"Spill may cut into N.E. bluefin catch; Oil could harm spawning sites" by Beth Daley, Globe Staff | June 2, 2010
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. — The fate of one of New England’s most prized fish may be unfolding more than a thousand miles away in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bluefin tuna — so desired by sushi devotees that a single giant fish fetches thousands of dollars — are believed to spawn off the United States only in the Gulf and mostly during April and May. This year, both coincided with the worst oil spill in the nation’s history.
As oil gushes up from the seabed and spreads, scientists are studying whether bluefin larvae the size of a pencil tip will survive the leak. The answer could have important consequences for New England, where many of the tuna migrate each year and where bluefin fishing season opened yesterday.
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“I suspect the larvae and eggs won’t be able to escape if they [encounter] oil,’’ said Jim Franks, senior scientist at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.
Even before the spill, the numbers of bluefin in the region’s waters had fallen sharply, probably because of heavy fishing, and fishermen fear the government will now impose more restrictions on the size of the catch.
Yesterday, as the US Department of Justice announced a criminal investigation of the
Meanwhile, BP tried again to funnel some of the leaking oil to a ship on the surface, a procedure that failed several weeks ago. Federal officials warned that the leak could continue into August, or beyond, until two relief wells can be drilled.
Or BEYOND!!!
Franks and colleagues just returned from a 12-day annual cruise to one of the bluefin’s Gulf spawning grounds 250 miles offshore to collect larvae. They saw some oil sheens and oil globs there, about 50 miles from the leaking well....
“We observed oil in bluefin habitat,’’ he said. “We’re worried.’’
I'm past worried; I'm furious.
*******
But another scientist, Molly Lutcavage, research professor and director of the Large Pelagics Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said some recent research suggests that bluefin along the East Coast may spawn at different times of the year in the Gulf and possibly in other places. While this work is preliminary, it means that the spill might not wipe out an entire age class of fish.
Once, the bluefin tuna’s strong-tasting reddish meat was considered so vile it was dubbed “horse mackerel.’’ But its fortunes shifted in the 1970s as Japan and other countries began prizing it for sushi and sashimi.
Today, large bluefin caught in New England are often packed in ice and flown to Japan to be served in restaurants.
New England fishing lore is filled with stories of high-speed chases of bluefin and the financial windfall from catching one — $3,000 or more for large ones these days....
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