catch this year. Under an agreement known as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, each group of U.S. fishermen is limited to how many bluefins may be kept.
The country's total 1996 quota is 1,311 metric tons - about 2.89 million pounds. Of this, 530 metric tons will be for the ``general category,'' which includes handline, rod-and-reel and harpoon fisheries.
Only 4 metric tons (8,816.4 pounds) were allowed in the ``angling trophy'' category. That quota has been reached, according to John Kelly of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Virtually all the fish were caught off Hatteras.
Consequently, the agency has banned all anglers from keeping any tuna of 73 inches or more until the ``general category'' season opens June 1.
To change that, the agency would have to subtract from some other quota, such as that set aside for New England purse-seine fishermen or Gulf of Mexico long-line commercial fishermen. Understandably, that would not be popular with affected fishermen.
Additionally, the Hatteras catch has been enough for the federal agency to reduce the angling catch for the rest of the East Coast season, going from two fish per angler per day to one. This change becomes effective Monday - another move certain to be unpopular in certain areas.
Some fishermen, recreational and commercial, are saying that the abundance of bluefins off Hatteras is proof that present restrictions are too severe and that the world's bluefin population is a lot greater than scientists have been saying.
Meanwhile, the angling world is buzzing with news of what best can be called the ``Hatteras happening.''
Michael Leech, president of the International Game Fish Association, official record-keeper for world angling, describes it as ``a gift from heaven.'' Leech, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recently made his first excursion to view the local fishery.
``I've been a big-game fisherman for a long, long time,'' he said, ``and I never thought I'd get a chance to see something like this. Aside from the thrills, this gives us a tremendous opportunity to add to our knowledge of bluefin tuna.
``There are many, many questions that need to be answered if we are to properly manage this tremendous publicly-owned natural resource.
``This will provide an opportunity to answer some of those questions. Or at least, get a lot closer to some answers.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color graphic by Ken Wright
Map
Area shown: Where the bluefin are
by CNB