The Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seized nearly 8,000 pounds of allegedly illegally caught fish from a longline fishing boat in Dulac this week. The crew of the 62-foot fishing vessel "Blue Fin'' on Tuesday was allegedly using live bait, a practice that is illegal in the Gulf of Mexico pelagic longline fishery because often sea turtles are more enticed by live bait so will take it, become trapped and drown, according to Mark Kinsey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's assistant special agent in charge of enforcement for Texas and Louisiana.
The vessel also was cited for not having proper sea turtle release gear on board, for having specific gear to catch htheir live bait - bigeye cad - and for having J-hooks on board, a type of hook that goes further down a fish's throat than legal circle hooks, Kinsey said. The boat was fishing approximately 90 miles off the coast of Louisiana, where about half a dozen similar cases are discovered each year.
The seized catch included 7,133 pounds of yellowfin tuna; 535 pounds of oilfish; 220 pounds of wahoo; and 44 pounds of mahi-mahi. The Coast Guard said the catch was worth more than $20,000. NOAA Fisheries Service will determine if a formal notice of violation is to be issued.
Fishing with live bait is prohibited in the Gulf of Mexico pelagic longline fishery, as the fishing lines, which extend for about 30 to 40 miles with an average about 750 hooks, are often left in the water for days or weeks before fishermen check them. The amount of hooks, along with the time they are left out there, means that turtles and other animals can more easily drown if they are caught.
There are five species of sea turtles inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and all are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
In addition to turtles, Kinsey says that billfish, which include sailfish, spearfish and marlin, also often get killed on such lines. Billfish, a highly migratory species that is severely depleted, are often caught as bycatch in commercial tuna and swordfish fisheries.
On October 5, President Barack Obama signed the Billfish Conservation Act into law, effectively banning the importation of all billfish into the continental United States. Sen. David Vitter had introduced the legislation in the Senate. There already is a ban on commercial harvest and sale of Atlantic?caught billfish but the new act bans the sale of Pacific-caught billfish. Swordfish are not considered billfish by fisheries managers.
"Louisiana is known as the sportsman's paradise and we understand that it's important to protect this majestic species, a real prize of recreational fishing," Vitter said of the billfish legislation following its passage
Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/10/vessel_cited_for_illegal_fishi.html
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