Big bluefin tuna make comeback after 80-year hiatus off California coast
Ryder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. Still image taken from a video September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don Orr
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Large Pacific bluefin tuna not seen in California waters for decades have reappeared, to the delight of fishing enthusiasts and scientists, as global conservation efforts have proven effective for one of the ocean's priciest and most sought-after fish.
Overfishing of bluefin tuna spurred by a growing global appetite for sushi resulted in a critical decline in stocks over decades. But measures by the United States, Japan, Mexico and others to limit their take have led to population growth, though tuna populations are still below historic levels.
Gerard DiNardo, director of the Fisheries Resources Division at Southwest Fisheries Science Center, a division of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in La Jolla, California, said there has been an increase in population as well as size of the bluefin because of those efforts.
Ryder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don Orr
"This is management and effective management and it actually is working'" said DiNardo.
The Center for Biological Diversity said in August 2017 that the Pacific bluefin had been overfished to less than 3 percent of its historic population. The National Marine Fisheries Service announced in October 2016 that it was considering listing the Pacific bluefin, but it subsequently concluded that protections were not warranted.
Record-breaking temperatures in San Diego this past summer and the warming of the ocean off the California coast provided a feeding ground for the bluefin, which can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In early January, an 890-pound (403.7 kg) bluefin fetched $323,000 at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
Ryder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don Orr
"They're here to feed," said Heidi Dewar, a fisheries research biologist at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "If we want to understand the dynamics of what's going on here... we really need to look at what they're feeding on."
Scientists said there have been discussions within the fishing community for years about the seeming disappearance of the fish.
But DiNardo said, "They've always been here. It's just that they've been in low numbers for a number of decades."
Ryder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don Orr
Local sport fisherman have welcomed their resurgence.
"When the bluefin went away our sexy fish became the sword fish and striped Marlin,' said John Talsky, manager of the Tuna Club of Santa Catalina Island. "But now that the bluefin is back, we have had to change the rules for all of our tournaments. It’s a wonderful problem to have."
In early September, Ryder Devoe, 19, who dives to spear big game fish, emerged from the deep blue waters 68 miles off the California coast in his camouflaged wet suit, shouting: "I think I got him." Devoe had speared a 200-pound bluefin as a school swam 60 feet below.
Ryder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don Orr
“With a rod and reel you can’t catch them if they aren’t hungry," said Ed Heller, Devoe's boat captain. "But they will always eat a spear.”
Ryder Devoe, 19, swims a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna back to the boat after spearing the fish during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don Orr .
(Reporting by Mike Blake; Writing by Diane Craft; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Ryder Devoe, 19, swims a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna back to the boat after spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don OrrRyder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don OrrRyder Devoe, 19, puts on his freediving gear before entering the ocean in search of large Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakePacific bluefin tuna heads sit waiting to be autopsied by NOAA biologists at their facilities in Jolla, California, U.S. October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, stands with his spearfishing gun before boarding a boat to travel overnight in search of large Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, swims back to the boat after spear fishing a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, catches a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna while spear fishing during a free dive off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don OrrRyder Devoe, 19, comes to the surface after spear fishing a 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Don OrrFisher Devoe, 17, prepares to enter the ocean to free dive for large Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe and his brother Fisher search the waters for signs of Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeBoat captain Ed Heller keeps an eye on the ocean and electronic fish finders as he pilots a boat looking for large Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe and his brother Fisher head out into the ocean to free dive in search of large Pacific bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, proudly shows off his 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna after free diving to spear the fish off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, cleans and filets the 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna he spearfished off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 6, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, carries his spear gun as he goes into the water in search of Bluefin tuna off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike BlakeRyder Devoe, 19, begins to clean the 200-pound Pacific bluefin tuna he spear fished off the coast of San Diego, California, U.S. September 6, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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