Bluefin Tuna Cuts Frustrate Northeastern Anglers

The continued health of bluefin fisheries is mostly a function of human activity and decisions. Jon Whittle

Last summer’s action for bluefin tuna off the Northeast was a bright spot for private anglers and a charter industry in need of something to catch. The fishing was too good, according to NOAA Fisheries.

With scads of school-sized bluefin (27-47 inches) hanging out close to shore where they were easily accessible in 2024, private anglers and charter captains experienced a bluefin boom and over-ran the quota by at least 50 percent.

In response, NOAA revised retention limits. Private vessels with a highly migratory species (HMS) permit are allowed just one school-sized bluefin tuna; charter boats and headboats are allowed two. No retention of fish longer than 47 inches is allowed without a commercial license. These regulations went into effect June 3 and will extend through Dec. 31.

Bluefin Tuna This Season

This summer, private vessel anglers are left with a choice as to whether it’s even worth the effort—and fuel—to head offshore after just one small fish. On the northern end of the fishery, where larger bluefins are the norm, fishermen likely won’t encounter even one sub-47-inch fish.

Reports from the water indicate the tuna bite has been hit or miss so far this summer, depending on the location, but the bite seems to be picking up across much of the coast of the Northeastern US.

Conservation efforts are helping improve bluefin tuna stocks from school-size fish to giants. Scott Salyers No Allowance for Large Bluefins

The 2024 recreational retention limit was one fish between 27 and 73 inches. There was also a one fish per year, per HMS permitted vessel allowance for a bluefin 73 inches or longer in all trophy areas. Capt. Bob Humphrey, who sits on NOAA’s Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, says the data used to set limits has been under scrutiny for a while, but based on NOAA’s catch numbers, the agency’s hand was forced.

“I can’t really blame the agency,” he says. “If they let it roll, they would have to close the fishery entirely by late July.” 

A tuna fisherman based in Casco Bay, Maine, Humphrey thinks there are probably more bluefin tuna out there than the data shows. He also thinks the huge landings numbers are probably underestimated.

“It will really hurt us in the north because we don’t get sub-47-inch fish,” he says. “It’s also a kick in the crotch to a for-hire industry already reeling from striper cutbacks.”

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