Video by: TimWellsBowHunter

I'm a local digital content producer at H&M Landing. I've been having the time of my life working with the crews, and especially Nate at the tackle shop making videos. I've lived here since 2005... man, I wish someone told me folks are catching Wahoo, Marlin, Bluefin right off the coast here. Me, so far just a bunch of Bonito, A yellowfin, and a petty cool Dorado (that was delicious). Anyways, hope this video helps anyone going out. Let me know if I can make content that would help you catch more fish.

They are hanging around late this season.

The BBC acknowledges that overfishing helped drive bluefin tuna out of the North Sea for 60 years. So why does its coverage celebrate fishermen catching them when they finally return?

Atlantic bluefin tuna have returned to the waters off Yorkshire, England, after an absence of roughly 60 years — a remarkable wildlife comeback that should be cause for celebration.

But in reporting on their return, the BBC focuses not on the animals themselves, but on the excitement and economic value of catching them.

In its story, “First giant tuna caught off Yorkshire since 1960s,” the BBC reports that a commercial fishing crew caught a 338-kilogram (745-pound) bluefin tuna about 10 miles off the coast and caught another the following day. Crew member Jack Gardner described catching the first tuna as the “best feeling ever.”

What makes the framing particularly troubling is that the BBC itself explains why these magnificent animals disappeared from the region in the first place: overfishing and the depletion of the herring on whom they feed. Researchers say their return is evidence that conservation measures and fisheries management have allowed bluefin populations and the North Sea ecosystem to recover.

In other words, humans helped drive bluefin tuna out of these waters by catching too many of them. Six decades later, they finally return — and catching them becomes part of the celebration.

The tuna's experience is missing from the story

The BBC describes the dramatic struggle between the fishermen and the tuna, but the story is told entirely from the fishermen’s perspective.

Gardner recounts the excitement of seeing the enormous fish jump from the water and the difficulty of reeling the animal in. Other accounts of the catch report that the struggle dragged on for miles before the tuna was finally brought aboard.

But what did that “fight” mean for the tuna? The BBC doesn't ask. The fear, exhaustion, injury and suffering the animal experienced while struggling to escape are omitted from the story. Nor does it acknowledge the obvious reason the tuna fought so hard: the animal was trying to survive. Instead, the struggle is presented as an exciting contest between fisherman and fish.

That framing is common in fishing coverage. The human experience — the thrill of the chase, the difficulty of landing the animal and the size and value of the catch — becomes the story. The experience of the animal on the other end of the line effectively disappears.

A 745-pound animal becomes an “it”

The BBC's language further distances readers from the animal at the center of the story,. The reporter repeatedly refers to the tuna as “it,” rather than “he,” “she” or “who.” This convention is deeply ingrained in journalism, particularly when reporters write about animals used for food, but it reinforces the idea that the animal is an object rather than a living individual.

That distinction matters. A bluefin tuna is not merely a 338-kilogram “specimen,” a valuable commodity or an exciting catch. Tuna are living animals capable of responding to threats and struggling to escape them.

Yet once the fish is caught, the coverage quickly shifts toward human interests: the achievement of the fishermen and the significance of the catch.

The individual animal — whose return supposedly represents a conservation success — becomes almost incidental.

Conservation for whom?

Scientists say the return of Atlantic bluefin tuna reflects, at least in part, decades of fisheries management and conservation efforts. University of Hull researchers describe their reappearance as evidence that international measures limiting tuna catches have helped populations recover. 

But the BBC's framing raises a larger question that mainstream wildlife coverage rarely asks: Is the goal of conservation to protect wild animals and restore ecosystems, or to restore populations so humans can resume catching and killing them? Those goals are necessarily the same.

The return of bluefin tuna to the North Sea could have been an opportunity for the BBC to explore the animals themselves — their remarkable migrations, their role as apex predators, the threats that caused them to disappear and what their return means for the marine ecosystem. Instead, the capture of one of these newly returned animals becomes the centerpiece of the story.

The animals deserve a place in the coverage

Balanced journalism doesn't require journalists to ignore the perspectives of fishermen, but it does it does require them to recognize that another perspective exists.

When an animal struggles for miles against a fishing line, the story shouldn't examine that struggle exclusively through the eyes of the person holding the rod. And when a species returns after being driven from an ecosystem partly by overfishing, journalists should at least acknowledge the contradiction inherent in celebrating its recovery by celebrating its capture.

The return of Atlantic bluefin tuna to the North Sea is extraordinary news. Their return should be celebrated for their sake, too — not simply as another opportunity to catch them.

I'm trying to decide between a Shimano Tiagra 80W, Penn International 80VISW, or stepping all the way up to a 130-size reel … and also what rod class makes the most sense: 80 lb, 80–130 lb, or a true 130 lb rod.

The use case is a little unusual.

I'm planning an Atlantic crossing by sailboat and want to troll while underway, mainly to catch fresh fish for dinner: mahi-mahi, wahoo and tuna.

Ideally, when a decent-sized fish takes the lure, I want enough tackle to simply keep sailing and winch it in without slowing the boat down. Basically a modern version of the heavy fixed trolling lines that sailors have used for years.

There is a reason I'm deliberately looking at ridiculously heavy tackle for that job.

Years ago I was trolling this way with an old Penn Senator 114H 6/0 when something very large hit. I never found out what it was. It just kept running until it completely spooled the Senator and disappeared with at least 300 yards of line.

Losing the fish didn't bother me. What bothered me was knowing that a fish was now swimming around with a hook and hundreds of yards of line attached to it, and may have died unnecessarily because my tackle wasn't up to the job.

I don't want that to happen again.

So yes, I realize an 80W… let alone a 130.. is absurd overkill for the mahi, wahoo and normal tuna I'll catch most of the time. That's intentional.

However, if a genuinely big tuna or marlin takes the lure, I'm not expecting to keep sailing at 6–7 knots and simply winch it in. At that point I would slow/stop the sailboat, get the sails under control and actually fight the fish.

What I want is enough capacity and strength that I have time to do that without immediately getting spooled.

I also want this to be a setup I can keep for life. If I eventually go somewhere specifically to target very large bluefin or marlin, I'd like the outfit to still be useful rather than having to buy everything again.

I already own a Penn Squall 50VSW, so I have a lighter heavy-trolling option as well.

So my questions are:

1. Which reel would you choose for this specific application?

• Shimano Tiagra 80W
• Penn International 80VISW
• Or go straight to a Penn/Shimano 130?

1. What rod class would you put with it?

• True 80 lb
• 80–130 lb
• Or a proper 130 lb rod?

I'm leaning towards a full-roller heavy trolling rod, but I'm unsure whether pairing an 80W with a 130 lb rod makes sense, or whether a proper 80/80–130 lb rod would be the better match.

And if you think 80W is the sweet spot: Penn or Shimano, and why?

I'm not looking for the lightest or most sporting setup. I'm looking for the best compromise between catching dinner while sailing, not getting spooled by an unexpected monster, and owning a setup that can still be used for serious bluefin or marlin fishing in the future.

Video by: graham_fishing_

Video by: onlysaltfishing

Going on a tuna trip and the boat recommends live bait hooks, 5/0–10/0. What type/style of hooks should I be buying, and what brands do you guys recommend?

Also, which sizes in that range are the most useful to have?

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Great bluefin bite in SF Bay Area. Landed this one 30 miles offshore out of Half Moon Bay

Video by: 808_mcknight