That the ocean’s most advanced and highly developed swimming machines are also among the most popular of game fishes with the world’s saltwater angling enthusiasts is hardly a coincidence. As anglers, we have tremendous respect for the spirited fighting qualities of tunas — difficult to release, should we wish to, because they truly will fight their hearts out when hooked. So what is it that makes tunas the über-fish of our oceans? The more we learn about our favorite game fish, the more fascinating they are.

Are Mackerels Tuna? What Are True Tunas?

Tunas are part of the family Scombridae, which also includes mackerels, large and small. But there are tunas, and then there are, well, “true tunas.” Two groups (sometimes known as “tribes”) dominate the tuna clan. One is Thunnini, which is the group considered true tunas, characterized by two separate dorsal fins and a relatively thick body. The 15 species of Thunnini are albacore, bigeye, black skipjack, blackfin, bluefin (three species: Atlantic, Pacific, southern), bullet, frigate, kawakawa, little tunny, longtail, skipjack, slender and yellowfin.

The other tribe is Sardini; these tunas — the dogtooth tuna and several species of smaller true bonitos — are somewhat more mackerel-like (notably with a more elongated body and a row of sharp, conical teeth).

How do Tuna Swim so Fast and Hard?

Sport fishermen know that when they hook a large tuna, they’re in for a long, drawn-out, relentless battle. Nothing characterizes tunas more than their powerful, tireless swimming. In fact, these fish have no choice but to swim endlessly: As explained more thoroughly below, they’re ram ventilators, meaning forward motion is required as they move with mouth open to force water past their gills.

Most fishes, such as groupers, snappers and jacks, can remain motionless and respire by opening and closing their mouths to push water through their gills. Tunas have lost the ability to do that (even if they could, such small pushes of water wouldn’t offer their large gills the tremendous flow they require to supply their systems with oxygen). A suitable motto for tunas, then, is “swim or die.”

How tunas have evolved to move efficiently through the water is reflected in their design, both externally and internally. Of their fusiform body shape (tapering fore and aft), Sport Fishing Fish Facts expert Ben Diggles says, “Their almost-perfect hydrodynamic shape minimizes drag with a very low drag coefficient,” optimizing efficient swimming both at cruise and burst.

And these torpedoes are perfectly streamlined, their larger fins fitting perfectly into grooves so no part of these fins protrudes above the body surface. They lack the convex eyes of most fish; rather, a membrane covering tuna eyes remains flush with their heads, maintaining a surface with minimal drag. Keels and finlets in front of the tail provide stability and help reduce the turbulence in the water ahead of the tail.

Unlike most fishes with broad, flexible tails that bend to scoop water to move a fish forward, tunas derive tremendous thrust with thin, hard, lunate (moon-shaped) tails that beat constantly, capable of 10 to 12 or more beats per second. That relentless thrust accounts for the unstoppable runs that tuna make repeatedly when hooked.

As with other fast-swimming fishes, a primary limitation on top speed for tunas is cavitation, which at high speeds can slow them and even damage fins. (Cavitation is caused when negative pressure forms tiny air bubbles, which then collapse and form shock waves. Cavitation can damage the metal in propellers — and cause lesions in the fins of fish that swim “too fast,” such as tunas.)

Why Is a Tuna’s Meat Red?

While many of the characteristics that account for the tuna’s remarkable swimming ability are visible externally, some of the most astonishing adaptations are internal.

Certainly, that includes their extensive aerobic red muscle. Many fishes are ambush predators, relying on bursts of speed to feed but swimming slowly otherwise. Their bodies are mostly filled with white muscle — glycolytic fibers used in infrequent burst swimming. Tunas employ far more red muscle; their oxidative fibers prove ideal for long-haul, constant swimming without fatigue. Also, red muscle is full of myoglobin, which stores oxygen in the muscle tissues, for use as needed.

With so much red muscle demanding that much more oxygen, tunas’ gills — their organs for respiration, of course — are huge. For example, a tuna has seven to nine times more gill area for its size compared to relatively sedentary trout. And, not surprisingly, you’ve gotta have heart: Moving great amounts of oxygenated blood through their bodies requires tunas to have far larger hearts than most fish. Not only that, but another way tunas have advanced beyond most fishes — which have a constant heart rate — is their ability, like mammals, to vary their heart rate, maximizing efficiency.

Can Tuna Warm Their Bodies?

Arguably the most striking and sophisticated adaptation we can’t see — but science has revealed — is the ability of larger true tunas to heat certain areas of their bodies. They do this through what are known as the retia mirabilia (“wonderful net”), an ingenious counter-current vascular heat-exchange system. Basically, parallel veins and arteries exchange blood, allowing tunas to conserve metabolic heat via what is called regional endothermy, warming their red muscle tissue, brain, eyes and viscera well above ambient water temperatures.

This regional endothermy gives them the same metabolic advantage that Homo sapiens and other mammals enjoy. In fact, tunas couldn’t sustain the swim-or-die lifestyle nor be the relentless eating machines they are without that higher metabolic rate, allowing them to swim longer and faster, their brains and eyes to function better in cold water, and their viscera to digest more quickly and efficiently.

