The line snapped out of the Roller-Troller outrigger clip and the rod just barely bent, but no line was coming off the reel like you would expect with a typical striped marlin strike. My son, Zane, looked at me and we both said the same thing…“Mako shark on the marlin lure”!
Zane scrambled down the bridge ladder and grabbed the rod and started winding, but the fish just kept tracking along at the same speed as the boat. Outdoor writer and good friend, Rich Holland, started clearing the other 3 trolling lines as Zane worked the fish closer to the boat. Rich just got the last troller out of the water, when Zane said the double line was coming out of the water. I looked over just in time to see the “mako shark” had grown a bill, as 150lbs of angry Catalina Island striped marlin exploded into the air just outside the port outrigger!
Rich, my son Zane (13) and I were off the east end of Catalina Island in Southern California trying to put a couple of the first Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags “PSATs” in our local stripers.
At the ready
A PSAT is an archival tag that is equipped to transmit the data via direct satellite upload when it “pops” to the surface. The PSAT’s major advantage is that it does not have to be physically retrieved like an archival tag for the data to be available. They have been used to track movements of ocean sunfish, marlin, sharks, tuna, swordfish and sea turtles. Location, depth, and temperature data are used to answer questions about migratory patterns, seasonal feeding movements, daily habits, and survival after catch and release. The sophisticated – and very expensive – $4000 PSAT tags had been supplied to us through the joint efforts of the Avalon Tuna Club, Paxon Offield and The Pfleger Institute of Technology (P.I.E.R).
We had been having a very successful marlin season on our boat “Kawakawa,” and were excited to be selected to place the tags. But, with an outdoor writer and two expensive PSATs aboard, the pressure was on to get the job done!
Zane’s marlin gave us a good scrap, but on the 30lb tackle he was soon boat-side and ready to be leadered and PSAT tagged. We were very careful to keep the marlin away from the props and also to keep him from hitting the side of the boat during the leadering and hook removal process. Luckily the fish was hooked right in the corner of the jaw and cooperated well once I was able to grab his bill in preparation for tagging. We removed the little magnet which was taped to the tag, and this turned on the PSAT transmitter. We then carefully placed the tag at the base of the dorsal and gently released the striper.
Satellite Ready
After high-fives and victory shouts we put the lures back in and continued trolling up the famous Catalina Island east end ridge looking for another striper. It didn’t take long before we were “wired” again on our second striper of the day in only 300 feet of water. Rich graciously insisted young Zane take the second fish so he could shoot photos. Twenty minutes later we had the fish to leader and were able to place our second PSAT in a perfectly healthy Catalina Island striped marlin!
We learned several months later from PIER scientist Dr. Michael Domeier, that one of our stripers immediately left Catalina water after we placed the PSAT and charged straight south 400 miles, where the tag stopped transmitting off Cedros Island in Baja, Mexico. Domeier theorized that the marlin had possibly been eaten by a predator, due to the data profile he received from the PSAT.
We were stunned and disappointed to learn that our second PSAT tagged marlin was re-caught the same afternoon after we placed the tag! It turns out the fish was re-caught by a boat fishing in a tournament which was held the same day we were out. Sadly, the fish was killed and the PSAT was removed by the boat that caught the fish. Dr. Domeier later recovered the PSAT and was able to upload the few hours of data from the overly-hungry striped marlin.
We were thrilled and honored to be one of the first boats in California to place a PSAT in a striped marlin. Since that day back in 2004 there have been many stripers PSAT tagged off Mexico, and a few more have even been tagged in Southern California. The data gleaned from the PSATs has greatly increased the knowledge base of the striped marlin’s habits at this northern limit of their usual range.
— Greg Stotesbury
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When John Rafter asked me “Pete, if you knew tomorrow was going to be the last day you ever got to fish in your life, but you could be wherever you wanted to be, and in the prime time or season, where would you choose?” A thousand images flooded my brain. “That’s really tough. There are so many places.” I replied.
“What about St. Thomas?” Rafter queried, “We were talking about this at Oden’s Dock in Hatteras and someone said that was the best blue marlin fishing ever.”
St. Thomas is a lovely island and the Virgin Islands have great diving and snorkeling in crystal clear bays over sand so white it hurts the eyes—and some of the best reefs in the Caribbean. With 5 to 10 bites a day on blue marlin not guaranteed, but also not unusual, it conjured up fond memories.
“I’d have to think about that and Cape Verde would probably win if I was going after blue marlin. There are even more fish there, and lots of action would probably win out over someplace like Madeira, which is such a gorgeous place just to be, that the fishing is almost a bonus. In Madeira, even though the action is not as red hot when you do get a bite, it is likely to be a real monster. But the biggest blue I ever saw was off Mindelo in Cape Verde so that’s a tough one.” I mused.
I make my living fishing for monster marlin and tuna and love that kind of fishing even though it can be hard work and is often stressful when we’re under pressure to produce. When I fish for the sheer fun of it, I’m often targeting smaller fish.
The Great Barrier Reef is the ultimate. Not just lots of marlin, but monsters over 1000 pounds..."
