Contact: Gordon Helm		   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
	  			   1/2/98

Mandatory tags are required for 1998 on all recreationally caught Atlantic bluefin tuna landed in North Carolina before the fish can be removed from the vessel, under a pilot harvest tagging program requested in part by North Carolina anglers, officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced today.

The mandatory tag requirement for recreationally caught Atlantic bluefin tuna was suggested by North Carolina anglers and others last year to account for every legal Atlantic bluefin tuna landed. This year's pilot program will test the effectiveness and cost of tagging Atlantic bluefin tuna throughout North Carolina. Both North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. and U.S. Senator Lauch Faircloth strongly supported the pilot program.

"We asked for this tagging program to ensure accuracy and fairness of this valuable and highly prized resource," said Mike Street of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. "Now, we must all help to prove its value to the entire fishery during this test."

"It is extremely important to stay within our internationally set U.S. quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna," said Rebecca Lent, chief of the Highly Migratory Species Management Division of the fisheries service, the division responsible for managing the Atla ntic bluefin tuna fishery. "More timely and accurate catch records will give us better information on which to make crucial decisions that will allow more fishermen a chance to participate in this very competitive fishery," Lent added. Annual quotas for Atlantic bluefin tuna are set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. The United States share in 1998 is 1,344 metric tons.

All Atlantic Tunas Angling or Charter/Headboat category permit holders received letters in mid December announcing the mandatory tagging requirements for landings in the recreational North Carolina fishery. Recreational anglers must file a catch report and obtain a tag for all Atlantic bluefin tuna landed in the state. In addition to the mandatory tag requirement, permit holders also are required to participate in dockside surveys that will be conducted simultaneously by the North Carolina Department o f Marine Fisheries.

Before landing an Atlantic bluefin tuna in North Carolina, recreational anglers must obtain a landing tag and affix it to the fish. To obtain a landing tag, captains or operators of permitted vessels must complete a catch card, available at all bluefin tuna reporting stations. Atlantic bluefin tuna reporting stations have been established throughout coastal North Carolina. Anglers landing a trophy category Atlantic bluefin tuna (73 inches curved fork length or greater, not for sale) must report their catch within 24 hours to, and have their catch tagged by, the local fisheries service enforcement office (Atlantic Beach, 919-908-2393) or by the Coast Guard.

A copy of the letter to permit holders is available by fax to the media by calling (301) 713-2370.