Further demonstrating the brilliance of their plumbing, larger tunas can shed excess heat from their bodies during periods of intense feeding (in essence, while doing wind sprints) via their retia mirabilia, which uses blood from gills cooled by ambient water to reduce body heat. This system also undoubtedly comes into play as one factor in the amazing endurance that hooked tunas show to resist their capture.

How Deep do Tuna Swim?

Much of the evolutionary success of tunas derives from their ability to transition from warm to cool waters in a way that most — less advanced, cold-blooded — fishes can’t manage.

Satellite tagging has revealed much about the feeding behavior and movements of large tunas, including their tendency to dive into deep, cold water. Scientists have documented that yellowfin feed at times in waters much deeper than once believed, but the bigeye is a champ in the deep-dive category, often feeding in waters exceeding 1,500 feet — and diving to more than 5,000 feet.

Apparently, these daytime deep divers are taking advantage of what’s known as the deep-scattering layer, a concentration of biomass (plankton and larger organisms) typically settling by day into 1,500 to 2,000 feet of water (which rises to or near the surface nightly). This is the same DSL in which swordfish feed during the day. Perhaps not so surprisingly, daytime swordy anglers have been hooking some large tuna while dropping deep.

The other abyss-loving tuna is the bluefin. What large yellowfin, bigeye and bluefin have in common that enables them to feed at great depths is body mass. Juveniles and smaller species of tuna, lacking that, lose body heat too rapidly to allow them to leave near-surface waters for long.

Heat is lost in the frigid waters at depth, but rewarming occurs when tunas move up into warmer waters — where heating occurs at 100 to 1,000 times the rate that it’s lost. (This may be facilitated with blood bypassing lateral heat exchangers, so blood warmed and oxygenated in the gills by ambient, warmer waters enters the red muscle directly.)

What large tunas have in common that encourages them to feed so deep is simply an abundance of food in these cold but productive waters.

How Far do Tuna Travel?

The same motivation to find more and more food accounts for far-ranging horizontal movements as well as vertical dives into colder waters. So, for example, in the North Atlantic, the world’s largest giant bluefin are caught at the most northerly edges of the species’ range — the Canadian Maritimes — and in the South Pacific, the largest giants come from the most southern part of the southern bluefin’s range — off New Zealand’s South Island. In both instances, only the great body mass of giants provides enough thermal inertia — a small enough ratio of surface area to volume to prevent rapid cooling — so they can take advantage of vast schools of prey.

Large tunas are truly superfish, at the zenith of evolutionary design and success as predators among the ocean’s fishes. Little wonder they’re among the very most popular targets worldwide among saltwater recreational fishermen. The more we as anglers understand these magnificent fish, the more we can appreciate the opportunity to fish for and catch them.

Is Disaster Imminent for Tunas?

Tunas occasionally make it into mainstream news, and when they do, the circumstances (for continued survival of the species) usually sound pretty dire. However, a scientist at the University of Washington, found that just 30 percent of commercial tuna stocks had an abundance below that which would produce maximum sustainable yield.

Recently, Atlantic bluefin tuna have made a noticeable comeback. And anglers are taking advantage of it. In particular, many Northeast area anglers have spent the summer months targeting tuna of all sizes, both inshore and far offshore.“ The abundance of tunas and their relatives has declined from pre-industrial levels, but in general, they are at sustainable levels,” said Maite Pons, Ph.D..

The post Common Questions About Tuna appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

shark release

All those teeth and bad reputation notwithstanding, some sharks aren’t all that tough. In fact, in terms of how they hold up after a battle at the end of a line, some are downright wimps. Studies on post-release survival rates of sharks provide the hard data.

Scientists fought and caught five species of sharks on hook and line using standardized techniques for comparison purposes. While the authors note limitations of this initial study, calling for further research, they did form some interesting conclusions with applicability to sport fishermen.

It seems that the five species reacted differently to the stress of fighting on a line. From this study, tiger sharks qualify as tough customers, with nearly 100 percent of those tracked up to four weeks after release doing just fine. The study lists lemon sharks as being nearly as hardy, based on lactic acid levels and other parameters measured, since post-release survival studies were not conducted on lemons.

Bull sharks fared pretty well after release, with 74 percent surviving. Somewhat less hardy were blacktip sharks. But the most susceptible of all to the rigors of a long struggle when hooked were hammerheads, with more than half suffering mortality during the weeks after their release.

Post Release Fishing Mortality

This makes me wonder what sort of differences in post-release mortality there might be among other closely related game fishes. Anyone who fishes for redfish and trout knows that reds can stand a bit of quick handling before release, but even minimal handling can leave a seatrout too weak to swim. I know that among deepwater rockfishes along the Pacific Coast, some species are too barotraumatized (“blown up”) to swim back down if pulled from 50 or 60 feet of water, while other species can be taken from 100 to 150 feet or so and usually swim back down with no trouble.