“I haven’t had a chance to take Bimini after bonefish yet.” I told Rafter. “I can remember wading the flats east of the island she’s named after at sunrise, and that’s pretty darn gorgeous. With a rising tide and those schools of fish pushing up onto the flats trying to pick out tails and get a bite out of those spooky devils, if I could only fish one more day I’m not sure I wouldn’t like to share that with my little girl.”
Then I thought about tarpon. It’s cooler and yuppier to fish with fly rods on the flats and that is also great fun, but Boca Grande won for that scene. I remembered the sun setting in the west just as a full moon was rising in the east. Calm water shimmering in the light that never really quit with the big full moon spring tides carrying all that LIFE. Weed and crabs and minnows all going with the current and then the tarpon— thousands upon thousands of them rolling in huge packs of prehistoric predators eating every bait we put out. No records, no pressure to perform, just fish after fish jumping, fighting, and being released-healthy. I’d hate to think I’d never see that again.
“What about those days we had in Hatteras when the bluefins were THICK?” Rafter interrupted my silent thoughts.
Boy could I see that in my minds eye. Enormous shapes zooming through the water eating chum before it could get really wet. Giant tuna eating chicken wings and squashed Pepsi cans if they were thrown in the cadence of the cut up baitfish chum. The line crackling off the reel. Using 100 pounds of drag on custom Cal Sheets Penn 130 reels with a top shot of 300 pound line.
Or sunny days off Cat Cay and Bimini in the old days with even bigger tuna running before the sea. Harder there to get a bite but even bigger fish!
“And the diving there is truly wonderful. The dive industry is WAY bigger than fishing down under. We get to snorkel and dive in the best spots that even the dive boats don’t go to – in fact, the fishing guys found most of the dive spots when we were the only ones out there and that was only during our short black marlin season.”
Then Rafter stopped me cold. “You know what? Ernie Foster was in the crowd at Hatteras and here’s what he said. ‘Boys, you never know which day IS going to be the last one you do get to go fishing. You better enjoy each one as if it WAS the last.’”
Thinking about this has made me appreciate my time on the water even more and I’ve resolved to concentrate even more than I already do on two aspects of my fishing.
Share it with kids. There is no better way to enjoy a day on the water than taking a kid fishing. Someday, I’m going to finish a book I’ve started called “Mentors” partly about men who took me fishing. In the meantime, I’m going to do more of what my grandmother called “Paying for my raising.”
Help out the fish. Only strong resources and good management can ensure what I have loved for future generations to enjoy.
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The past few years in Southern California, we have been plagued with the “La Nina” condition, which keeps our offshore waters cooler than normal in the summer months. Our typical warm-water run of striped marlin, dorado and yellowfin tuna never makes it far enough north for us to reach them during “La Nina” years from ports in So Cal. Fortunately for us large, schools of bluefin tuna do sometimes make it above the US-Mexico border on cold water years, as they have a better tolerance for the cool and nutrient rich California current. The bluefin take advantage of the tremendous amounts of bait which congregate along well-defined current lines during cold water years. Our local bluefin are tough to catch, but worth the effort and are the best eating of any of our local offshore species.
When the bluefin show in the Gulf of Catalina they can usually be located over the offshore banks and ridges, such as the 43, 182, 289 and San Clemente Island ridge in purple-blue 62 to 68 degree water. One of the keys to locating bluefin is to look for fast moving spots of terns or petrels fluttering over the surface and crashing on bait. Bluefin spend a great amount of time at the surface feeding and “breezing”. Their surface roaming, tight schooling behavior makes them particularly vulnerable to the fleets of purse seine boats from Mexico and San Pedro. By the time these fish reach local waters they have usually been harassed several times by the relentless seiners. This makes them even more boat shy and sensitive to engine noise, generators and sonar pings.
Bluefin tuna are one of the most highly prized and best eating in the world
Bluefin are notoriously boat shy and difficult to hook from small private boats with smaller live bait capacities than the bigger party boats. Party boats can chum tremendous amounts of live baits and attract the bluefin to the boat, but smaller private boats have to take the baits to the bluefin and use stealth tactics to get their share. This requires some modified techniques to get them to bite consistently.
After locating an area with schools of bluefin showing on top and bird schools working around them, we immediately start glassing with gyro-stabilized binoculars to find the larger spots of fish and birds. This past season you could even watch for “jumpers” (free jumping tuna) in the working bluefin schools and then target the spots with the bigger fish. Our secret to getting the Bluefin to bite was to turn off all the sonar units, both up-and-down and side scanning, and then position the boat above the direction the fish were working. We would then shut down the motor and wait for the bluefin to get into casting range of our fly-lined sardines and small mackerel. Many times the bluefin would shy away or go down for no apparent reason, but every once in a while the whole school would be crashing bait all around the boat in a virtual frenzy! Even when actively feeding, the super-shy bluefin would only hit a perfectly presented bait that swam as soon as it hit the surface. Bluefin tuna can be the most frustrating fish in the world, but there is nothing like the thrill of the first run of a fat bluefin hooked on light tackle on your own boat after a stealthy approach!
