Tagging ‘tiny’ tuna will aid bluefin research
MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA - Fishermen and scientists often don’t see eye to eye, especially when the science is likely to lead to more regulation of commercial and sport fishing. But many people who catch bluefin tuna off the North Shore like the work Molly Lutcavage is doing at the University of New Hampshire Large Pelagics Research Lab. Next weekend they’re spooling off some line to help her via the second Tag A Tiny Tuna Tournament.
“She’s always been an honest researcher,’’ said tournament organizer and fisherman Mark Godfried of Gloucester. “Her conclusions are not preordained by the people funding her.’’
This year’s tournament is a North Shore/South Shore shootout, beginning with captain’s meetings Thursday, Aug. 20, in Middleton and Duxbury, said organizer Heidi Burgess of Manchester-by-the-Sea. Fishing begins at 12:01 a.m. Friday and continues for 48 hours. Then there’s a big party Sunday afternoon at Woodman’s in Essex, with a cash bar, band, and raffle. But the issues at hand are serious.
Last year, 52 boats participated, and they’re hoping for more this year. The $200 entry fee and some sponsor money will go to support Lutcavage’s research into tuna life cycles at the New Hampshire research center. Organizers hope to again pay for a few $4,000 satellite tags that collect detailed data on tuna movement and then break free after a set time, rising to the surface and sending in data via satellite.
The anglers also become a part of Lutcavage’s research team. Fish caught over the minimum of 73 inches during the tournament are kept. But “tinys’’ - fish under 73 inches - are tagged for Lutcavage before they’re released, using simple plastic tags. The date, time, and location of the tagging are recorded. Fishermen who haul in the tagged fish later will find directions on the tag for sending the information to the researchers. In last year’s tournament, several dozen fish were tagged this way.
The tournament idea originally came up as a way to promote Rock On Products, the company Burgess runs with her father, Richard, which makes lures called squid rigs. But they decided it needed to have a larger purpose, and now Rock On is just one of several sponsors.
Godfried said many in the fishing community feel besieged by regulations limiting the times and methods they can fish and what they can catch - and also feel that environmentalists’ agendas dictate the results of studies.
With tuna, in particular, they say they are being punished for unsustainable fishing practices by the fishing industry in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
They hope Lutcavage’s studies of tuna migration patterns will establish that plunder of the fishing stock over there is the real problem and help bring the European Union in line.
For now, though, there’s a possibility of broad new bans on commercial tuna fishing in this area.
Lutcavage is reluctant to be seen as some kind of outsider,
But when asked why the fishermen trust her, she said: “My goal is not to save the tuna. My goal is to have the best available scientific information on the bluefin.’’
Meanwhile, the last major federal grant for the Large Pelagics Research Lab came in 2006, and her budget is running on fumes, she said.
“At UNH, we are facing extinction this year,’’ she said. “So you can imagine, it’s a very challenging time for us on all levels.’’
To enter, donate to, or sponsor the Tag A Tiny Tuna Tournament, e-mail tagatiny@gmail.com. 
