DATE: Sunday, June 29, 1997                 TAG: 9706290205

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON

                                            LENGTH:  105 lines

BLUEFIN SEASON IS EXTENDED BY 3 WEEKS

Bluefin tuna fishermen in Virginia and North Carolina have been given a break, albeit small, by the federal government.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, which closely regulates all fishing for the beleaguered bluefin, has basically extended the season by three weeks south of the Delaware-New Jersey line.

That season was to have closed Friday on bluefins of less than 47 inches, measured from the tip of the nose down the curved side to the fork of the tail.

Now that season will extend through July 20. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the daily bag limit will remain at one fish per boat per day.

The ruling covers fish of at least 27 inches but less than 73 inches. All bluefins under 27 inches remain illegal, and you need a special permit for any 73 inches or above, where the bag limit is one per boat per season.

The extension may not be enough to pacify many unhappy anglers and marina operators. Some have had run-ins with federal agents attempting to measure the catch.

A few marina operators and boat skippers, private and charter, have refused to cooperate and have banned agents from their facilities. That prompted the fisheries service to issue a statement reminding the public that such action is unlawful and could impact future tuna allocations.

The bluefin was the first ocean-roaming fish to come under tight restrictions and the first to be covered by an international treaty among tuna-fishing nations.

The bluefin has tremendous value as a commercial product and as an angling prize. Individual fish have sold for as much as $80,000 on the Japanese sushi market.

Several years ago the National Marine Fisheries Service divided the country's quota, as established by the treaty, among various harvesters.

The quota has sparked considerable debate in recent years following the discovery of impressive number of fish off Hatteras each winter. Since then, a sizable portion of the quota has been consumed off Hatteras, where an economically important sport fishery has developed.

Anyway, that's the latest in the ongoing saga. Stay tuned for more.

TRIPLE CITATIONS: Three generations of the Gibboney family of Virginia Beach recently earned citation awards from the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament - for the same species the same day.

Dana Gibboney scored with an 8-pound, 7-ounce spadefish, dad Donald Gibboney with a 7-5 catch and grandfather Hugh at 7-10. They were on the boat Migraine at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

MORE ON SPADES: Virginia's commercial rod-and-reel fishermen, like their recreational counterparts, now are limited to keeping six spadefish a day.

But while the recreational limit is permanent, the commercial constraint, approved Tuesday by the Marine Resources Commission, will expire Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, the agency plans a comprehensive look at how to handle all commercial rod-and-reelers in the future. With the exception of striped bass, they must now abide by recreational bag limits.

In the striper fishery, commercial fishermen are granted a limited number of tags, one for each fish, and are allowed to use their tags for either netted or rod-and-reel fish.

The commission has wrestled for several years with just what to do with commercial rod-and-reelers, who claim they now fall between the cracks of fishery management.

NO-NET ZONE: A group of recreational fishermen wants to see the seasonal gill-net ban for speckled trout waters extended to cover more Eastern Shore creek entrances. At present, netting is banned around the entrances of Hungars, Occohannock and Nassawadox creeks and The Gulf at Smith Beach.

The angling group, most of them Eastern Shoremen, wants the ban extended to cover the entrances of Cherrystone, Old Plantation, Craddock and Nandua creeks.

The marine commission has agreed to take the matter to a public hearing at its Aug. 26 meeting. If approved, the regulation would cover the fall fishery.

BIG MONEY: Professional largemouth bass fishing is getting its first $1 million purse this weekend at the Forrest Wood Open Pro/Am on a lake near Minneapolis.

Some 150 of the nation's top professionals will compete for a record first-place prize of $200,000, while 150 of the top amateurs will go after their record $40,000 top award.

The final weigh-in will be the 4.2-million-square-foot Mall of America, the nation's largest shopping center. The tournament is named after Forrest L. Wood of Flippin, Ark., founder of Ranger boats.

GAME HEARING: Hunters will be given a chance July 8 to voice their suggestions for dove, rail, snipe, woodcock and resident Canada goose seasons.

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will hold a public hearing on the matter at 7 that evening in the agency's board room at 4010 W. Broad St. in Richmond. The board is expected to make its decision at a public hearing at the same location at 9:30 a.m. July 17.

For details, contact the Game Department at 1-804-367-1000.

SHORT CASTS: Beginning Tuesday, North Carolina is going to a much speedier computerized system for issuing hunting and fishing licenses through some 900 agents. Licenses may also be purchased by calling 1-888-248-6834. You must use a Visa or MasterCard and must have a touch-tone telephone. . . . The sixth annual Little Creek Marina Billfish Release Tournament will be held Aug. 15-17. The fee will be $150 per boat. For details, contact Little Creek Marina in Norfolk at 362-3600. . . . The 17th Street Tackle Shop at Virginia Beach now opens at 6 a.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and is offering live minnows and eels. . . . Sea Tow Services, a boat-towing firm, has its own web site (http://www.boatingsafety.com), providing information on various matters of nautical interest. . . . Did you know: Of the 25 all-time heavyweight largemouth bass, 20 came from California waters and only three from Florida?

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