Our favored bluefin tackle is a light 7 ½’ to 9’ live bait rod with the best casting reel available, spooled with 300 yards of 30-50lb spectra backing, with a long 20-30lb fluorocarbon top shot. Many of the schools of tuna run 15-25lbs, but then there are the occasional schools of 40-80lb fish. You won’t land many of the 70-80lb bruiser-bluefin on the light gear, but then you’ll never get the bite if you don’t use tackle that can fly-line a small live sardine or mackerel bait. We had several tragedies on big tuna this past season, but we also landed a fair amount on the light gear. We tried using 30-40lb fluorocarbon leaders, but found we got bit the best using 25lb pink-tinted 100% fluorocarbon with a 1-2/0 light wire, ringed circle hook to suit the bait. The circle hooks reduce the bite-offs from the larger sharp-toothed Bluefin, but we still lost some of the bigger models to chewed leader after long fights on the light gear.
Due to their superior quality on the table, we handle the bluefin we catch in a special way. Ideally, we head gaff the fish to avoid any gaff holes in the precious loins or bellies. We then immediately cut a couple of the gill arches with a pair of poultry shears, then make a small cut at the base of each side of the caudle peduncle (tail) just down to the backbone. Once the gills and tails are cut, we place the tuna head down in a bleed tank of circulating sea water and let the tuna bleed out completely before slipping them into an insulated fish bag full of ice and saltwater slush. This process insures all your efforts to catch the elusive and boat-shy bluefin tuna are rewarded with prime sushi loins and bellies at the end of the day!
— Greg Stotesbury
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The sailfishing around Isla Mujeres attracts anglers from around the world
“Hold it, hold it….steady…OK… GO! GO! GO NOW!” Captain Anthony Mendillo gave us our marching orders and we dropped into the big blue swells of the western Caribbean swimming hard and looking up at the surface to check my position occasionally with the signature flock of frigate birds overhead. There they were….flashes of silver against the blue, large silhouettes moving rapidly, changing direction and in the middle of all these bodies, a large glinting shadow. Bait fish on the move. Sailfish and sardines…the ultimate open ocean diving experience and I was right in the middle of them shooting the amazing interaction of predator and prey.
The bait school was quickly consumed and the sailfish all went into cruise mode, dorsal fins tucked down, pastel colors and they looked like javelins, propelled by their large forked tails and headed off into the blue toward the main bait school invisible to me, but they knew where to go.
Back on the boat for a much needed rest and change of air tanks we, were elated and discussed the feeding behavior, the coloration changes of the sailfish and effectiveness of the feeding method by the group of sailfish. We rejoined the group of fifty or so sailfish and bait for more footage before going into catching mode.
The main goal of the expedition was to catch and tag twelve healthy sailfish and deploy Pop-up Archival Tags on these fish so researchers could get some information about where the sailfish go after leaving this area of the Yucatan. The Guy Harvey Research Institute was working with Dr. Molly Lutcavage of the Large Pelagics Research Centre http://tunalab.org/(University of Massachusetts Amherst). The GHRI purchased twelve mini-PATs for the study. Molly is best known for her research work on bluefin tuna in the northeast USA and Canada. The mission statement of the LPRC is to “work closely with fishermen using state of the art technology in conducting biological and ecological research on pelagic species including tunas, billfish sharks and sea turtles. LPRC endeavors to develop scientific understanding that supports effective ecosystem-based management strategies for these highly migratory Atlantic marine species.” Our ride for the expedition was the beautiful 48 foot Cabo “Chachalaca” owned by Lawrence Berry of Texas, and run by well-known local Captain Anthony Mendillo, who were very kind in supporting the GHRI/LPRC research efforts.
Isla Mujeres is a famous location for large numbers of sailfish attracting anglers from around the world from January to May each year. This is a catch and release fishery, circle hooks and dead bait are mandatory and anglers can expect 30 to 50 bites per day with many multiple hook ups. However no-one knows where the sailfish spend their time for the rest of the year. The attraction to the area is clearly the abundance of bait. The dominant species is the common sardine sardinella aurita, a round bodied fish attaining ten inches. Typically, these fish school near the bottom in 80 – 100 feet of water on the continental shelf. Just to the east of the shelf is the deep water and the strong north flowing current of the Gulf Stream.
For Mexico, the sailfish is a sustainable source of income for local business as anglers travel great distances, stay in hotels, eat in local restaurants, use taxis, shop and generally spend money. The socio-economic value of the living sailfish is very high throughout its range in the western north Atlantic. Current Mexican laws allow for one sailfish to be taken per day, but catch and release is the main appeal. Local fishermen target food species such as tuna, bonitos, mackerel and bottom fish rather than sailfish.
PSAT tag in the shoulder of a Sailfish
Over the years a great many conventional spaghetti tags have been placed in sailfish caught here by recreational anglers. The system depends on the tag card being returned to the tagging agency (here it is The Billfish Foundation, TBF) but it depends on the sailfish being recaptured and the tag cut out and sent back to TBF. The result is a straight line displacement that shows where it was tagged, where it was recaptured but cannot provide information about where the fish spent that time or how it used the habitat.
