THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507160181
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bob Hutchinson
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
Some recent developments make you wonder if the bluefin tuna population is really in the horrendous condition that some scientists and fishery managers would have you believe.
Item: Tremendous concentrations of giant tuna, many in excess of 300 pounds, appeared around several wrecks off the North Carolina coast this past spring and winter. They have been there for at least five years.
Item: Giant bluefins are making a strong showing this summer off the coasts of New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces.
Item: Giant bluefins have recently made two strong showings near the Cigar seamount off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina, resulting in record catches in both states.
Item: Scattered reports of either sightings or catches of giants are coming from Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York coastal anglers.
Perhaps catch restrictions, in place for almost 20 years, are paying dividends. Or maybe the fish are scattering farther north and south than usual in search of something to eat.
Perhaps Hatteras waters have attracted fish in recent years because that's where so many bluefish overwinter, providing the hungry bluefins with something to eat.
Or perhaps the scientists and fishery managers have been fooling us into thinking there were fewer bluefins than actually exist. Perhaps for some clandestine reason.
The bottom line is scientists and managers probably have no realistic idea how many bluefins are swimming in the world's waters.
For one thing, the species is highly migratory, roaming both sides of the Atlantic, north and south.
It can tolerate tremendous extremes in water temperatures, from less than 40 degrees to more than 80 degrees.
You can't drain the Atlantic, count the bluefins and then refill the ocean.
Still, you can't help but wonder if there aren't a lot more fish around than the scientists and managers want to admit, for whatever reason.
TOP EXCUSES: After more than 30 years of writing a fishing column and reporting what people caught, I've heard just about every excuse imaginable for not catching fish.
In fact, I've used most of them myself.
Here's a list of 10 that I've heard so many times they've almost become cliches:
1. The wind was blowing so hard the water was stirred up.
2. There wasn't any wind to stir up the water.
3. The seas were so rough we couldn't keep the boat in the right position.
4. The seas were so calm we never could make the right approach.
5. The tide was too high.
6. The tide was too low.
7. We had some rotten bait.
8. Another bunch of fishermen were in our hole and we couldn't get to it.
9. A commercial fishing boat got there before we did and caught all the fish.
10. If I had been in my boat it would have been different. But I was with John. He didn't know anything and he wouldn't listen to me.
There are almost as many excuses for failure as there are anglers. Do you have some others worth relaying? Send them along. We might do this again.
HUNTING DATES: A three-part dove season spanning four months was part of a package of wingshooting regulations approved Thursday by the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Hunting seasons also were set for railbirds, snipe, woodcock and resident Canada geese.
The first segment of the dove season will run Sept. 2-30, with shooting allowed from noon until sunset. The other segments will be Oct. 2-31 and Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, with hunting from a half-hour before sunrise until sunset. The bag limit will be 12 birds.
The rail season will be divided into two parts, Sept. 11 through Oct. 14 and Oct. 21 through Nov. 25. Bag limits will be 15 clapper or king rails and 25 sora or Virginia rails.
The two-part snipe season will be Oct. 11-14 and Oct. 21 through Jan. 31, with an eight-bird limit, while woodcock hunting will be allowed Oct. 30 through Nov. 25 and Dec. 2 through Jan. 6, with a three-bird limit.
The resident Canada goose season will be expanded to cover all areas of Virginia. Last year hunting was limited to 43 counties and did not include Hampton Roads.
The season will be Sept. 5-15 with a five-bird daily bag limit.
Game department officials estimate that a record 100,000 Canadas now call Virginia home on a year-round basis, while the migratory population continues to plummet.
Hunting for rails, snipe, woodcock and resident geese will be legal from a half-hour before sunrise until sunset.
CANOEING DUO: Two Virginia Beach boaters will go against some of the top canoe-racers July 29-30 in the Weyerhauser AuSable River Canoe Marathon.
Although Randy Drake, 41, and Paul Facteau, 26, have competed in the 120-mile race before, this will be the first time they have teamed for the Grayling, Mich., race.
Smith finished fifth in 1994, Facteau was eighth. Smith won the event in 1989, teamed with Tim Treibold of Wisconsin.
The AuSable race, with 45 two-person teams, begins at dusk in Grayling and ends 14 to 19 hours later at Oscoda on the shores of Lake Huron.
It is considered North America's toughest, richest race, offering $48,000 in prize money.
It is the second leg of marathon-canoeing's triple crown. Others are the General Clinton Canoe Regatta on the Susquehanna River in New York State and the La Classique de Canots de la Mauricie on the St. Maurice River in Quebec, Canada.
BILLFISH BREAK: The federal government has been asked to limit the areas and times for using longline commercial-fishing gear.
The request came from the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, a coalition of South Atlantic States. It also has the backing of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation of Leesburg, Va., and the Billfish Foundation of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Behind the request is a growing concern over the number of billfish being killed by indiscriminate longlines, which can be 30 miles long with thousands of baited hooks.
The government has estimated that longlines are responsible for 70 to 90 percent of all billfish mortality.
Federal laws require that marlin, sailfish and spearfish caught on longlines be released, dead or alive. Most longline fishermen target tuna, swordfish and shark.
Under the proposal, not yet approved by the federal government, longline fishing would be banned from Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach to Nantucket (Mass.) Light from June 1 until Oct. 1 and from Rudee Inlet to Fernandina Beach, Fla., from April 1 until Oct. 1.
SHORT CASTS: Country music star Louise Mandrell has been named honorary chairwoman of the 1995 National Hunting and Fishing Day observation, Sept. 23. She is an avid outdoors enthusiast. ... Robin M. Ball and Julie Ball of Chesapeake have earned citation awards from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament by releasing black drum at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel aboard the Jubilee. ... The state-owned Rapidan Wildlife Management Area in Madison County has been closed because of flood damage. One part of the popular facility, Middle River, may not be open in time for this fall's hunting season. ... An introductory 90-minute walk through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach will be conducted July 30 by Reese Lukei. Preregistration is required, call 721-2412. ILLUSTRATION: ANGLER OF THE WEEK
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VIRGINIA SALT WATER TOURNAMENT LEADERS
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by CNB