NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island charter boat captain got a pleasant surprise when he learned that a baby bluefin tuna he tagged in 1997 was caught recently.
Seventy-five-year-old Al Anderson has a fishing charter boat based in the Galilee section of Narragansett. He told The Providence Journal (https://bit.ly/1dImEzZ ) that a man on his boat caught a young bluefin tuna weighing only 14 pounds near Block Island about 16 years ago. Anderson tagged it and threw it back in the ocean.
Last month, a Nova Scotia fisherman caught the same tuna, which now weighed 1,200 pounds. He reported information on the tag to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s voluntary tagging program, which notified Anderson.
The fisherman took the fish to market. Bluefins weighing that much can sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
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Information from: The Providence Journal, https://www.providencejournal.com
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