Using 20 pound test, trolled dead ballyhoo bait rigged with a 7/0 circle hook and chin weight, Anthony pulled two dredges (imitation bait schools as teasers) and we fished an area 6 to 12 miles north of the island looking for telltale vortices of frigate birds to show us where the concentrations of sailfish were located. When the sailfish were hooked, fought and brought to the boat, our mate Ruben Garrido grabbed the bill of the sailfish and flipped it into the boat onto a plastic covered foam mat. The fish eyes were covered with a wet cloth and the deck hose placed in its mouth. The sailfish was measured by Molly and assistant Eric Jacquard, the mini-PAT was placed carefully in the right shoulder and the fish was jetted back into the water in less than 50 seconds. We have much more control over the tag placement when the sailfish is in the boat as opposed to trying to tag the fish in the water. They move around a lot, are hard to control on a light leader, so correct placement of these expensive tags was a priority.
Now we wait for 6 months to hear from these tags. Each one costs about $4,000 so we are taking a gamble as anything can happen between release and the tag detaching from the sailfish and floating to the surface. No news is good news, as to hear from a tag early would mean the fish did not survive or was eaten by a predator. Large mako sharks frequent the area as well and have the gear and speed to take on a sailfish.
If you would like to have an awesome experience sailfishing, swimming with sailfish schools or with whale sharks then please visit http://www.islamujeressportfishing.com/ and stay in the Mendillo’s well appointed hotel, just walking distance from the dock http://playamedialuna.com/.
Fish responsibly, dive safely, have fun….the adventure continues.
— Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
A big bonito was splashing along from the left outrigger leaving a hefty wake. A small mackerel-like scad trailed from the right outrigger and was swimming beautifully below the surface of the Coral Sea. We were trolling at 5 knots. These are my two favorite baits for the giant black marlin that roam Australia’s Great Barrier Reef during the southern hemisphere’s Spring spawning aggregation of these mighty marine predators. I consider this combination the “marlin equivalent” of the steak and lobster dinner humans call “surf and turf”.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the spawning ground for giant black marlin which arrive in the fall each year
When the strike came, it was an attack upon neither of my favorite natural baits, but because of what I had previously derided as such a poorly performing artificial lure, I had refused to use it. Moldcraft’s “Spooler” does not perform well at the high speeds at which I normally troll artificial lures. It is prone to leap out of waves and tumble over, often tangling the hooks and skirts, especially on rough days when the boat would surf and change speed and wake patterns, especially on down sea tacks. I didn’t like the look of the thing out of water and hated the way it ran. It sat, unrigged, in the tackle drawer for over a year.
“You’re missing out Peter B.” John Phillips told me. “You won’t believe how good it works at slow speeds. I call it the ‘scad’. You really ought to try it.” “That’s because you can’t catch scad.” I needled him. “And I’ve told you where to go and on what tide.” “No it’s not. Even when I do I have scad, the “spooler” really works. Try it, I promise you— it works great at low speed. I even use it with live bait sometimes, and just the other day, it got bit instead of the livey!” Phillips replied.
A few days later we were fishing together with a group of friends from the Canary Islands sharing our two boats. It was calm and I had plenty of big baits. Late in the afternoon I wanted to look over a sunken patch of reef in shallow water that held enough toothy critters like wahoo, sharks, barracuda, and large mackerel, to make fishing live bait out of the question. In short, there was no need for the small bait lure I usually pull down the center. I might as well give the spooler another try. Minutes later we were releasing a 200 pound black marlin that passed up the surf and turf combo for a handful of junk food!
Moldcraft’s “spooler” is a soft plastic lure modeled after earlier, homemade, lures that were constructed from discarded wooden spools that had been filled with sewing thread. The “spooler” had a nifty action at the five to six knot speeds that I use for dead bait. But the hydrodynamic instability that worked against it at high speed became an asset. The lure head wiggled and wobbled violently leaving a stream of bubbles (or “smoke” as fanatical fishheads call it) combined with a lively swimming action.
The next day we had three strikes. We caught one marlin on a natural dead bait and caught one and lost one on the lure. “A couple of more days like this and I’ll be a believer!” I told Phillips on the VHF radio. I became a “Spooler” fan! Dead bait anglers, or even live bait anglers, for any species of billfish, should try adding a spooler approximating the size of their natural bait to their spread. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Peter B
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When the staff of the Tropic Star Lodge tells you it is a fairly hard 35 minute walk/climb from the lodge, across the peninsula, to the white sand beach, believe it! And that is each way, NOT over and back! And if it has rained earlier in the day, which turns the clay soil into grease, it is even more difficult!
We all made it but found out we were not as fit as we would have liked! If one of us had slipped and been hurt, getting someone with even a minor injury like a twisted ankle or busted leg up, and then down ( down was even worse in the mud), would have been a real challenge. Our clothes were wringing wet with sweat from 100% humidity, hot weather and exertion, when we got back down to safety a drink of water and then a cold beer!
Tropic Star is a spot I have been recommending for decades after I had visited a few times several years ago. I first met Terri Kitteredge and her dad Conway when they visited Australia in 1982. Terri and her husband Mike run a great operation.
