Bluefin (1080p) FULL DOCUMENTARY - Animal Conservation, Educational, Environmental

[00:00:00] Speaker ?: The End [00:00:30] Speaker 1: These are animals that can generate heat. They're essentially warm-blooded fish. And because of that, they can practically swim from the equator to the poles. And they do this every year to spawn. Navies have studied their body design. A bluefin tuna can swim faster than a torpedo. So, I mean, here's an animal that if it was a land animal, it would be revered. Nobody would ever, I don't think, allow it to get close to extinction. But because it's a fish, because it's sort of out of sight, out of mind and cold and scaly, people don't seem to have that same reverence. [00:01:26] Speaker 2: I've heard the tuna will come right up by the boat and take the herring and the mackerel that they're using for bait right out of the person's hand. That, uh, creates a little bit of alarm bell in my mind. [00:01:52] Speaker 3: The tuna are starving. That's why there's so many here. At this time of year, she'll be in better shape than the air. When them fish come into the Gulf here, they're skin and bone. [00:02:07] Speaker ?: It's the greatest place in the world to live. Spring. It's the greatest place in the world to live. Spring. Summer. And fall. And fall. It's the greatest place in the world to live. Spring. Summer. And fall. And fall. It's the greatest place in the world to live. Spring. Summer. And fall. [00:02:28] Speaker 4: And it's fantastic. And you couldn't want for anything nicer. This is a gorgeous place to live. I never wanted to come in from tuna fishing. I always wanted to be the last boat out, just in case I'd see that fin. [00:02:50] Speaker 2: In the '50s and the '60s, North Lake was a fairly active fishing community. There was two canneries up there. Across us mainly lobster, mackerel, herring, codfish, hake and things like that. So it was a fairly active fishing community. [00:03:09] Speaker 5: This is a picture of the first two that was caught at North Lake in 1967. Caught by Captain Aubrey Purcell and Bruce Oldham. There's a new world record tuna caught right there. [00:03:21] Speaker 3: To get the charter business going, they had to catch the fish. To make it public and get it in the Guardian or newspaper, they had to come in and get their picture taken, which ended up killing the fish. And then there was no market for the fish afterwards. So they just, there was a hole dug in the woods and they hauled to the woods and dumped in. [00:03:37] Speaker 6: It's the history of North Lake. It's the adrenaline rush catching these big fish. And we're fishmen. What's any better than that? What's any better than a big fish? [00:03:50] Speaker 7: People knew that, you know, there was 1,000 pound giants here and a lot of them wanted to chase these giants because they wanted to join a club, 1,000 pound club it's called. That's how it all started. That's how the place got found. That's how the tuna cop of the world became. [00:04:06] Speaker 8: The best fishing was in the late 60s and early 70s. And then the fishing sort of died off after that. And we went through a period of nine years where we didn't have any fish here at all. [00:04:19] Speaker 2: The feeling with most species at that time that really that there was almost an inexhaustible amount of fish. We didn't see the danger signs. We probably didn't want to see the danger signs. When you looked at the statistics, it was very obvious that 95% of the fish had been caught. And I was, I was there with everyone else. It's not they, it's us. [00:04:49] Speaker 9: Atlantic bluefin tuna. We're once present in the South Atlantic. Off Brazil, Argentina, South Africa. So I think the large abundance here is really fortunate for people living here. But it's really like one herd of buffalo in, in one of the last valleys where they're found in abundance, whereas there's entire plains where they're not seen at all. Few people have had the chance to observe tuna in their habitat underwater. Most people have ever only seen them camped or as fillets. If they've seen the animal, they've seen it dead, dangling off a hook. And I think often we have very clear choices of whether we destroy something or whether we keep it. [00:06:05] Speaker ?: And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. [00:06:25] Speaker 10: And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. [00:06:30] Speaker ?: And I think it's a big deal. [00:06:31] Speaker 1: And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. And I think it's a big deal. I've been hunting these animals for decades, for generations. And they probably know more about their behavior in this part of the world than obviously anybody. And yet they were very surprised to see them this way, to see them constantly coming around the boat and so close to shore. [00:07:16] Speaker 10: How is it? It's on. Believe me. You're not having any fun, are you? That's awesome. [00:07:22] Speaker 11: They never touch each other. They never touch me. I had, when I was hand feeding them, I had one brush me with a fin once. They just glide effortlessly. And then when you see them turn it on, boom, they just take off. And sometimes they come at