While E. Coyote believes in domesticated Blue Fin Tuna (Speakers Corner)

For those of you who couldn't guess, I'm While E. Coyote. (super genius) That name was given to me by my first real girlfriend. Not the While E. Coyote that was always chasing the Road Runner. But the 1 time he spoke in the cartoon while trying to out fox Bugs Bunny. If you ever saw that cartoon you would get it. Any one who has been following the Saltwater fishing scene in the last 5 years, must know about the Blue Fin Tuna action we've had in Mexico and in U.S. waters. (To put it mildly, it's simply amazing!!!) We've had tuna caught between 12-300 pounds, just this past week we've had several San Diego based boats land tuna between 160-260 pounds. Not just 1 or 2 but 7-8 on the same boat on the same trip. Where the heck did these fish come from???

Science has told us that BFT and Albacore make a huge migration in the Pacific ocean. (they basically swim to Japan and back) I'm not a scientist but just an observer of catch rates of ocean fish. (45 years of experience doing that) In my experience of the 1970's and early 80's, I saw small runs of BFT off of the local islands and occasionally inshore. (Santa Monica Bay) Those runs dried up by the Mid 1980's, so the only BFT you ever caught were offshore. These fish were almost always under #40 and would only be around for a few weeks. There were a few exceptions when we got the larger BFT, but those runs were short lived and only happened 3-4 times in my life time.

But 4 years ago it all changed!

We now have these things around almost year round and they keep getting bigger. How did that happen??? Nobody knows for sure, so a whole bunch of theory's are coming out trying to explain it. The first one was the currents changed. (that kinda explains what happened to the Albacore) So maybe. Other people talk about the good food that's around, especially the Red Crabs. Or it's just a cycle. I'll buy that or any combination of the three. That's the conventionally wisdom! Nothing wrong with any of those theory's, but they still don't know for sure.

So some unconventionally theory's are starting to be floating around and they all have 1 thing in common. (Mexican Tuna pens) For those of you who don't know what they are, I will explain them. Instead of catching tuna and throwing them on the deck of the boat to die quickly. A specially designed boat catch's the tuna and keeps them alive and puts them in pens to fatten them up and to be sold at a latter date. There are 3 main locations of these tuna pens. One is the Coronado Islands, the Hidden Bank (40 miles from San Diego) and right off of Ensenada. If you been fishing for BFT in recent years, a good spot has been right around the pens at the Hidden Bank. (it seems to attract wild tuna) That's one theory on why we have these things year round.

Another theory is these fish are now spawning off of our coast. I threw that one out on another fishing website but was quickly rebuked on that idea. (people said there is no evidence of sexually mature fish off of our coast yet) But what I did find interesting was the release of BFT from the tuna pens. The pen operators are working on a strict quota basis. (set by the Mexican fishery department) So they over catch their quota (to account for dead loss) but when it comes times to harvest their catch, they must release all tuna alive over their quota. (it's a pretty big number) That got me thinking!!!!

The 2 greatest ideas of early Mankind was animal husband tree and agriculture. This changed Mankind from a Hunter gatherer to a more settled down civilized society. Animal husband tree (domestication of animals) was a simple process. You just control the animals food supply and boundary's and Wa La you have domesticated animals. When you put wild tuna in a pen for months and continually feed them. You take a little bit of the wildness out of them and then if you release them, I don't think they would have the greatest desire to swim back to Japan. Why would they?? Instincts maybe, but they got everything they need right here. They obviously got use to the water after being confined in it for months. Plus there is also all the food they can eat all around them. So why leave is my theory.

