Bluefin Season Looking Good, Inconsistent and May Be Long

Sean Sullivan in the pulpit harpooning bluefin off Cape Cod in July, 2014.
Abundant forage fish has drawn bluefin, whales, and other marine life.
Wayne Davis photo, OceanAerials.com

As unpredictable as bluefin fishing in New England can be, there are factors this year pointing to a better than average year. Things have been pretty good when the weather has been decent and boats can go out. Pat Mead at Compass Seafood reports, “Quality varies widely, as it has in the past, from big, red, well-shaped fish to long, skinny ones.” He also said it seems like a good rod-and-reel season.

There has been good feed up and down the coast, from the Cape up to far eastern Maine. There are a lot of herring, mackerel, squid and whales in the water. Water temperatures have remained fairly cool and the season may run late as a result.

The buyer at Yankee Fishermen’s Co-op described the season from his Seabrook, N.H., location as unusually slow. With 17 years in the business, he called it among the slowest. He buys from local boats, mostly rod-and-reel.

Bob Kliss has been in the business for 26 years and described the season to date as better than last year. His company, North Atlantic Traders, buys from Chatham, Mass., to Rockland, Maine. He said the area is in the normal August doldrums, but with the moon changing now, things will be different. Kliss said he has been seeing 200- to 300-pound fish. He said he expected the second batch of fish that will be coming in to be much better quality.

Kliss said things are typical for what he’s seen for the last few years. The first group of fish has been thinner, indicating they came some distance and they have come to feed.

“There is a lot of feed. The fish will stay to feed and we’ll have a good fall though November and December,” said Kliss. The pricing has been good, based on quality.