The Atlantic’s popular black sea bass readily show signs of barotrauma, such as the stomach being everted from the mouth thanks to expanded swim-bladder gases. Anglers probably wonder — as did scientists — how many of these “inflated” fish could survive, even those that managed to swim down.

Lots of anglers release fish pretty regularly. Clearly, we want them to survive. The more we know about how species react, the more successful we can be at minimizing release mortality. Information like that cited above can help us. So will a visit to returnemright.org, a site dedicated to helping anglers follow known best practices in releasing fish.

The post Do Sharks Die After Release? appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

The Difference Between False Albacore and Bonito

Not many anglers in Florida or the Gulf coastal states will go out of their way to target bonito (often pronounced “bonita”). Sure, the small tunas put up a good tussle, but it’s a rare angler indeed who would call up his bros to say, “Hey, let’s go out tomorrow to see if we can catch some bonito!”

It’s a damned shame though that false albacore aren’t available to anglers in Florida. One seldom hears of those small tunas being caught south of the Carolinas. But you know they’re really great game fish because light-tackle and fly anglers go nuts when the false albies are running, and will enthusiastically plan a day to go out and target them. So, I guess the takeaway is: Bonito kind of suck, but false albacore are fabulous little gamesters.

But wait — the two “species” are actually the very same fish, properly called the little tunny, Euthynnus alletteratus. If a rose by any other name still smells as sweet, you’d have to figure a false albacore by any other name fights as hard.

And the fact is, little tunnies fight as hard as bluefin, pound for pound, giving it all they’ve got. When matched to suitable tackle, they’ll make a drag sing and an angler dance to keep up with a fish running this way and that around and under a boat.

Don’t Miss Out on Jacks and Sailcats

Another Rodney Dangerfield is the jack crevalle. They assault plugs and flies with thrilling belligerence and then battle with the stamina of the Energizer bunny. While anglers would likely agree they’re fun to catch, not many go out of their way to find them. These jacks are in fact a smaller version of the giant trevally, yet the GT is revered as an awesome game fish for the very qualities of the undervalued crevalle.

There are lots more examples. One that I feel is decidedly underrated is the gafftopsail catfish. Yeah, they do leave a bit of slime on one’s leader, but they are tremendous fighters and will hit lures (I’ve caught many on topwaters), plus are one of the coolest-looking catfishes. I’ve watched seasoned anglers happily assume they’re fighting a good redfish, only to be disgusted when it turns out to be a sailcat. What? They didn’t just enjoy an exciting battle?

Of course, edibility is often cited as a reason these fish don’t enjoy more respect. I’ve heard it said more than once that if bonito or jacks were good eating, everyone would love ’em. But with so many anglers these days declaring their focus largely on catch-and-release fishing, more for sport than food, that’s a bit hard to figure.

I suspect that anglers who don’t get overly hung up on the prestige of a given species are probably having a lot more fun than those hunting only glamour fish and trophies. I’m fishing not to impress others, but for the sheer pleasure of it. I respect any game fish — including bonito, jacks and sailcats — that can put a tight bend in my light spinning rod and make my drag sing. For that kind of action, I say without shame: Deal me in every time.

The post Three Underrated Sportfish You Should Target appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Tunas are part of the family Scombridae, which also includes mackerels, large and small. But there are tunas, and then there are, well, “true tunas.” Two groups (sometimes known as “tribes”) dominate the tuna species. One is Thunnini, which is the group considered true tunas, characterized by two separate dorsal fins and a relatively thick body. The 15 species of Thunnini are albacore, bigeye, black skipjack, blackfin, bluefin (three species: Atlantic, Pacific, southern), bullet, frigate, kawakawa, little tunny, longtail, skipjack, slender and yellowfin. The other tribe is Sardini; these tunas — the dogtooth tuna and several species of smaller true bonitos — are somewhat more mackerel-like (notably with a more elongated body and a row of sharp, conical teeth). Below you will find complete breakdowns of the various types of tuna in the world.

ALBACORE (Thunnus alalunga)

Easily identified, having by far the longest pectoral fins of any tuna, albacore are also noted for the lightest, whitest flesh among tunas. Circumglobal, albacore prefer temperate (versus tropical) seas and rarely venture near shore. They’ve long been a popular target for California anglers, particularly off the central part of the state, but their availability in the summer varies greatly from year to year. Later in summer and fall, albacore move up into waters off Oregon, Washington and British Columbia but are often too far offshore for most sport-fishing boats.

BIGEYE (Thunnus obesus)

Bigeye may be confused with yellowfin, but their yellow finlets are edged in black and their eyes may indeed be a bit larger. The bigeye may also be more robust in its body shape. But the single sure way to distinguish the two species is underneath the skin: The bigeye’s liver is striated (striped or streaked); the yellowfin’s is not. Found worldwide, this prized game fish is also an important target for commercial longliners.