you and they see you and they do a break. I've never seen a fish break. But they can actually break and then go the other direction in an instant without touching you. And they're always looking at you. [00:07:48] Speaker 1: That eye always knows where you are, you know? And you just can't help but wonder what they're thinking. I'd like to, for ten minutes, be a bluefin to see what it feels like to swim like that. What I'd like to do with my images is show people that this is an animal that has no terrestrial counterpart. There's nothing like it that you could equate on land. It continues to grow its entire life. If it was 30 years old, you might have a two-ton fish out there. And yet they don't get that big today because we're way too good at catching them. [00:08:34] Speaker 2: I first became acquainted with them around the mid-60s. We didn't even know that they were tuna. The fishermen were calling them giant mackerel. They wanted us to buy them because the fishermen expects all buyers to buy everything that they catch. So we bought them five dollars of tuna. We froze them because we didn't know anything else to do with them. And we found a market for them as pet food in Germany. So we put them in the container and sent them across the Atlantic. And some dog or cat ate them in the Rhineland. One day the Japanese showed up. I wasn't the person they contacted. The person they contacted was a man by the name of Albert Griffin, who had had a plant in North Lake and was actually right in the center of where the sport fishery was. [00:09:50] Speaker 12: In this time, in the time of the situation, there were a mackerel of 200-500-300-400kg. We were hunting them all over the world, and we were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:10:50] Speaker 2: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:11:21] Speaker ?: We were hunting them all over the world. [00:11:22] Speaker 12: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:12:00] Speaker 13: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:12:05] Speaker 2: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:12:08] Speaker 13: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:12:30] Speaker ?: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:12:40] Speaker 14: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:12:50] Speaker 13: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. [00:13:07] Speaker ?: We were hunting them all over the world. [00:13:08] Speaker 13: We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We were hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:13:38] Speaker 1: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:14:07] Speaker ?: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:14:19] Speaker 15: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:14:38] Speaker ?: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:14:42] Speaker 15: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:15:03] Speaker ?: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:15:30] Speaker 14: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:15:35] Speaker ?: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:15:37] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:15:44] Speaker ?: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:15:46] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:10] Speaker 14: We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:11] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:14] Speaker 4: We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:15] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:17] Speaker 4: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:19] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:31] Speaker 8: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:33] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:44] Speaker ?: We're hunting them all over the world. [00:16:45] Speaker 6: We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. We're hunting them all over the world. Yeah, we'll get you on a fish. We'll get it there. We'll get on one. Okay, we'll see you in the morning. Drive safe, buddy. Bye. [00:17:30] Speaker 16: It's a really, really strong addiction to tuna fishing. It's the same as smoking or gambling or anything else. Only I think tuna fishing is even worse. I had to let two businesses go. We had a sports store and a welding business and a lot of people employed. And when I got the bug, the addiction to go fishing, it was, you know, there was no stopping me. I just sold my house, sold everything, and built a place over at North Lake and went fishing. [00:18:00] Speaker 17: When I was a younger man, I absolutely loved fishing. It was the greatest thrill of my life to catch bluefin tuna. Bluefin tuna. I've heard about the giant tuna of Prince Edward Island since I was about 12 years old, and most of my life I wanted to come. Then I heard that the tuna went away, which didn't surprise me because the tuna were going away every place else that I knew about. So I just figured, well, I guess I'll never see that. [00:19:01] Speaker 10: We'll drift offshore and we'll start chumming a bit and see if we can get some around. There's another