Ladies and Gentlemen,

On Thursday, July 24th NOAA submitted a notice to the Federal Register petitioning the prohibition of Pacific bluefin tuna fishing.

Public comments in response to the petition will be accepted until September 22nd, 2014.

It is critical that you submit comments in response to the proposed management changes. 

To see the petition click here. Or here for a .pdf.

HOW TO SUBMIT A COMMENT:

We HIGHLY recommend you submit a comment via mail on letterhead. This method often has more weighted value than electronic submissions and is more likely to be read. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to: Mark Helvey, NMFS West Coast Region, 501 W. Ocean Blvd., Ste. 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802. Attn: Pacific Bluefin Tuna.

• Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to  www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0076, click the "Comment Now!" icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

All comments will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying Information (name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. NMFS will also accept anonymous comments (enter "N/A" in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COMMENT:

A guideline or idea of what to submit because as we all know, we’ll have a much stronger impact by keeping a positive attitude in our comments;

An example from the angler’s point of view:

As a  recreational angler, I have seen schools of Bluefin Tuna in excess of 100 tons over the past few Couple of Seasons.  This year in 2014, we have now witnessed the largest Schools of BFT in recent memory.  Bluefin Tuna are very elusive and in my opinion one of the hardest Fish to figure out.  Most of the time when we have spotted schools of Bluefin, they remain “Boat shy” where we cannot even get close to the body of fish.  In many instances where we have been able to slide the boat next to a school and put our lines in the water  – they  typically refuse to bite.

 

They are a witty and a challenging adversary, not to mention amazing to eat.  Each one I’ve caught has been appreciated.  I definitely do not want to see the desolation of bluefin tuna and hope that a compromise of bag limits could be the common sense solution rather than all out ban which would directly affect many people’s livelihoods and dampen passion.

 

*We encourage ALL individuals who could be impacted (family members, crew, anglers, etc) to submit a comment - the more comments = more support. Spread the word.