BLACKFIN (Thunnus atlanticus)

The most common tuna of the Florida Keys and South Florida, blackfin tuna are found in tropical and warm temperate waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. Anglers target them from Brazil to North Carolina, including the Gulf of Mexico, but most of the world records hail from Florida.

A blakfin’s pec fins reach somewhere between the twelfth dorsal spine and the origin of the second dorsal fin, but they never extend beyond the second dorsal fin as in the albacore, explains the IGFA. A blackfin’s finlets are uniformly dark, without a touch of the bright yellow often present in other tunas.

The blackfin is a schooling fish that feeds near the surface, mostly caught while trolling ballyhoo or jigging with artificials. Overshadowed by yellowfins where the two species overlap, blackfins are still a fine-tasting tuna that draws praise when served properly.

BLACK SKIPJACK (Euthynnus lineatus)

This species is one of the few tunas limited to the eastern Pacific, found in waters off California to Peru. The black skippy can be identified by the four or five broad, straight stripes that extend horizontally along its back. A hard-hitting, fast-moving predator, smaller skipjack are popular among anglers for use as live bait for billfish and large yellowfin. The strong dark-red flesh is not appealing to most fishermen.

BLUEFIN (Thunnus thynnus)

The king of tunas, giant bluefin are for many anglers the ultimate prize among all game fishes. Ditto for sushi eaters, who at market may bid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single giant. There’s some irony in the fact that before the latter part of the 20th century, sport fishermen had no use for giant bluefin, which at best were used for pet food, being considered unpalatable. Go figure.

Bluefin mature at about six years of age, around 300 pounds. Atlantic bluefin spawn in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Mexico. Researchers discovered and confirmed a third spawning area in the western Atlantic called the Slope Sea. They’re not terribly picky eaters, devouring even very small baitfish, and invertebrates, including starfish, have shown up in stomach analyses.

Bluefin range from far offshore to near-coastal waters. The three species of bluefin (Atlantic, Pacific and southern) tolerate a great range of temperatures and migrate great distances, across both oceans. Satellite tags have revealed transatlantic crossings in less than 60 days. Decades ago, giants made a reliable migration each May off Bimini and down the Florida Strait, but that suddenly came to an end after the 1960s. In recent years, Southern California anglers have been catching bluefin of sizes exceptional for those waters.

BONITOS (Sarda spp)

In addition to the Atlantic bonito, there are three other species of Sarda (Pacific, striped and Australian). These four true bonitos are related to dogtooth tuna and share that species’ shape — more elongated than other “true” tunas — and somewhat non-tuna-like sharp-toothed dentition. All are small coastal pelagics; all make outstanding light-tackle game fish and (even if not universally appreciated) fine table fare as sashimi or cooked. (Not to be confused with little tunny/false albacore, often called “bonito.”)

DOGTOOTH (Gymnosarda unicolor)

That the Indo-Pacific dogtooth (along with true bonitos — basically smaller versions) belong in a different group from bluefin, yellowfin and relatives isn’t hard to imagine. Unlike those true tunas, dogtooth are longer, leaner and maybe even meaner. Per its name, check out its dentures, most impressive of any tuna. Also, dogtooth are far more solitary, and unlike most tunas are not a schooling species. Finally, they prefer to haunt steep reef slopes; anglers needn’t travel far offshore to tangle with doggies. A fine eating fish, dogtooth are known for their brutal power when hooked.

KAWAKAWA (Euthynnus affinis)

Known as mackerel tuna in Australia, the kawakawa — native to the Indo- and western Pacific — is similar to the little tunny of Atlantic waters. It is also a dark-meat species, though popular among many anglers for food, as in Hawaii. Kawakawa are, typically, tremendous fighters for their size. Kawakawa mostly inhabit coastal reefs and may even move into estuaries.

LITTLE TUNNY (Euthynnus alletteratus)

A fish of many names, little tunny are known as false albacore off the U.S. Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, where they’re a very popular game fish among light-tackle and fly anglers. In the Southeast and Gulf, they’re mislabeled bonito, and generally avoided. Yet they are tremendous fighters for their size, battling in classic tuna fashion. Little tunny are readily identified by the wavy lines along their upper back, behind the dorsal, and the spots between pectoral and ventral fins. Small tunny are also popular as baitfish, drifted live or trolled dead. They form and feed in tight schools, often churning the surface as they gorge on baitfish. The dark-red, bloody meat of little tunny keeps them out of fish boxes.

LONGTAIL (Thunnus tonggol)

The longtail inhabits the Indo-Pacific, quite near shore, even prowling estuaries and river mouths, where it often roams in large shoals. A popular game fish among Australians, the species is there labeled northern bluefin, though it is not a species of bluefin.

SKIPJACK (Katsuwonus pelamis)

With distinct horizontal stripes limited to its lower half (and no stripes dorsally), the skipjack is readily distinguished from other small tunas. One of the most widely dispersed of small tunas, the skipjack is found in all temperate and tropical seas, where it often forms huge schools. Not all anglers realize that its light meat should make it a preferred species for the fish box. The skipjack is of huge importance globally as a commercial species, with great tonnage ending up canned.