one. We've got like eight fish under us right now. Wow. Yeah, they'll be here in a second once I start throwing bait. They're like 10 feet down. We had a scientist out last year and they were just hand feeding them. I would like to just be able to go out and catch and kill these fish like I did when I was 12 years old or 20 years old or 30 years old and feel okay about it. [00:19:29] Speaker 17: Because I thought there were lots and lots of fish. But that's just not the situation that we have. [00:19:49] Speaker 14: Oh boy! Oh my God! Wow! Oh my God! Wow! [00:19:59] Speaker 17: I've seen a lot of tuna, but that's the biggest one I've ever seen on the surface. Oh my God! [00:20:05] Speaker 14: Oh my God! [00:20:07] Speaker 17: Now these fish were missing here for many years. Now they're back. People are guessing about why exactly they've come back here. They may in a few years be gone again. [00:20:17] Speaker 10: That was a little baby. A little baby? I want to see the big guys. There's a couple big guys marking down there. I want them to show themselves. [00:20:28] Speaker 17: I'm astonished that the fish are here instantly. There's no looking around for them. No waiting. Usually tuna fishing I've done, there's a lot of waiting. We used to call it tuna wishing. So this is tuna instant. [00:20:43] Speaker 10: Oh my God! Wow! Like, that's amazing when you see these guys doing what they do. Just, I know myself when the rod takes off, it's just a rush. [00:20:57] Speaker ?: My boat has been on a 100% success rate every day. I have not gone without a hookup. There's another 17 on PEI that are charter fishing. There's 19 of us total. [00:21:08] Speaker 18: That's what we're promoting here in PEI is catch and release. Because we're here for the long run. [00:21:18] Speaker ?: We don't want to have this just a one or two year wonder. [00:21:18] Speaker 18: We're here for the long run and the last thing we want to do is be killing every fish. It's a very exciting time because for many years these fish were absent. You know, they either caught very few or they caught none for years. And so to see this massive resurgence in stocks is extremely exciting. [00:21:43] Speaker 19: And that's what brought me here from the other side of the world. They have an extraordinary opportunity here. They've got the biggest tuna in the world. Like tuna are a major drawcard for a sport fisherman. And this is the Grand Prix. This is the biggest tuna of the world. This is the Grand Prix. This is the biggest tuna of the world. And they're here literally a couple of miles away from the world. They're here literally a couple of miles away from the world. You know, they've caught very few or they caught very few or they caught none for years. And so to see this massive resurgence in stocks is extremely exciting. And that's what brought me here from the other side of the world. They have an extraordinary opportunity here. They've got the biggest tuna in the world. Like tuna are a major drawcard for a sport fisherman. And this is the Grand Prix. This is the biggest tuna of the world. And they're here literally a couple of miles off shore in calm, easy to fish conditions. It's got everything going for it. And it's a beautiful location. Like just being here is a thrill. It really is. This is a beautiful location. So tuna aside, it's a trip worth doing just to be here. And then you throw in this world-class fishery. Like, it's just got everything going for it. I'm really excited for these guys. They've got a huge potential to build this up into a world-class destination for game fishermen. Crank! Take the tongue in your mouth. [00:23:01] Speaker 14: Fox hooked up. Fox hooked up. [00:23:04] Speaker 20: Fox hooked up. How's he doing? He'll be buying out his uncle in 15 years time when I retire. If there's anything left to catch. [00:23:18] Speaker 19: By interacting with these fish recreationally and then releasing them, we are creating a lot of wealth for coastal communities like North Lake here. And if this sport fishery develops, which I can see it very well could, then there will be an industry here. And it will be a rental industry. You sell something. It's gone. You're gone. That's it. You might have got a nice payday for whatever you sold, but it's gone. You haven't got it back. If you rent it, you sell it. You still get it back. And then you rent it again. And then you get it back. And then you rent it again. [00:24:01] Speaker 18: Oh, it's ripping. [00:24:04] Speaker 19: Oh! [00:24:05] Speaker 21: Slam away! Woo! Woo! Good job! Woo! All right! It's the ultimate thrill. [00:24:17] Speaker 18: And it's the size of the fish. And what we have off North Lake is what most areas do not have, and that's 1,000 pound fish. [00:24:25] Speaker 19: People go away and they become devoted sort of tuna protectors. So a lot of the most avid protectors of fish are the people who are involved in it. [00:24:42] Speaker 20: You've got two dozen fish splashing beside the boat, ripping at pieces of heron you're firing over, and nowhere else has anybody told us in the world that they've done this. We've had guys that have fished everywhere, all over the world. And this is the only spot that can do this, hand