Before this trip, I had fished Piñas Bay on big U.S. boats owned by Jerry Dunaway and Jean Paul Richard, but had seen the lodge’s fleet of 31 Bertrams in action. I was also lucky enough to have stayed in the original owner’s private home, now part of the accommodation for guests, and referred to by one and all as “The Palace”.
There is a little cable car up the hill to the palace which we used for what we called a cocktail cruise as we had for a much needed shower at day’s end. Mostly, I walked it as it is just enough of a climb to make you breathe heavily, but always glad you did it —good cardio exercise and not TOO hard.
The efficiency of the crews, mechanics, and support staff, make this arguably the best run and most successful, charter fishing fleet anywhere. With over a dozen identical boats (31 Bertrams, a long established gold standard) fishing daily, there are always extras available and every essential spare part is on site.
Black Marlin are the main species of marling encountered off Tropic Star Lodge on the famous Zane Grey — Photo by Richard Gibson
The boat I was on caught a blue and a sail and lost another blue in 4 days fishing, reasonable action, but not great. Some of our boats had quite a bit more action and had multiple marlin days. The sun does not shine on the same dog’s back every day.
There were good luck and bad luck tales every night over a choice of tasty Piña Coladas, rum drinks or beer before we retired to our luxurious accommodations to shower and get ready for dinner.
It seemed to me that communications between crew and anglers, in both English and Spanish, were not as good as they could have been due to a reluctance of both the local crews and our team to TRY to speak in an unfamiliar language. The better Spanish speaking students translated when necessary and after a couple of days both sides found out the reluctance to attempt to speak together were not necessary and basic communications improved.
When traveling, do not be embarrassed, go ahead and try to communicate. Often, both sides know some words, enough to communicate. Things like “weight “ for more drag, and is NOT “wait”, and let him eat it, got resolved over time.
We came home and I retrieved the computer I had left in the TSA screening area in Miami. What a relief that was!! I had failed to back up files on my new computer and the idea of losing all those magazine articles made me decide to get a new flash drive ASAP!
When I got home, I helped coach some brand new members of the “Young Guns at Quail Creek”, the local scholastic shooting team. Some of the youngsters who started shooting less than a couple of years ago are already winning, not only in junior class, but even winning state championships as High Over All – beating everyone including all the adults and the instructors who got them started.
My hat is off to the entire crew of kids, instructors, parents, owners and staff of Quail Creek Plantation. GREAT JOB!! I really enjoy teaching young people to both fish and to shoot. It is very gratifying to give back some of what I was given when I was a kid! Also, ethical fishing and hunting are the strongest forces for real conservation of our game fish and game animals.
Good fishing wherever you are.
—Peter B
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There are twenty species of barracuda in tropical waters around the planet, of which, the great barracuda is the largest. The IGFA all tackle world record is 85 pounds, but the largest recorded specimen was 106 pounds. Can you imagine meeting that guy on a dive! Large specimens are rare, and most of those caught in the Caribbean do not reach 40 pounds. The majority of barracudas that we see on dives here in the Cayman Islands are in the 5 to 15 pound size range.
The great barracuda is long, slim-bodied and has a pointed head, with a jutting lower jaw, full of canine teeth that give it a ferocious look. Their second dorsal fin and anal fin are set far back on their body, effectively giving them another tail, enabling them to accelerate very rapidly.
Barracuda have a jutting lower jaw, full of canine teeth that give them a ferocious look — Photo by Bill Boyce
They are tremendous fish to paint. They play the part of the reef bully, but are handsome at the same time, with gorgeous metallic hues, punctuated by irregular black blotches, that are striking from a distance. They can change colour by adopting a mottled or banded colour scheme when waiting motionless near the bottom or beside structure. Their large eye and menacing look tell the story of a successful reef predator.
Young individuals up to about 3 pounds usually live close to shore in the shallow water, and are found in coastal lagoons, harbours and mangroves flats. Growth rates are fast, but little is known about reproduction in this species. Large adults may occur farther offshore along the reef edges and even out in the open ocean. They are aggressive carnivorous fish, and are an underrated game fish. Larger barracudas are usually caught by anglers trolling along reef drop-offs on heavy tackle targeting other species such as wahoo and tuna. However, when specifically sought on the inshore flats by anglers in shallow water, also looking for bonefish and permit, the great barracuda can be a spectacular game fish making swift runs and frequent jumps.
People who eat barracuda and other large reef fish do run the risk of ciguatera poisoning. The symptoms are varied usually include gastrointestinal and neurological disorders, which can last for weeks and sometimes years. There is no effective treatment for ciguatera poisoning.
However, there is a very low incidence of fish poisoning from eating barracuda in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Part of the reason is that they are regularly consumed, so big ones, over 15 # are rare (compared to the Bahamas for example).
Ciguatera toxins are produced by dinoflagellates which herbivorous fish consume. These fish are then eaten by large predatory reef fish, such as grouper, amberjack and barracuda, which appear to be unharmed by the toxin. Because the toxins are lipid-soluble, they accumulate through the food chain. The toxin may be more concentrated in the head, viscera and roe.