YELLOWFIN (Thunnus albacares)

Named for its bright-yellow finlets, the yellowfin is fantastically popular among anglers who fish tropical seas around the world. Their habit of schooling and feeding at the surface makes yellowfin particularly exciting targets for run-‘n’-gunners. Yellowfin are decidedly bluewater pelagics but may move into coastal waters at times. The fast-growing tuna can reach 200 pounds in seven years. Anglers in eastern Pacific waters take advantage of the yellowfin symbiotically feeding with dolphin (porpoise). From years spent as an observer for the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, California photographer, writer and angler Bill Boyce says tuna definitely follow dolphin (not vice versa). The tuna seem to understand that dolphin will find the baitfish; the tuna then help corral the bait, pushing it to the surface.

OTHER TUNAS

The post An Illustrated Guide to Types of Tuna appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Federal proposed regulations governing the take of Gulf of Mexico red snapper are again a hot potato issue in marine fisheries management. This time, almost 40 Southern state Congressmen have joined together to protest new federal snapper limits that may be imposed on various states, according to a report by The Center Square.

The new federal guidelines proposal could increase the take of snapper in some states like Louisiana and Florida, while reducing snapper limits on other states like Alabama and Mississippi, according to the report.

Dozens of southern Congressmen signed a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in late July asking her to have the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) update the science used to set Gulf red snapper harvest. The Congressmen believe NOAA’s proposed rules decreases red snapper harvest by their state anglers that otherwise could be taken, while still maintaining a sustainable red snapper population.

This point made by the congressional letter to Raimondo is based on a Gulf States snapper harvest study called “The Great Red Snapper Count.” This independent study (required by Congress) proposed an increase to the federal redfish limits as it showed more snapper were available than believed by NMFS. Yet the proposed federal catch quotas on red snapper increased minimally.

Lawmakers contend NMFS ignored new data in the Great Red Snapper Count by reducing catch limits from 97 percent of the sustainable limit to roughly 60 percent, reports The Center Square. The Great Red Snapper Count showed three times as many fish as NMFS previously recognized.

The Congressmen’s letter stated: “By requiring the States to calibrate their more accurate and NMFS certified (red snapper) catch data to an outdated and fundamentally flawed MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program), NMFS has failed to find an effective solution and is not making decisions based on the best available science while refusing to appropriately integrate the new data.”

In late August, the federal Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council took action to modify red snapper catch limits. The Council chose to decrease the overfishing limit and increase the acceptable biological catch, annual catch limits, and annual catch targets. All of this was done based on snapper population data from the Great Red Snapper Count.

The Gulf Council’s input for catch limits on red snapper have been transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for approval and implementation.

What this will all do as a practical matter to Gulf anglers targeting red snapper is not yet known, regarding season dates, catch, and size limits.

Stay tuned.

The post Stop The Madness: Federal Regulations May Increase Red Snapper Limits for Some Gulf State Fishermen appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Too many big red drum – bull redfish as they’re called in Dixie – are needlessly killed by fishermen, according to one of Louisiana’s best-known redfish guides and tournament anglers, Mike Frenette, who owns the Redfish Lodge of Louisiana in the town of Venice.

Frenette recorded a 4-minute video on his Facebook post pleading with Louisiana guides and recreational anglers to release the big reds they catch, especially now, as bull redfish are swarming into coastal areas throughout the South to spawn.

Redfish spawn in late summer and early autumn, when huge reds in the 15-to-45-pound class move into inlets, passes and river mouths to propagate. The largest of the reds are big females, and if anglers catch and kill them they are doing a disservice to the fishery, and hurting the future of great red drum fishing for young anglers to experience for years to come, says Frenette.

“This is an important time for our fisheries and I want the word to spread,” says Frenette, 66, and a Louisiana guide for 40 years. “We gotta be doing something better than what’s been doing the past couple years. I’m tired of seeing big bull reds hung up at a marina at the end of a day by guides to just take pictures of the fish for their clients.

“We have a problem, and have to police ourselves better, recreational anglers, too. But I’m speaking as a lodge owner and a guide, to the guides, so we’ll set an example for other fishermen.”

Frenette knows there are plenty of problems for redfish, including overharvesting by purse-seine menhaden netters, oil spills, loss of coastal marshes and other issues. But as a top tournament redfisherman for 20 years working the best of America’s water from the Carolinas to Texas, he knows that keeping bull redfish makes no sense.

“We’re cutting our own throats by killing big brood stock redfish, and for what?” he asks. “They’re not good for eating. It’s the smaller fish that are better on the table. My clients catch big bulls all the time, and we just lift them, shoot a few photos, and carefully release them.

“Pictures of their catch are all most charter clients really want. We’ll catch plenty of smaller fish for them to take home, and those are the better ones at the end of a fork.”

Most southern coastal states have tight regulations governing the take of redfish, with many states not allowing the harvest of any “bull” or redfish over about 30 inches.