feeding. It's just amazing. [00:25:01] Speaker 17: It would be a lot better if they could make money bringing people in to catch and release the fish, or bring people in to go diving with 1,000 pound tuna. That would be better. And it's where I would like to see it go. [00:25:16] Speaker 14: Wow. [00:25:17] Speaker ?: I thought that was 100. No, it's 100. That was 100. Oh yeah, 100. [00:25:21] Speaker 21: Thank you. This fish is as big as what we just saw killed. Easy. That's 950. [00:25:28] Speaker 3: Now this is making things look too easy, what's going on here. It's going to do them more harm than good. It's going to do them more harm than good. [00:25:37] Speaker ?: It's going to do them more harm than good. [00:25:40] Speaker 3: Put the hook away for a while, okay? The only time the hook should come out is when you want to harvest your fish. [00:25:50] Speaker 20: The only way you can make any money or have a future in the tuna fishery that I see by being a Prince Edward Island tuna fisherman commercially with one tag, you can't do it. But you can't make a living at it three months a year or ten weeks or whatever. So this was the only option that we felt to, you know, keep fishing, keep on the water, doing what we want to do. And no doubt we made more money doing this than we would have commercially. [00:26:28] Speaker 3: The charter boats go ahead and charter all they want. They're out there fishing where they've been hand fed. Charter boys now tomorrow, been a nice beautiful day. Went up the shore here five miles and do their thing again tomorrow up there. Let them get up the shore a piece away from the harbour. See what they come up with. They're all saying there's lots of tuna here. Prove it. Get away from the nets and away from when the tuna have been hand fed. Get out in the wild again. These are turning into pets. [00:26:55] Speaker 19: There's a mismatch between the information that we're hearing about the quantities of these fish left and what we're seeing on a daily basis out here. Because something strange is going on and in the last couple of years the guys here tell me that they have seen more fish here in the last couple of years than for 30 years. [00:27:14] Speaker ?: They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. They have seen more fish here in the last couple of years. [00:27:48] Speaker 9: I try to avoid being there when these large species are killed. I much rather observe them in their natural habitat. Because I think it's an endangered species and it needs a break from fishing. It has been fished too hard in the past. This is where it's now. It should be up here in order to produce maximum catches. If it were up here, we could fish a lot more of them. The fishery would be a lot more healthy than where it is now. [00:28:24] Speaker 22: We have an artesial fishery, you know, small boats, single fish is like a day type of thing, hook and line. We're not hurting the stock. The problem lies elsewhere in the bigger system. [00:28:37] Speaker 18: The fishermen are very frustrated when they, you know, watch the news or see a newspaper article about bluefin tuna, calls for extinction or, you know, endangered species, what have you. Because we don't see it. We're on the water every day. We're the stewards of the sea. We know what's going on out there. [00:28:59] Speaker 21: We're in crack, man. Crack. [00:29:01] Speaker 23: There is. If you're not snorting that you should fucking get on it because these are crazy. The fucking once that comes out off of here and says that there's no fucking tuna, it's crazy. Until 34 miles of Cape Ratno's here, 15 minutes, hooked up, bang, guns. That's not a chance they're endangered. Not a chance. No. Absolutely freaking not. Nice fish. [00:29:28] Speaker ?: Oh, nice. Nice fish. [00:29:30] Speaker 23: That one. What? [00:29:32] Speaker ?: Big one. [00:29:32] Speaker 23: We respect these fish. [00:29:33] Speaker 21: They're the gods here, right? The tuna is a god. There's my one tag for the year. [00:29:36] Speaker 23: That's it. That's all I got. Scientists. They sit in an office. They do their work on their laptop. [00:29:41] Speaker 18: They do a little bit of field work and they have some people out on the field doing some scientific studies. But they're not there every day. So I'm sorry, but we're the scientists. We know what's going on out there. We study the sea. You grew up on the sea. And we know the patterns of the weather systems and the fish and when they should be gone or when they should be here, when the bait should be here and the big fish are going to be behind them. So I don't think you can argue with some of these fishermen. There's some experienced fishermen that are out there and they're the best scientists you'll ever talk to. [00:30:32] Speaker 3: These here are the only breeding fishes left around. These large ones off of North Lake at the west end of the island, some over south towards Big Top. You inquire from scientists and they'll tell you the same thing. There's only a small amount of breeding fish left. It's large tuna as the breeding fish. Lots of juvenile stuff. Why do you think all the boats are at North Lake? All the little fish around our parts, a