Last night I attended one of the local fishing club meetings. Their guest speaker was a scientist from NOAA. The Federal agency who controls what happens in the waters from 3-200 miles offshore. After a very nice presentation (he did briefly mention the local BFT and said their not really sure why their still here) So at the break I struck up a conversation with him. I told him I had a theory about these local BFT and wondered if he wanted to hear it. (You think I only give my opinions on everything only on FNN???) lol I rest assured him, I don't wear a Tin Foil cap at night and don't believe the world is controlled by Lizard people living below the surface of the Earth. (he laughed) I told him the same domesticated tuna theory I just explained. He told me Mexico just released 400 tons of BFT from the tuna pens! I could then see a little light bulb going off on top of his head. He told me those tuna need to be tagged prior to being released from the pens to monitor their movements. You guy's are NOAA, so in my best John Luke Pitchard imitation I said, "Make it So!!!" lol

Wouldn't it be funny if years from now I read in W.O.N., NOAA has just concluded from their tagging study's of Mexican Pen released BFT. That those same fish have now taken up residence in the California Bight. People would never know that idea was first proposed by While E. Coyote. (super genius) lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by etucker1959

For those of you who couldn't guess, I'm While E. Coyote. (super genius) That name was given to me by my first real girlfriend. Not the While E. Coyote that was always chasing the Road Runner. But the 1 time he spoke in the cartoon while trying to out fox Bugs Bunny. If you ever saw that cartoon you would get it. Any one who has been following the Saltwater fishing scene in the last 5 years, must know about the Blue Fin Tuna action we've had in Mexico and in U.S. waters. (To put it mildly, it's simply amazing!!!) We've had tuna caught between 12-300 pounds, just this past week we've had several San Diego based boats land tuna between 160-260 pounds. Not just 1 or 2 but 7-8 on the same boat on the same trip. Where the heck did these fish come from???

Science has told us that BFT and Albacore make a huge migration in the Pacific ocean. (they basically swim to Japan and back) I'm not a scientist but just an observer of catch rates of ocean fish. (45 years of experience doing that) In my experience of the 1970's and early 80's, I saw small runs of BFT off of the local islands and occasionally inshore. (Santa Monica Bay) Those runs dried up by the Mid 1980's, so the only BFT you ever caught were offshore. These fish were almost always under #40 and would only be around for a few weeks. There were a few exceptions when we got the larger BFT, but those runs were short lived and only happened 3-4 times in my life time.

But 4 years ago it all changed!

We now have these things around almost year round and they keep getting bigger. How did that happen??? Nobody knows for sure, so a whole bunch of theory's are coming out trying to explain it. The first one was the currents changed. (that kinda explains what happened to the Albacore) So maybe. Other people talk about the good food that's around, especially the Red Crabs. Or it's just a cycle. I'll buy that or any combination of the three. That's the conventionally wisdom! Nothing wrong with any of those theory's, but they still don't know for sure.

So some unconventionally theory's are starting to be floating around and they all have 1 thing in common. (Mexican Tuna pens) For those of you who don't know what they are, I will explain them. Instead of catching tuna and throwing them on the deck of the boat to die quickly. A specially designed boat catch's the tuna and keeps them alive and puts them in pens to fatten them up and to be sold at a latter date. There are 3 main locations of these tuna pens. One is the Coronado Islands, the Hidden Bank (40 miles from San Diego) and right off of Ensenada. If you been fishing for BFT in recent years, a good spot has been right around the pens at the Hidden Bank. (it seems to attract wild tuna) That's one theory on why we have these things year round.

Another theory is these fish are now spawning off of our coast. I threw that one out on another fishing website but was quickly rebuked on that idea. (people said there is no evidence of sexually mature fish off of our coast yet) But what I did find interesting was the release of BFT from the tuna pens. The pen operators are working on a strict quota basis. (set by the Mexican fishery department) So they over catch their quota (to account for dead loss) but when it comes times to harvest their catch, they must release all tuna alive over their quota. (it's a pretty big number) That got me thinking!!!!

The 2 greatest ideas of early Mankind was animal husband tree and agriculture. This changed Mankind from a Hunter gatherer to a more settled down civilized society. Animal husband tree (domestication of animals) was a simple process. You just control the animals food supply and boundary's and Wa La you have domesticated animals. When you put wild tuna in a pen for months and continually feed them. You take a little bit of the wildness out of them and then if you release them, I don't think they would have the greatest desire to swim back to Japan. Why would they?? Instincts maybe, but they got everything they need right here. They obviously got use to the water after being confined in it for months. Plus there is also all the food they can eat all around them. So why leave is my theory.

