FISHING WITH A PURPOSE

I have rarely fished from BIANKA despite often having fish jumping around the boat in the evening. I keep thinking about it from time to time. But, until I implement the stern washdown system the idea of cleaning the deck after catching and cleaning the fish seems like a lot of work for a boat that stays on a mooring and not at a dock. Then I came upon this story of a charter boat captain who routinely tags and releases fish he catches. One of his tags showed up after 16 years on a 1,200 pound Blue Fin Tuna:

"In 1997, Anderson was working the Mudhole, a fishing spot southeast of Block Island. A man on his boat caught a very young bluefin tuna, weighing just 14 pounds. Anderson, of course, tagged it and returned it to the ocean.
As the years passed, bluefin tuna grew ever more valuable and ever scarcer while Anderson continued to take sport fisherman out to sea aboard his charter boat, the Prowler.
Then, about a month ago, a fisherman out of Nova Scotia was tending his longlines about 700 miles offshore when he hauled aboard quite a catch. It was a bluefin tuna weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds."

I might start doing the same there would be less mess and I would not have to worry about constantly cleaning the boat and not always feeling obligated to eat the fish I caught. But, I would also be helping to advance the study of the world's fish stock. Something to think about.


Tuna: An Angler's Guide to a Great Gamefish
Giant Bluefin
Tales of Swordfish and Tuna