few little fish, and they don't want them. They want the money fish. The figures are going to get money for these big ones. But when you're all said and done, 230 pound tuna at $29 a pound is pretty close to my 445 one at $17 a pound. The money is about the same. But the only thing is, when you take the big fish out of it, you're taking a spawner. You're taking the mother hand out of it. [00:31:23] Speaker 17: If you hammered them in the Gulf, you would wipe them out while they're breeding. But if you really hammered them here, you would probably also go pretty far toward wiping out the only Western Atlantic breeding population. So this is one end. You know, this is kind of like they go there in the late winter to breed and they come here in the late summer to feed. [00:31:56] Speaker 19: These fish, the tuna, are being hit from multiple angles. And sadly, there's been so many of these fish caught that their numbers are now substantially down, like way down. I think something like 10% of what they used to be, 90% has been removed, fished out. And so the stock is really struggling to survive. And people, serious scientists, are saying that these massive bluefin tuna are in serious threat of extinction. [00:32:24] Speaker 9: Here you see where they once were. Where all the cells that have color in them is their distribution in the 1960s. And then the blue ones are where they once found but not found anymore. They have been lost for much of the South Atlantic. So we're here. We still have them. We're lucky in that. But it's only remnants of a much larger population that was once there that was much more widely distributed. [00:32:48] Speaker 6: Like the scientists, they grew up in a school and they have all these theories and they have these numbers. What do they actually know? Like how can they say there's no tuna left when you can put a guy over the side of a boat and there'd be 15 come right to them? [00:33:06] Speaker 9: So the fish that are seen off North Lake here, they're the giants. They're the large fish, the big breeders, the very fecund individuals that are obviously important for keeping the population going. Fish, by and large, the older they get, the more eggs they produce. And it's not in a linear fashion. It's actually in an exponential fashion, which means that a fish that's twice the size may produce 10 times more eggs than a fish half the size. [00:33:36] Speaker 6: That boat leaves the harbor in the morning, I'm coming back with one. And it's for a reason, right? When I go out there fishing, that's it. There's like, it's a bad day to be a tuna when I leave that harbor. Turn the boat, turn the boat! [00:33:57] Speaker 24: Turn the boat, turn the boat! Go ahead! Just stop, just stop! [00:34:07] Speaker ?: Stop! Stop! [00:34:09] Speaker 2: Stop! The cash of $1,500 to $3,000 to go catch that fish. It's a huge amount of fish. But it's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. That's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. [00:34:27] Speaker 24: It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. It's a huge amount of fish. [00:34:32] Speaker 6: It costs you $1,500 to $3,000 to go catch that first tuna. There's no money to be made tuna fishing anymore. The way I see it, a lot of them, half of it's for the thrill. Because there's not a lot of money to be made out of it. I'd like to see the flash when he comes up and his gills are going and his black eyes are just, you can see the fear in his eye. He's an untamed monster and here he is. I've tamed him and hundreds of them. It's like one of God's greatest creations in the ocean and I'm getting to catch them and people are paying me to do it because I'm good at it. I'm good at it. [00:35:25] Speaker ?: I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. [00:35:28] Speaker 23: I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. [00:35:31] Speaker 14: I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. [00:35:42] Speaker ?: I'm good at it. I'm good at it. [00:35:44] Speaker 24: I'm good at it. [00:35:45] Speaker 14: I'm good at it. [00:35:46] Speaker 24: I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. I'm good at it. It's heavy. [00:35:52] Speaker 6: You happy? Yeah. Good. What's that? [00:35:56] Speaker 16: Where did they come from to buy them? [00:35:57] Speaker 6: Sapporo, Japan. No. Isn't it? [00:36:00] Speaker 9: Sapporo, Kitetsu. They're all over the place. [00:36:04] Speaker 6: These are all high-end ones, right? None of this stuff stays in Canada. They're all the best of the best, and they're all gone. I like hanging them on the horse. Come here, boys. Let's take another one. Okay. [00:36:17] Speaker 21: Mommy, how are you going to stand back here? [00:36:19] Speaker 6: You going to get them all? I can't get them all? I would if they'd let me. [00:36:23] Speaker 21: Yay! Mommy, don't forget about you. Okay. Can I get in, shall I? Yes, I do. [00:36:31] Speaker 2: Somebody was telling me that the fish are now out here, so tame now that they're actually throwing some herons right from the boat, and the fish are coming right up and getting them. They're always the opposite, as far as I was concerned. They're always shy. Oh, yes. Extremely. They're