In Texas, the limit is three reds, with a take-home slot for fish 20 to 28 inches long.

Mississippi has a three-redfish limit, with an 18-to-30-inch slot. Alabama’s redfish limit is three fish between 16 and 26 inches, allowing for one oversize redfish in the three fish limit.

Florida has a one fish per person limit, with only fish between 18 and 27 inches allowed taken by anglers. No large spawning size reds may be kept in Florida, and there is a maximum “vessel” limit of only four fish per boat, with a guide’s catch not included in that limit.

In Georgia, the state is poised to reduce redfish limits to three fish, with a 14-to-23-inch slot, with no chartering captain or crew participating in catch totals.

In Louisiana the limit is five redfish, only one of which can be longer than 27 inches, making it the most liberal of Deep South states for angler redfish harvest.

There is no top end on that one big Louisiana redfish, which can weigh 30 to 40 pounds, and may be full of ripe eggs during the autumn spawn. And that is the rub Frenette has with some guides and anglers by keeping such fish.

In Louisiana they can take up to five redfish daily, a very generous bag limit, and one not needed to fill a cooler that also includes a big, spawning-size bull redfish.

“They’re our future for redfishing,” he says about big spawners. “The little reds they produce are needed tomorrow by our kids, grandkids and their children, so they all can enjoy the great redfishing we have today. Please, when you catch one, get a photo of it and let it go, that’s all most anglers really want.

“Your kids will thank you.”

The post Release Your Reds! appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

On August 30, 2022, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) announced fishing updates from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The council meets regularly throughout the year, and a variety of different fish were the focus of this sessions work.

Red Snapper

The Council review advice from scientific advisors and recorded final actions toward modifying red snapper catch limits. If approved, the overall annual catch limit for the red snapper fishery would increase slightly from 15.1 to about 16.3 million pounds starting in 2023. The overfishing limit (OFL) would decrease compared to a previous proposal by the Council which is waiting for approval by the Secretary of Commerce. Additional information can be found on ASA’s blog at “New Issues Facing Gulf Red Snapper.”

Greater Amberjack

Alternatives on setting catch limits for the overfished greater amberjack were discussed. The fishery is facing important catch limit reductions, and ASA supports Action 1, Alternative 3, which would make the cuts necessary to rebuild the fishery. Converting sector allocations to the same “currency” that will be used as the basis for catch limits moving forward and is now considered best available science. Public hearings will be held before the Council is scheduled to take final action at its October meeting.

Sector Separation

The Council directed staff to develop an options paper to examine the potential for sector separation for gag grouper, red grouper, greater amberjack, and gray triggerfish. The reason for the sector separation is to split the recreational quotas for these species into separate recreational and federal for-hire components. That new structure would be similar to that used for the Gulf red snapper.

Gag Grouper

The Council used Florida’s State Reef Fish Survey (SRFS) data for assessment and management of gag grouper moving forward. SRFS provides more accurate, timely, and precise recreational catch and effort data on gag grouper as well as on 12 other reef fish in Florida. Because gag grouper is primarily a Florida fishery with a large recreational component, using SRFS to inform assessment and management is critically important as SRFS will now be used to set quotas and management for the fishery.

Recent research indicates that the gag grouper is overfished, leading to reduced catch limits and shorter seasons for the next few years. Relatively fewer male fish are noted, leading ASA to support measures that protect male gag grouper. Currently the Council is considering a closure of the commercial fishing season which occurs during spawning season. The recreational fishery is already closed during the spawning season and a pending interim rule would shorten the recreational season to September 1 through November 10.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS)

NOAA recently released a draft rule to expand the boundaries of the FKNMS. The draft would add new protected areas, and make numerous other changes to regulations in the FKNMS. Part of the FKNMS occurs in the Council’s jurisdiction of Gulf federal waters, so the Council will provide comments on how the rule affects fishing in the Gulf portion of the FKNMS.

Sharks

NOAA Highly Migratory Species Division staff attended the Council meeting to listen to fishermen’s concerns about shark depredation. An update of several shark species in the Gulf of Mexico indicates that shark populations in the Gulf of Mexico are generally improving.

The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s nonprofit trade association. Their goal is to safeguard and promote enduring economic, conservation, and social values of recreational fishing for all Americans. For more information, visit the American Sportfishing Association at asafishing.org.

The post ASA Southeast Region Fishing Updates appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Offshore anglers should be prepared for significant changes to the federal regulations governing the taking of dolphinfish along the East Coast. That’s the word from Chris Burrows, chairman of the Dolphin/Wahoo Advisory Panel for the South Atlantic Marine Fishery Council.

Burrows has served on the federal council’s dolphin advisory panel for over a decade, and a meeting he attended in Charleston was eye-opening in the impacts Carolina dolphin anglers and others may face in the future.

He says two important proposed changes are on tap. One is that the 20-inch minimum size for dolphinfish could be extended south of the border of North and South Carolina, perhaps expanding to the entire East Coast of the Atlantic, including Maine where some fish are being caught these days.

