The future for Atlantic bluefin tuna is looking somewhat brighter, thanks to new measures proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service to better protect stocks of the vulnerable, icon apex predator. For that, sport fishermen have reason to be pleased (a feeling that recent decisions of the feds haven’t often invoked). The proposal, known as Draft Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan, would close two new areas to longline fishing, which kills many tons of bluefin tuna as bycatch on the thousands of baited hooks meant widely for yellowfin and swordfish. A small area in the northern Gulf of Mexico would be closed to longliners during spawning time in April and May and off the North Carolina coast from December through April. An annual cap would limit the total number of bluefin the longline ...Image may be NSFW.
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