Hey Captains,

I am hoping that someone here could tell me where to go to find the regulations for limits of offshore species such as BFT, YFT, Mahi, Wahoo, etc... I have searched different places but have not had any luck. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/rec_info.htm

You can find most of the limit regs here.... BFT be aware regs change alot, most of all be able to idenitfy them from YFT. Right now you can have one BFT over and one under.


Mahi in NC you can have 10 per person not to exceed 60 per boat. I don't know VA regs on mahi. I am sure some one else will chime in....

Also make sure you have the correct HMS permit.

Hope this helps.....

Thanks I appreciate the info. I didn't realize that I also needed an HMS permit. This was good info to know. So If I have read the BFT regulation right, you can have 1 BFT between from 27"-47" curved fork length and 1 from 47"-73" curved fork length..?? Also, what would you consider the biggest distinguishing attribute from the BFT and the YFT. The larger they are, the easier it seems to tell the difference but the smaller ones seem to resemble each other very closely.

http://vbsf.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=14721&hl=

Check out the post from Carolinamans in this thread... The main differences are the fins behind the dorsal and behind the gill plates.

Quickest feature to distinguish between the YFT and BFT is the fish's pectoral fin. A Bluefin's is short where as the pectoral fin on a Yellowfin will extend to the beginning of the second dorasl fin on its back.

Check out this pdf from NOAA. Great for ID's on all tuna... https://hmspermits.noaa.gov/other/tunaguide...20new%20pic.pdf

G&H is right on mahi, 10 per person with max of 60 per boat. Wahoo is 2 per person per day.