hungry. [00:36:48] Speaker 3: They want to be fed. We hand feed them from the herring. When we shook the heronets out, they're coming for food. It's like any stray dog comes to your door, and he comes looking, you give him that first bite. What's going to be there the next morning? He's going to be back again soon as he hears the doorknob, and you over look step out, and he ain't going to be too far away. He's going to look for another biscuit or slice of bread or something, and that tuna's looking for easy meals. That's what they want. [00:37:19] Speaker 25: Any out there? No? What the fuck you couldn't imagine? Is that right? Oh! Yeah. Shame only allowed to catch one. [00:37:29] Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we have to make sure that we have some for tomorrow. [00:37:34] Speaker 25: Most definitely. Yeah. I think the stocks are better. Either that or they're all coming here now instead of ever. [00:37:39] Speaker 2: I think that's the thing. [00:37:40] Speaker 25: I think this is the last place, the last draw. [00:37:43] Speaker 2: Yeah. That's the scary side of it. Whether, I mean, we've got lots of fish, but I mean, we've got the only fish. [00:37:50] Speaker 25: That's the scary thing. I'll probably live old enough to see something else go. Yeah. You're fantastic a fish. It's the best rush you can get until you have your clothes on. Well, yeah. I guess I'm going to take your word for that. [00:38:06] Speaker 20: Oh, yeah. [00:38:22] Speaker ?: I guess I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. [00:38:24] Speaker 17: I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. I'm going to take a look at the fish. Catch the tuna now while you can, because they will leave. And then somebody else might kill them. You might as well kill them. So under those circumstances, in the short term, it makes perfect sense. In the long term, what makes sense is everybody agrees to kill them at a rate that is below their reproductive rate. So the numbers can either increase, which is what they need to do now, or stay high enough so that everybody can make a living and make money and their kids can stay in their communities and all that good stuff. But that's not our main first impulse. And that's not what we do. We have politicians that are in office for a few years. They have to get reelected. Everything is very, very short term. It's not really -- our system is not suited and is not geared toward long term survival. And that's why we have the catastrophes that we have. [00:39:28] Speaker 23: You know, what's endangered is bait fish. Heron, mackerel. And we haven't got as good as prices as we did last year either on our tuna. [00:39:45] Speaker 22: You know, I've done as much damage as anybody did. But at the time, we didn't think there was any end to it. But we know what happened to cod fishery. And if you look at the -- I was on the fishery council and we did a study on herring. And we studied areas where the fishery had collapsed. Fisherman's Bank and out here has got all the earmarks of those places. You know, the herring are getting harder to catch. Fishermen are using twice as many nets. They're not getting a chance to spawn is what's happening. And they're not getting a chance to do that. Because if there isn't a tuna chasing them, there's a gill net chasing them. So it's -- they're being harassed to death. And the fishery will collapse if they keep going the way they are. [00:40:21] Speaker 18: That's the catch 22 out of it. You're catching them as they're spawning. And then everybody asks the question, well, why? It's -- I don't have the answer to that. I don't know. Maybe we should be letting the spawn and move on. But I really don't know. But historically, inshore fishermen, that's when it was always fished. [00:40:39] Speaker 2: We're probably the last country in the world, or maybe one of the last countries in the world, that allows a row fishery. You kill the animal just at the time when you shouldn't kill it if you want to replenish your stock. I really don't think that's a very sustainable industry. [00:41:08] Speaker 22: One of the reasons the tuna is here is they're served. There's nothing for them to eat anywhere else. And they're in here chasing the hare. That's why they're here. They're not here because of our good looks or anything. They're here because of the food. A lot of times, nobody wants to admit the truth. You know, if there's lots there, that attitude. You always got to blame somebody. Like, nobody ever failed in school. It was always the teacher's fault. [00:41:41] Speaker 3: If we don't have our herring, we don't have no bait fishery. We got no bait for our lobster gear. We need bait for lobster traps. We need bait for the tribe fishermen needed. And the tuna needed it. And the codfish needed it to grow. And the whole thing, it all goes down the chain, food chain. It's got to have the food chain. If the link is broke, it all goes down and it's false apart. [00:42:06] Speaker 18: We've both herring fished. We've been there when it was really good off North Lake. And... [00:42:11] Speaker 20: This stock is near done. It's in trouble. It's in serious, serious trouble. That's bad news. It