The second important change the federal council may impose is a reduction in dolphin limits for individuals or for per boat harvest.

Burrows states in Carolina Sportsman that nearly 80 percent of U.S. East Coast dolphin are caught in Florida (65 percent) or North Carolina (23 percent). A dozen other East Coast states make up the remaining 20 percent of the annual dolphin catch.

Florida already has a 20-inch minimum size limit on federal-waters-caught dolphin. But the state’s close proximity to bluewater and expansive weedlines in the Gulf Stream are much more available to Florida anglers than for fishermen in other states, says Burrows.

“Expanding the (dolphinfish) size limit north may be well-intentioned,” says Burrows. “But I think it would do far more harm to charter boat anglers and the recreational experience in general than it would result in a benefit to the dolphin population.”

Burrows contends that North Carolina charter boats and recreational fishermen target smaller dolphin in summer when they’re prolific.

“This is the bread and butter of the charter fleet at the Outer Banks in July and August,” he contends. “More restrictive measures on what they can bring home will almost certainly mean reduced bookings. This in turn hurts hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in a tourism-based economy.”

Dolphin size restrictions will result in anglers culling, or releasing smaller dolphin, to upgrade to larger fish to keep. Burrows doesn’t know what the mortality rate of released dolphin is, but he believes it’s possible that more fish could be killed by the process than preserved.

He notes that dolphin are one of the fastest growing fish in the ocean and that they can spawn at 18 inches in size. Further, he states that dolphin have a 99 percent mortality rate in their first year of life.

Scientists also know that dolphin are comparatively short-lived, with fish over 5-years old rare to the species.

Bag limits on dolphin have been self-imposed by Outer Banks charter captains for years, with 10 fish per person dolphin limits deemed responsible for those tapping the fishery.

Burrows believes commercial long-line fishing operations have the potential to be most devastating to dolphin stocks along the Atlantic Coast. With current tight restrictions on longlining for sharks, tuna, billfish and other species, and with commercial bottomfishing also highly regulated, dolphin seem to be the most obvious target for commercial boats now.

“With basic longline gear, a basic commercial license, and a $50 operator’s card, anyone can longline dolphin,” states Burrows. “It is hard to find a weedline in May that doesn’t have longline gear set next to it.”

Burrows believes this has hurt the population of large dolphin and impacted the best fish for spawning. It’s also hurts Carolina charter fishermen.

“In 2015, for the first time in history, the commercial Annual Catch Limit for dolphin was met in June, which ended that fishery for the year,” Burrows continues. “Subsequent years have come close to the same levels.

“A limited and regulated longline fishery won’t hurt the stocks of these fish or the recreational fishery. But having it accessible to too many boats certainly can.”

The post Changes In Dolphin Fishing Regulations Coming To The Atlantic Coast appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Northeastern great white shark sightings are no longer a rarity. While they’re exciting, fun and dramatic to see, there have been a number of recent attacks. Attacks that started in Massachusetts and moved to Maine have now hit coastal New York. The reason is simple: seals.

Up until 1971, hunters kept Bay State seal populations in check through a bounty system. Five buck a nose was paid, and while the animals’ fur was used the harvest’s main goal was to keep fish populations robust. Kristina Cammen, a marine mammal scientist with the University of Maine, suggests that the 20th Century seal population in New England was reduced from about 135,000 to so few they were nearly extinct. No seals meant no sharks as the apex predators stayed far offshore where they feasted on dead or dying whales.

Our current perfect storm began brewing with the passing of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The act had a noble goal of resurrecting seal, dolphin and whale populations, and it worked. Seal populations climbed quickly. In fact, from late June through Thanksgiving, barely a day goes by when a shark isn’t spotted near shore.

It wasn’t long before someone got bit. The first one was a decade ago in July, 2012. Christopher Myers was swimming with his son on Cape Cod’s Ballston Beach when a shark left him with eight deep gouges and multiple torn tendons. Six years later in 2018, William Lytton, a 61-year old neurologist from Westchester, New York, was attacked while swimming near resting seals at Cape Cod’s Longnook Beach. He survived, but a month later, 26-year old Arthur Medici did not. Medici was boogie boarding a few beaches away at Newcomb Hollow in Wellfleet. A shark bit his lower body and severed his femoral artery. He died at the scene.

Maine’s seal population has increased as well. In 2020, Julie Dimperio Holowach of New York City was swimming with her daughter off of Bailey Island when she was attacked by a shark. If you think a shark attack in Maine is unusual, then you’d be correct. The University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File has registered only one other unprovoked shark attack in the state since 1837. That’s two attacks in 185 years or about one attack nearly every century.

The current shark hot spot is Long Island, New York. There have been five attacks between June 30-July 13, 2022, registering a 2.5/week average.