Ciguatoxin-containing fish may be highly localized and islands may have some reefs where the fish are inedible, and other reefs where the fish are unaffected. No open ocean fish, such as wahoo, tuna and dolphin have been found to carry ciguatoxin.
Ciguatoxins are odourless, colourless, tasteless, and unaffected by cooking or freezing, therefore persons living or traveling to areas where ciguatera toxin is endemic should follow these general precautions:
1) Avoid consuming large predatory reef fish, especially barracuda.
2) Avoid eating the head, viscera or roe of any reef fish.
3) Avoid eating fish from areas with known ciguatera toxins.
In the Caribbean there are many beliefs about how a poisonous barracuda can be identified, by its size, the colour of its teeth, rigidity of its scales, or by putting some of its meat on an ant’s nest, or its flesh turning a silver coin black. My grandfather used to give the head to his cook to make “fish tea”, and if she was around the following day, he would have the barracuda steamed for lunch! Very brave of him!
The dubious food value of the barracuda in no way detracts from its game qualities. The message of this story is that if you are in doubt, then release the barracuda alive. Nowadays, there are dehooking devices available that enable you to release a barracuda or any fish, without taking it out of the water or risking injury to one self.
As an ardent diver, I look forward to the next barracuda encounter. I put their predictable curiosity towards swimmers and divers to good use by capturing head shots and close-ups as they come by to check you out. Frequently, they are accompanied by a group of bar jacks, or as we experience at Tarpon Alley in Grand Cayman, they hang out around the tarpon and schools of horse-eye jacks.
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
Fish responsibly, dive safely.
—Guy Harvey
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I recently found an old story I wrote while looking up some information about tagging and its benefits. When “Migratory Movements, Depth Preferences, and Thermal Biology of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna” was published in the 17 August 2001 issue of Science there were some great stories to tell. Stories that had to be kept as secrets until the paper was published in Science.
The data presented, and conclusions drawn from them by a team headed by Dr. Barbara Block from Stanford University (and including scientists, anglers and crew making up a who’s who of tuna angling , research and management) created shocks waves across the Atlantic.
National Public Radio, National Geographic News as well local, regional and national newspapers, had already discussed the ramifications of having tuna tagged off Hatteras, cross the Atlantic Ocean, and even enter the Mediterranean Sea in larger numbers than any previous estimates could imagine. This threw a monkey wrench into all management plans and conservation attempts, based on earlier theories, that eastern and western populations of bluefin tuna were separate and need to be managed separately.
Giant Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, each weighing over a quarter-ton — Photo by Guy Harvey
Two types of tags were used in the study, surgically applied internal “archival” tags and pop-up satellite archival tags (PSAT tags in the article’s jargon). Both showed that fish from the west cross over into the eastern Atlantic. These tags, plus captured fish with conventional spaghetti tags, raised the thorny issue of North American fishermen (commercial and recreational) accepting low catch quotas in order to allow the overfished tuna populations to recover, only to have the fish massacred in huge numbers in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic. (East of longitude 45 degrees West twenty metric tonnes of bluefin tuna were being caught for every tonne caught in the west!)
The Science paper is fascinating but takes some serious reading! It is not something you can glance at and retain. Some highlights, with some input from me from information gleaned during the tagging process, include:
There were 377 electronic tags in this study. Electronic tags were recovered from a few days to 3.6 years later, AND the TAG program continues to produce amazing results. Internal archival tags totaled 279 with 49 tuna being recaptured. This 18% return rate is extremely high and by itself suggests overfishing.
The 90% data acquisition rate from pop-up tags is a marvel of both technology and tuna survival rates. The return rate is higher since the fish does not have to be recaptured and the data is downloaded through the Argos satellite system. Although, the percentage of recovery is higher less information per tag can be retrieved, because of the high energy needed to send a radio signal, not just burn data onto a chip.
There were 7065 conventional spaghetti tags applied by Carolina tuna fishermen between the years 1994 and 2000. There were 292 recoveries (4.1%). This is a high rate in itself and valuable information was added, but it is obvious that trained scientific teams with top anglers and crews are more successful than the general public in properly applying tags. (One reason for non-return is probably mortality where a dead fish sinks or is eaten by sharks and the tag cannot be recovered.)
Some tags could record depth (through pressure) and location (by measuring the levels of light). Sunrise and sunset were the “most significant light events” and with an accurate electronic clock allow extremely precise east/west location and reasonable north/south estimates. It became apparent that Western tuna breed later in their lives than originally thought- another huge consideration in conservation and management.
Deep dives to over 500 fathoms (1000 meters) sometimes resulted in lowered internal body temperatures that experiments at the tuna lab showed to probably be the result of feeding on cold squid or fish living at those depths (Block fed captive yellowfins cold bait and measured cold internal temperatures.)
My question is “HOW DO THEY KNOW?” You can dive half a mile in most parts of the ocean and NOT find a meal!
In the field, the emotional highs and lows were enormous! The successful signal reception of the first pop-up tag started a major round of toasts and celebrations. Shortly after, on a rough and stormy night when the second pop-up tag failed to report in on its scheduled time, long faces abounded- until the weather eased and in calm water the tag sang like a bird to the overhead satellite. This alone allowed an adjustment, low tech but important, in additional buoyancy for subsequent tags.
