The Bluefin Story…

The recent invasion of Pacific Bluefin Tuna into Southern California waters has been very important to both CCA CAL and many saltwater anglers.  Two years ago there was a misguided effort to place Pacific bluefin on the endangered species list.  If the Endangered Species Act listing would have happened, bluefin fishing on our coast would have ended. CCA CAL played a huge role in preventing that from happening, which has been labeled as a major achievement done for Southern California anglers.  

CCA CAL is now working with Dr. Barbara Block of Stanford University to support her Tag A Giant (TAG) Pacific bluefin tuna tagging program. The primary goal of this new effort is to tag large bluefin (150 lbs +) with sophisticated pop – up satellite archival tags that detail the bluefin’s journey over a year. The tags are implanted on the fish externally and record light, temperature and pressure. This data along with time allow the team to compute the track, and behaviors diving in the water column for up to 1 year post release.

In addition to the pop – up tags- Dr. Block’s team was using surgically placed “archival” tags that “log” similar data- to study smaller fish under 150 lbs. By using electronic tags to track the journeys of the bluefin the team can provide sophisticated spatial data to help better understand the travels of the bluefin in the Pacific Ocean and the timing of maturity in bluefin that leave the eastern Pacific to return to the western Pacific to spawn in the waters off Japan and Taiwan. In addition to Dr. Block’s Pacific bluefin tagging efforts in Southern California, CCA CAL is also helping to organize private boats to catch the tuna to be tagged.

We are currently looking for boats who can help us catch big bluefin and help us with our effort. To be considered to join us on our tagging trip, please contact us today! 

If you can’t join us for our tagging trip, we are in need of financial sponsorship of satellite tags! Each of these tags has a cost of $6,000 and we are looking for donations from businesses, fishing clubs and anglers to help CCA CAL and the Tag-A-Giant Program purchase more tags to tag more fish on this trip.

Bluefin Tagging Donation Form