Current Waters: Great News For 2025 Tuna Fishing

The striped bass fishing continues to be awesome. There is a lot of bait around. Some smaller bait, too.

Bluefish continue to thicken. We caught some nice-sized bluefish ourselves on a charter Thursday. Great Point does have bluefish, but it’s hit or miss right now.

Bonito are still being caught, but it doesn’t seem to be at the rate that it started at.

We have big tides right now, so I’d expect another bump of fish soon. With every tide, there are more fish. Also, with the big tides, the bait will be pushed around, and that livens things up.

The beach fishing has been pretty decent. As we get into the second half of June, more small bait and crab activity means that the beach fishing will pick up even more. I expect it’ll increase with these big tides, too.

Right now, I’m using a lot of squid imitations and Island X lures for topwater. I’m really favoring lures and presentations that have single hooks for minimum impact.

This time of year is a great time to get kids out fishing since there is so much around and the likelihood of success is high. And don’t forget that this weekend is Father’s Day. In Massachusetts, you can celebrate Father's Day on June 15 with a free saltwater fishing day. Aside from Sunday, if you're 16 or older, you need a permit to fish in saltwater. Funds from fishing license sales go towards MassWildlife’s fisheries research, fish stocking programs, and angler education programs. To buy your own fishing license, visit mass.gov.

Tuna tales…

On Nantucket, we have a world-class bluefin tuna fishery, and it’s one of our favorite trips for getting people on the water. Myself and others charters around Nantucket (and more broadly in New England) make a big part of our living off of this fishery. In the past couple of years, the bluefin tuna fishery has been successfully increasing. However, the way fisheries of highly migratory species are managed, there is difficulty in responding to a rapidly growing population.

So, even though the fishery has been increasing, we had a blow earlier this year when NOAA Fisheries came out with the 2025 fishing regulations for recreational bluefin tuna. Around the last week of May, the regulations put forth only allowed one fish per boat at 27-47 inches, which is a tough size to come by in our area. The reason for that regulation was that all sectors (recreational and commercial) harvested more than the yearly quota, so the adjustments are to “pay that back” to the population. That limitation to recreational tuna fishing would have had a significant impact on the northeast charter fleet and tackle shops serving the recreational tuna fishing industry

When these regulations first came out in spring, as you can imagine, that decision wasn’t favorable for the charter boat industry, and there was a pretty big outcry.

This is an instance where there was a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of public comments, letters, and fisheries meetings. Thanks to all who made comments! Our valid points were heard, and there has been a recent adjustment to the regulations. Just yesterday (Thursday), NOAA Fisheries adjusted the Atlantic bluefin tuna daily retention limits for recreational fishermen. Starting July 1, charter head boats (with proper permitting) are allowed 2 bluefin tuna measuring 27 to <73”, of which only 1 fish may be a large school/small medium bluefin tuna (47 to <73”). Private vessels are allowed 1 bluefin tuna measuring 27 to <73”. This might not seem like a big change (1 to two fish per boat), but that additional fish in that size class can mean the difference between being able to do tuna charters for our clients or not. And this is still conservative compared to what the quota has been for the past three years. And I’m good with it. We can still have fun, successful charters, and take home rec-sized tuna.

Keep in mind that these retention limits are dynamic and can change readily. NOAA Fisheries may need to take another action(s) later in the year, if appropriate, to further adjust the retention limits or close the fishery. So it’s important to let them know how we’re doing.

So, how do we keep the tuna regs the way we want them? The best way for us to get more quota and have more room in our fishery is to report our catch, showing that there is an abundance of tuna. The recreational tuna fishery has a less than 20 percent compliance rate in reporting their catch. If we want the catch limits to increase, we need people to report what they are harvesting to show how strong the fishery is. Anyone who targets Bluefin tuna needs to have a (federal) highly migratory species permit anyway. And if you have that permit, you are required to report. ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) looks to the science to increase our US Bluefin quota. We need the reports (the data) to inform that science.

Go book your bluefin tuna charter with your favorite captain this summer and have fun on the water. Trips make great Father’s Day gifts!

Until next tide…