Last night I attended one of the local fishing club meetings. Their guest speaker was a scientist from NOAA. The Federal agency who controls what happens in the waters from 3-200 miles offshore. After a very nice presentation (he did briefly mention the local BFT and said their not really sure why their still here) So at the break I struck up a conversation with him. I told him I had a theory about these local BFT and wondered if he wanted to hear it. (You think I only give my opinions on everything only on FNN???) lol I rest assured him, I don't wear a Tin Foil cap at night and don't believe the world is controlled by Lizard people living below the surface of the Earth. (he laughed) I told him the same domesticated tuna theory I just explained. He told me Mexico just released 400 tons of BFT from the tuna pens! I could then see a little light bulb going off on top of his head. He told me those tuna need to be tagged prior to being released from the pens to monitor their movements. You guy's are NOAA, so in my best John Luke Pitchard imitation I said, "Make it So!!!" lol

Wouldn't it be funny if years from now I read in W.O.N., NOAA has just concluded from their tagging study's of Mexican Pen released BFT. That those same fish have now taken up residence in the California Bight. People would never know that idea was first proposed by While E. Coyote. (super genius) lol

---

I'll just say that this sounds reasonable to me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pastorsheldon

I'll just say that this sounds reasonable to me.

---

I hope they do indeed find out one day, why we have these BFT around. They sure are a lot of fun!!!

Very interesting theory, just might be the answer. I like the tagging idea, too. All kinds of information could be gleaned from that study. There have been reports each year from the outer islands by fisherfolk of bringing their nets only to discover they they had been thrashed and had big holes torn in them. Giant bluefin tuna (the 400-800 lb. type) were always suspected as the culprit, but none were ever seen, much less caught. I know that flies in the face of the accepted data on the eastern Pacific BFT stock, but it could also demonstrate that there is a population of large, wild, never-before-caught BFT that ply our waters from time to time. Those could be the breeders that we've not yet seen.

There is an article on bloody decks from a year or two ago written about the big bluefin. I did a search but couldn’t find it. The author talked about big bluefin being caught in the early 1900s and in the 1940-1950s. The author suggested that it was a phenomenon that happens every 40-50 years. He stayed that each time they came around they stayed for 10 years or so. I will search a little harder and see if I can find it.

But that does seem to be an interesting theory.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by parkermann2

There is an article on bloody decks from a year or two ago written about the big bluefin. I did a search but couldn’t find it. The author talked about big bluefin being caught in the early 1900s and in the 1940-1950s. The author suggested that it was a phenomenon that happens every 40-50 years. He stayed that each time they came around they stayed for 10 years or so. I will search a little harder and see if I can find it.

But that does seem to be an interesting theory.

---

It's just a theory but tagging could prove or disprove that idea!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by etucker1959

People would never know that idea was first proposed by While E. Coyote. (super genius) lol

---

Deja poo!!!

I prefer the road runner

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by etucker1959

...But 4 years ago it all changed!...

---

Interesting observations and theory. Looking at some statistics however, the last 4 years have not been so spectacular in comparison with 2011-2013, with 2013 being a record year for BFT. Seasonality is also very pronounced during this period - most fish were caught during the summer months.
Attachment 51367 - yearly totals on the bottom

Attachment 51366
Data for the last 10 years comes from sandiegofishreports.com. For more info on the study see here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by livinsd

Interesting observations and theory. Looking at some statistics however, the last 4 years have not been so spectacular in comparison with 2011-2013, with 2013 being a record year for BFT. Seasonality is also very pronounced during this period - most fish were caught during the summer months.
Attachment 51367 - yearly totals on the bottom

Attachment 51366
Data for the last 10 years comes from sandiegofishreports.com. For more info on the study see here.

---

I'm just an observer with a memory. So with that being said, "when did the limit change from 5 fish to 2 fish?" The 2 fish limit hasn't been around that long! So wouldn't the 5 fish limit scew the numbers of fish being caught. To the point of thinking there was more fish being around then when the 5 fish limit was in effect. With a 2 fish limit, you end up driving away from biting fish once the 2 fish limit is reached.

Good point - the BFT (or PBF) daily limit changed from 10 to 2 and became effective July 30, 2015. So now maybe more tuna at sea, but less in the bag.