NOAA Law Enforcement provided Saving Seafood with the following comment and explanation of its enforcement actions in the case of the 881 pound bluefin tuna caught by a vessel owned by Carlos Rafael of New Bedford. The story was first reported yesterday and has since "gone vira;" receiving national attention from media outlets coast-to-coast and and in Canada, as well as hundreds of web sites around the world.
The tuna was seized under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act. Under that Act, it is unlawful for any person or vessel subject to U.S. jurisdiction to fish for, catch, retain or possess a bluefin tuna with gear not authorized by the vessel's category permit. In fact, it's even unlawful to have a bluefin tuna in possession if the vessel has a permit but also has gear not authorized by that permit on board.
This vessel has a general category permit for bluefin tuna. Under the general category regulations, bluefin tuna must be caught with rod and reel (including downriggers), handline, harpoon, bandit gear or green-stick.
This particular tuna was caught in a trawl net. There is no permit that allows bluefin tuna to be caught with trawl net.
Bluefin tuna is a highly regulated, highly competitive fishery, and the U.S. bluefin tuna quota is allocated fully to those fishing categories based on traditional gear types, which does not include trawl nets. Bluefin tuna are overfished, and there is insufficient quota to allow for incidental landings by all gears that have the potential to catch bluefin tuna on occasion. Furthermore, given the high value of individual bluefin tuna, regulations are strictly enforced to ensure equitable fishing opportunities amongst the many user categories Atlantic Coast-wide.
The tuna was seized by NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement and was sold. While the amount is unknown at this time, the proceeds will go into a suspense account pending forfeiture proceedings or abandonment of the fish by all interested parties. Abandonment is a voluntary process whereby an individual voluntarily abandons his title and interest in the property, whereas forfeiture is a legal action in U.S. District Court whereby the U.S. Government seeks forfeiture of the seized property.
In this case, the owner already has signed an abandonment form, and a written warning has been issued to the corporation that owns the vessel. Those who receive written warnings may choose to contest those warnings.
For more information, here is a link to the Highly Migratory Species Bluefin Tuna Guide:
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/Compliance_Guide/index.htm