MOREHEAD CITY â As winter weather sets in, the season for Atlantic bluefin tuna has arrived along the North Carolina coast, and the early season has been good so far for at least two Carteret County charter businesses.
Bluefin tuna are a commercially valuable and highly sought-after fish, with individual fish selling for thousands of dollars on the international market. The fish are managed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in two stocks, the eastern stock and the western stock, though the two often intermingle. In the U.S., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationâs National Marine Fisheries Service, the baseline annual quota for bluefin tuna is 1,247.86 metric tons; this quota is further divided into sub quotas based on types of gear. The general category, which covers commercial handgear, has a sub quota of 555.7 metric tons.