On July 13, 2022, a 49-year old Arizona man was bitten in the buttocks at Seaview Beach on Fire Island, Long Island. He was standing in waist-deep water which should give every angler pause. He was the second shark bite of the day, for around 7 AM, 41-year Shawn Donnely suffered a 4-inch bite to his leg while surfing at Smith Point County Park, also on Long Island. The shark knocked him off his surfboard and circled him. Fortunately a wave pushed Donnely to the beach and he survived.

But get this; Donnely wasn’t the first shark bite at that specific beach. The first occurred two weeks earlier on July 3 when Zach Gallo, a lifeguard was bitten by a shark during a training exercise. And the guards were reviewing protocol for ‘what to do when bitten by a shark.’ And he’s not the only lifeguard to have been bitten by a shark. A teenage guard had a bite on his foot on July 7 at Ocean Beach. You honestly can’t make this stuff up.

Long Island’s first attack of the season came on June 30 at Jones Beach when a 37-year old swimmer was bitten in his foot. The answer to that? Get used to it says Christopher Paparo, the manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center. There are a lot more sharks than 10 or 15 years ago, he said. “We’re spotting sharks, whales and dolphins here. In the 1960s, we did not have sharks, whales and dolphins.” Warmer ocean water and significant increases in the menhaden population are cited as reasons for the Long Island shark numbers.

All this shark activity is changing the behavior of fishermen, and there are lots of ways to navigate the situation. Remember the joke about the two pals having a picnic in the woods? They look up and spot a grizzly in the distance and it starts running straight at ‘em. One friend starts running away, while the other casually opens his backpack, takes out his running shoes, changes out of his hiking boots, and starts stretching.

“Are you effing crazy?!” the first friend shouts. “You can’t outrun a bear!”

“I don’t have to outrun the bear,” said the second friend. “I only have to outrun you.”

It’s the same with sharks. Another way is to be careful.

The post Great White Sharks in the Northeast—As Common as Sunburn appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Gamefish are kind of like guys. Most pursue three basic things: comfort, food and, every now and then, reproduction. Combine all three factors at one location, and you’ll find a crowd.

Now, think of oyster bars as one place that crowd congregates. Or better yet, think of an oyster bar as a hangout for everything from shrimp, crabs and small fish looking for a hiding spot, to gamefish like snook, trout, redfish and flounder hoping to morph that safety zone into a snack bar.

An oyster bar’s topography features potholes, drop-offs, shallow areas and points. In fact, the average oyster bar offers a litany of components that create feeding stations and ambush points for all inshore saltwater gamefish.

On high tides, a shallow sheet of water covers the bar just enough to allow shrimp, crabs, mullet and other small fish to seek safety atop the sharp shells. As the water falls out, those crustaceans and baitfish must push into deeper water, inviting instant Armageddon.

Fishing oyster bars is tidally relevant. When the water falls, target the edges and drop-offs where gamefish post up, looking to ambush prey. Jigs, spoons and shallow-running plugs stake their reputation on mimicking that food chain.

Set up on the edges or down-current side of the structure to work those baits with the tide. Snook, trout and flounder usually feed along the drop-offs and shell points, while redfish work completely around the structure, even on the up-current side, as they look for food moving off the exposed oysters.

Currents that sweep past the bars push sand and mud toward each end of the structure, creating shallow points. Cast a topwater plug or prop bait toward the points, or swim a shad-type soft plastic with the current flow.

As the tide rises and crests the bar, throw a topwater plug or unweighted, weedless soft-plastic jig, jerkbait or swimbait directly on top of the structure.

Expect the extreme tides typically encountered around full and new moons to exacerbate these fishing scenarios. Higher tides mean more water stacks atop the bar, allowing the predators to feed at will over the oysters. Extreme tides also ramp up the current flowing over and around the oyster bar, so expect gamefish to utilize the edges for an ambush.

Oyster bars not only support an array of food and gamefish, but they also work to clean the water and improve visibility. So, while anglers view them as feeding stations, their main ecological purpose lies in maintaining the water quality and providing a starting point for the next generation of mollusks to perpetuate the species and grow the habitat.

Oyster Rebirth

Did you know that a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water each day? Think 95 2-liter soft-drink bottles, and one single oyster drinking it all. That makes an oyster bar a vital component of our coastal estuaries.

Unfortunately, in almost every estuary, oysters are declining, whether from overharvesting or poor water conditions. Cue Yamaha Rightwaters and Charleston-based Toadfish, manufacturers of eco-friendly fishing products.

Yamaha supports efforts such as the Billion Oyster Project in New York (which replants oysters in the Hudson River) as well as a citizen-science oyster-seeding initiative in Texas. Toadfish donates a portion of every purchase to an oyster-restoration fund.

These projects create new reefs and improve damaged ones by utilizing reclaimed oyster shells from local restaurants and other sources. Volunteers collect and bag the shells and strategically place them where oysters are in decline. The shells attract oyster larvae floating in the water and eventually form living reefs.

More than 200,000 square feet of oyster reef has already been rebuilt from Toadfish’s program alone. Here’s to a few million more.

The post The Amazing Anatomy of an Oyster Bar appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.