August 16, 2014 — In what was likely the first time a bitter feud over fisheries quotas has been transformed into swaggering entertainment, a sneak preview Thursday of Wicked Tuna: North Vs. South was met with raucous whooping and cheers at a standing-room only gala at Pirate’s Cove.
The spinoff of the National Geographic Channel’s Wicked Tuna series was shot last winter off Hatteras and Oregon Inlet featuring Outer Banks fishermen battling “invading” Yankee watermen — who had a rough season up north — for the notoriously limited bluefin tuna quota.
The valuable bluefin is strictly regulated, but North Carolina watermen have complained for years that the allotted quota favors the northern fishermen who pursue them earlier in the year.
“They made it a geographical quota,” Greg Mayer, one of the show’s Southern captains, said before the presentation. “Basically, in North Carolina, we are screwed. It’s wrong.”
A large bluefin, prized for sushi, can be worth $10,000 or more.
Hundreds of local residents and public officials mingled over drinks and food at the marina before the big screen lit up with familiar scenes of fishing boats and sunrise over sparkling water. Many folks in the crowd were also in town for the Pirates Cove Big Game Tournament.
Read the full story at the Outer Banks Voice