Dr. Block was reduced to tears on the flying bridge one rough day when a large sea lifted the boat and one rudder hit and killed a tuna we were trying to tag. “I’m trying to save them- not kill them!” she sobbed.
The cooperation of anglers and crews, and their donations of time and money were an extremely important factor in the amazing success of this study and along with dozens of scientists and technicians all involved are to be highly congratulated! For more information get a copy of Science (17 August 2001). .
Recently, Paxson Offield was initiated into the IGFA Hall of Fame and a high light of his career and work in conservation was an ongoing program of PSAT tags in marlin. Currently, the internationally noted artist Dr. Guy Harvey is also a leader in not only tagging but other conservation initiatives.
We need people like Dr. Block, Dr. Harvey and Mr. Offield to help conserve our precious stocks of “Marine Megafauna”. AND we all need to do our part to help out.
See my next column in Marlin Magazine for a story of a Sportfishing CLUB gone BAD and becoming a detrimental group of swordfish killing amateur professionals.
Peter B Wright
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
Giant Bluefin tuna are the largest tuna species in the oceans and can attain weights over 1500lbs. Photo by Bill Boyce
The cold clear green water got my heart started as I turned to face the oncoming fish. I saw the first one rise out of the green abyss, gliding, silent and purposeful, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape, the dorsal fin suddenly raised, pelvics lowered and the gills flared as the fish inhaled a slowing sinking herring. It turned sharply and the afternoon sun caught its bronze flanks and the water around the fish was momentarily lit in a golden glow. The fins and tail cut the surface and the bubble stream followed the fish down into the green depths. Then another one rose up and another and then several came in a rush to suck down the drifting herring…..one came so close I could see the scale detail on its cheek and it popped its gills the size of trash can lid. Then a blur of bright yellow finlets as the huge fish passes. The average size of these giant bluefin tuna is 800 pounds. Giants… is the correct terminology. These fish are up to 12 feet long with a 7 foot girth and several that swept by me were in the 1,200 pound range. I panned my video camera on them as they swam past me gobbling up the chum that kept them close to the boat.
In the late summer and fall these remnants of a once larger population of bluefin tuna take advantage of large schools of herring spawning in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and around Nova Scotia, Canada. They put on weight prior to undertaking lengthy migrations south to the Gulf of Mexico or swim across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.
I was on board the “Fin Seeker”, a 50 foot lobster boat from Wedgeport, owned by Eric Jaquard and crewed by sons Joel and Camille who had a permit to take 5,000 pounds of bluefin this season. Eric was very selective about what tunas were taken (only five in six days of fishing) and the rest were all tagged and released for science. Those fish that were harvested were meticulously cleaned and iced down before being shipped by air to waiting markets in Japan.
There are two research efforts currently under way in Nova Scotia, one being conducted by Dr. Barbara Block of the Tuna Research and Conservation Centre, based at the Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, please visit: http://tunaresearch.org/. The GHOF gives this research organization a small grant to assist with this effort which is based at Port Hood in the northern district of Cape Breton.
The other research effort is being conducted by Dr. Molly Lutcavage of the Large Pelagics Research Centre based at the Natural Resources Conservation Dept , University of Massachusetts Amherst, please visit: http://tunalab.org/. Dr. Lutcavage’s team were based in Wedgeport in the southwest. The plan was to visit both operations and conduct interviews with respective scientists and crew. Both teams have spent the last decade in the field tagging and tracking the migrations of the bluefin tuna along the eastern seaboard of North America and across the Atlantic to Europe.
Their results have indicated main feeding areas, spawning areas, trans-Atlantic migrations and have assisted in the sometimes controversial management of this species by ICCAT, the international organization that allocates quotas and attempts to regulate commercial fishing for this valuable nomad of the ocean.
This is not my first brush with giants. In January 2003, I did a shoot with Barbara Block off Cape Lookout, North Carolina while she was tagging medium sized and giant bluefin tuna, for my TV series “Portraits from the Deep”. “Giants” are individual tuna that are over 315 pounds and this species grows to at least 1,500 pounds. The previous year I had visited the tuna traps or “almadraba” in Tarifa and in Barbate on the southern coast of Spain. Here I dived with the captive tunas caught in land based traps and witnessed the harvest of 300 giants in a 2000 year old ritual that began with the Phoenecians and then the Romans.
Guy Harvey is working on a Bluefin Tuna Documentary
Long before the species became desirable food, the bluefin tuna was fished by recreational anglers out of Wedgeport, Nova Scotia from 1935 until 1975 in a famous tournament called the Sharp Cup which attracted international teams from many countries. Of these large, powerful animals Charles F. Holder said “Weight for weight, they have double the fighting power of a tarpon. They are living meteors that strike like whirlwind and play like a storm”. Some say the recreational fishery, catch and release only, should be revived in Nova Scotia.
