Due to concerns over population decline, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the California Fish and Game Commission will be enacting more restrictive sport regulations on Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) that will become effective later this year.
Both federal and conforming state regulations are expected to be in place by May 2015, as the fishing season kicks off. The 2015 recreational bluefin tuna bag and possession limits and new tuna fillet regulations will take effect once published in the Federal Register (federal) and California Regulatory Notice Register (state). Updated state regulations will be available on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) website and in the 2015-2016 California Sport Fishing Regulation supplement, which will be posted online and distributed in booklet form in early summer. Booklets will be available wherever sport fishing licenses are sold and at CDFW offices.
A detailed description of all the changes to the Pacific bluefin tuna regulations will be available in the supplement and on the CDFW Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations web page in early summer. For more information about tuna species and tuna management please visit the CDFW Tunas web page.
post by Elizabeth Hellmers, CDFW Environmental Scientist ♦ bluefin tuna illustration by D.J. Miller in Guide to the Coastal Marine Fishes of California, California Fish Bulletin Number 157 by D.J. Miller and R.N. Lea
Marine Management News 