AP â 1 hr 9 mins ago NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) â It's the big one that got taken away. Massachusetts fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael was elated recently when one of his trawlers snared an 881-pound tuna. The Standard-Times of New Bedford reports (http://bit.ly/uczYap) the tuna was likely inadvertently snagged as Rafael's crew set a net to catch bottom-dwellers. Federal fishery enforcement agents seized the fish when the crew returned to port Nov. 12. Rafael had tuna permits, but was told catching tuna with a net is illegal. They must instead be caught with rod and reel. A fish that big is hugely valuable â a 754pound tuna recently sold for nearly $396,000. Rafael's fish will be sold overseas. He will likely get a warning and no share of the proceeds if regulators find a violation. Rafael might give up his tuna permits, saying they're apparently worthless. http://news.yahoo.com/mass-fishermen-snare-881-pound-tuna-feds-162153107.html
Don't know if you fish or hunt but state game wardens are much stricter. I know of guys having their trucks and guns confiscated for illegally shooting an elk. That was in New Mexico, you don't want to plead ignorance in that state if you hunt or fish.
Good! I hate ships that cast nets down at the Cape. It's scumbags like them that truly decimate the tuna population. 4-5 years ago the average tuna size is 100 lbs. This year 50 lbs.