Happy Friday!
Scene of the Week is back with a 90’s classic, Forest Gump. Mr. Gump did many great things during his life, including becoming a successful Shrimp’n Boat Captain. Before founding the Bubba-Gump Shrimp Corporation, Forest had a bit of a rocky start…
Whats you’re favorite boating movie scene? It just might make the cut!
Have a great weekend from Sarasota Yacht & Ship.
Fisherman Jeremy Walker caught a 671 lb Pacific Bluefin Tuna off the coast of Westport in the South Island of New Zealand last month.
It took Jeremy only one hour and 50 minutes to reel the fish in on his Okuma Makaira composite rod with 132 lb line and circle hooks. Every man aboard was needed to help hoist the tuna on deck at 2am on a Sunday.
Fishing skipper on the trip, David Donald estimated the monster would be worth US $80,000 in Tokyo fish markets.
“They slice it up real thin and have it as sashimi. And the Japanese fishermen, they take everything off the fish. Even the eyeballs. I’ve seen them scrape down the bones with a teaspoon and then ask if they could finish ours off.”
Although population of the fish have declined in recent years and the species is considered endangered by a host of environmental groups, Mr Donald said fishing of Bluefin tuna is “pretty well controlled in New Zealand”. “It’s the overseas trawlers out with longlines and 20,000 hooks, just out of our waters that are doing the damage,” he said.
Earlier this year, a 752 lb bluefin tuna sold for a record US $396,000 on the Japanese market.
However, this tuna has no plans to be sliced and served up in Japanese’s top restaurants. Jeremy has other plans. Upon returning to shore, on the back of a Rutherford’s Meat Processing truck, the giant tuna was divided into large triangular chunks and dispersed amongst Jeremy and the 4 other fisherman on the trip. Donald explained..
There’s plenty of meat on one to slab up into steaks to put on the barbecue.
Check out the news video and original story at http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5652343/Fisherman-lands-305kg-tuna/
What are your thoughts on Jeremy’s decision to eat the fish instead of sell it? We want to hear from you!
Recently SYS founder Doug Mashke went to fishing deep into the beautiful, glacial waters of Alaska:
“We left from Juno, Alaska on a float plane to a remote camp called Elfin Cove. This small Island had a few docks with some fishing boats that left every morning and returned with their catch, which was taken to the market for cash.
We fished every day from 8am – 5pm. The boat would take us into the deep waters of the Pacific (about 300 ft of water), where we would trawl for Salmon in the morning hours. We usually hit our limit within that time. Later in the day we focused on bottom fishing for larger fish such as Yellow Eye and Ling Cod.
We soon discovered they have strict regulations on the size of the catch, so they do not over-fish the area. We were required to record every catch and sign a log.
For me this was the trip of a lifetime, taking me to many uncharted areas where life seemed to stand still and a place where man has not spoiled it with commercialization”– Doug Mashke
Our Jet to Juno, Alaska.
Float Plane to Elfin Cove.
The Elfin Cove fishing lodge
The first Coho.
Yellow Eye
Yachting Prose 