by Shore anglers in North Carolina have been enjoying a most unusual opportunity to catch school bluefin tuna in range of their casts. However, there’s a big problem as it’s illegal to do so. Rules for catching bluefins only apply to boats. and there’s no provision for anglers to buy a permit. Anglers must release any hooked bluefin, and even targeting them is illegal.
This is such an unusual situation that NMFS has simply ignored it in the past, but that could change any day. Considering the few bluefins involved, the logical thing to do is to make rare shore or pier catches legal. A simple reporting requirement could be imposed for those catches of a lifetime.
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Another good fishing day is coming up in NY/NJ Bight with a forecast of southwest winds at 5-10 knots before gusting to 20 in the afternoon with a small craft warning to late night.
Tight Lines 
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