In the early years this species was fished sparingly by harpoon, some were caught on line for canning as they were more of a “nuisance fish” damaging gear set for herring and mackerel. In the mid 1970s demand in Japan for the fresh tuna grew exponentially and so fishing effort for bluefin tuna was greatly increased. Industrial scale long lining and purse seining were added to the traps and harpoon fishery so the populations of bluefin tuna declined to the present day levels where some authorities consider the species close to commercial extinction. However, the researchers are of the opinion that if the quota system is properly regulated (as it certainly appears to be in Canada) then this fishery has the potential to be sustainable in spite of the huge worldwide demand for bluefin tuna sushi.
Along with my documentary producer and camera man, George Schellenger, I spent three days with the crew of the “Fin Seeker” as willing anglers using ultra heavy tackle caught, tagged and released some two dozen giants. Pop-up archival tags were deployed on many fish following capture. The hook was removed using a de-hooking device and the tunas swam free. The PATs record the migration of the tunas as well as depth and temperature data along their routes. A special physiological adaptation called a counter current heat exchanger allows metabolic heat to be kept in the body and not lost through the gills thus maintaining the body temperature well above ambient temperatures, allowing faster swimming speeds in areas rich in prey species. Being “warm blooded” these giant tuna, often called “super fish”, can penetrate the cold northern latitudes and dive to great depths in search of fish and squid.
The winter is coming soon and bad weather arrived so I was unable to visit the Tag–a-Giant research team in Cape Breton. They will be back next year and I will complete the documentary shoot with them at that time. Meanwhile, I will be completing the story of the life cycle of the bluefin tuna including interviews with other research efforts to study aspects of the early life history of this long lived super fish.
What a thrill to spend an hour in the water with these magnificent creatures and to capture their brilliant colours and movement for my next work. These are big fish and I will need to prepare a big canvas. The adventure continues….
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.
—Guy Harvey
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
All of us, who have spent any amount of time on the water, have seen or at least heard some awesome fishing stories. One of the features we will now add to this blogsite is to utilize it in sharing some of our stories with you and to provide a forum for you to share your stories with us and the many readers of this blogsite.
My best fishing story is one that I was lucky enough to be a part of. It took place in Panama in 2009 when Guy swam down with my line and connected it to an already hooked up 1200 plus pound black marlin so we could get the fish tagged with a satellite tag. To read about this “Ultimate Fish Story” click here , and to see it on video click here. While this adventure with Guy will likely remain my most memorable fishing story, prior to this amazing event, the best fishing story I had ever heard was told to me by my father.
The story was about longtime family friend, Bobby Tidwell, catching his first marlin in Cabo San Lucas Mexico in 1956. Herb Bell of Packard Bell fame, owned the 100 foot Five Bells, named after the five Bell brothers, including the boat’s captain/ brother, Willard. As one of the very first boats to fish the waters of Cabo, the Five Bells played an important role in discovering this fishing paradise. Herb would invite friends to join him on fishing trips to waters of the East Cape and Cabo San Lucas. He needed talent on the boat to help ensure fishing success for his friends, and invited my dad Milt Shedd to join him in that role. During the trip to Cabo in 1956, Bobby Tidwell joined the group. An accomplished diver and expert angler, Bobby had yet to catch a marlin and was determined to do so. While trolling, Bobby hooked up to a striped marlin and when a second rod went off, dad grabbed the rod thinking they had a double. As both lines quickly came together, dad realized it was not a double hookup, but that one hungry marlin had eaten both baits. With the Five Bells now stopped, the fish ran towards the bow. Both dad and Bobby followed the fish and, when about the middle of the boat, the fish turned and ran directly under the boat and came up jumping on the other side.
Knowing there was no way to get to the bow to clear the line to the other side, dad tightened down the drag to break the fish off. To his amazement, he turned to Bobby just as he was diving overboard shouting “I am going to catch this fish.” Bobby is one of the most determined men I have ever known, but this was crazy. He dove overboard with rod and reel in hand, swam down to clear the considerable draft of the large boat and came up on the other side. Luckily, the marlin did not sound and was jumping toward the horizon. Bobby was being pulled behind the marlin, much like a water skier as the ski boat slowly moves away before accelerating to pop the skier out of the water. The other guys on deck looked down in amazement as Bobby yelled back to launch the skiff, which dad was already in the process of doing. The skiff was launched and Bobby Tidwell caught his first marlin. When asked later why he did it, Bobby simply replied “It was the only thing I could do to make sure I caught that fish.”
Bobby Tidwell passed away last year. While many people in Orange County, CA will remember him as the guy who gave the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) $30 million dollars in his will, I will remember him for the amazing fishing story witnessed and told to me by my dad when I was just a young kid.
If you have an unusual fishing story send it to me, Bill Shedd, at laura@guyharveysportswear.com so we can share it here on this blogsite for others to enjoy.
For a complete list of our other featured blog posts and to see the full line of Guy Harvey Sportswear, please visit:www.guyharveysportswear.com
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
I would like to welcome you to the Guy Harvey Sportswear web site. Here we will feature my blog where I will report on expeditions, adventures, and various marine conservation efforts. We will also include various guest bloggers, videos and photos that I believe you will find interesting, whether you are a serious fishing or diving enthusiast, or simply someone who cares about the marine resource, loves living the coastal lifestyle, or just wants to learn more about Guy Harvey sportswear.