is. For you, it's horrible news. For everybody. It's everybody. [00:42:20] Speaker 9: The blue film will not spend a day here if there's no fish anymore, right? No. [00:42:24] Speaker 20: No. We were on Fisherman's Bank the day before yesterday and yesterday morning. And it was completely a very small area. Maybe half a mile square where the herring boats were. And there was dozens and dozens of pilot whales, bigger whales. We call them black fish, but maybe they're minkies or whatever. Seals, tuna. Everybody. Everything. And it was all in this one little half mile square. I fished on Fisherman's Bank when there was 200 boats out there. And you wouldn't put 200 boats in that area where I saw yesterday. [00:43:18] Speaker ?: There was a long period of time in my life when I would have thought that being here and seeing that and watching that rod go over and hear that. [00:43:35] Speaker 17: all that line screaming off the reel would have been absolutely thrilling. And I think my relationship with it has changed. [00:44:01] Speaker 24: Fucking broke it! Jake! Under the boat! Under the boat! Under the boat! No, wait, no! Just a reason. Let the band down! [00:44:14] Speaker ?: Fucking broke it! Greg's right off! Third time's a charm though, right? [00:44:18] Speaker 17: I don't really, I don't really like how all the fish get broken off with so much line attached to them. I, I'm not at all convinced that they're okay or that the hooks fall out or any of this other stuff. And it's not really the, it's not really the relationship that I want to have with these animals anymore. It's, it's, it's a lot of torment and harassment. [00:45:06] Speaker ?: It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. [00:45:17] Speaker 24: Beautiful. Beautiful. [00:45:35] Speaker 17: So, so let's talk about the, the line, you know, the loss of line, you know. We, we broke two fish off today that were dragging hundreds of yards of line behind them. Yeah. At least a couple hundred feet, yeah. That happens frequently or very seldom? [00:46:13] Speaker 6: That's the first time it's happened to me in 16 summers and I've done it, like it went back to back. We lost two fish in a row through that, right? Yeah. No, that doesn't happen. Like that's, so how did you feel when it was broken off with all that line? I felt shitty. Right, cause my, my whole old adult is to consider these things for my kids to enjoy. Yeah. Like that bothered me more today than any, like, I don't like, I'm not much for killing them anymore either commercially, right? Yeah. Like I do because I'm a commercial fisherman and I have to, to keep my license in for, well basically for money to keep moving the table too, right? Yeah. And we take one year, but I felt worse, like I feel really shitty, those two fish. Like I know in a couple of days on, or I pray to God in a couple of days time, those hooks couldn't come at them, right? But that's, like that's forced sportsmanship there. And that's not fair to the fish either to get that line of hand. [00:46:58] Speaker 17: All right. Well, thank you again. [00:47:00] Speaker ?: Thank you very, very much. [00:47:01] Speaker 17: You would never tolerate deer hunting if deer hunting involved putting a hook in a piece of sugar and watching the deer as it was, you know, trying to shake the hook and becoming increasingly exhausted. You know, I mean, you just have a little empathy. It's, it's not like, it's not like a one time sudden change. It's just after a while you start to think maybe we should grow up. I certainly think that one of the big problems with our view of fish is that for the most part we think of them just as commodities. They have no value in most people's eyes until they're on a plate, cooked, looking nice, and we're about to eat them. We don't relate to them as wild animals. We don't see that fish are wildlife. The main problem is we can't see them. [00:48:48] Speaker 13: Kiss it! Hey! It's still meat, look! [00:48:52] Speaker 17: So I wish we had a different relationship with these animals. I wish we saw them differently. I wish we saw them a little bit more from their own perspective and on their own terms. We're not getting into their lives. We're not with them as they migrate. We're not feeling and understanding their experience of the world. It's something we can't really have. [00:49:20] Speaker 6: In a few years' time, the only thing that'll be left of me being a tuna fisherman is a few of the pictures and the memories that I'd saved along the way, right? It's kind of like the last buffalo hunt. [00:49:31] Speaker 3: Other places do things different. They'll kill them regardless of what, right? But here, at least we can try to take care of what's here. At least we can say it wasn't us to wipe them out completely. [00:49:45] Speaker 17: It's not just about one little port here and how nice everybody is. It's a beautiful place and everybody is nice. But that's not what it's about. It's about how many people can the world support and how much stuff can we take and how much stuff do we need to leave. That's what it's about. [00:50:19] Speaker ?: It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of. It's about how many people can we take care of.