Tagging North Carolina Giants on Camera

We're pleased to have some beautiful video we shot at TAG NC last month here for viewing pleasure. In this piece we're releasing a large fish that we caught with our excellent angler - aboard long time TAG vessel Sensation. Dale Britt was the Captain and his mate Alan wired this fish on a relatively light leader. This fish was remarkably beautiful on deck at 259 cm curved fork lenth, it was the second largest bluefin ever measured by our team off NC- in over 850 fish tagged. We were at the time a bit surprised by the large size and you may pick that if you listen to our reaction- thats Dr. Andre Boustany at the head end, myself and our mate Alan.
It was so large - we had trouble doing our usual turn - and put the fish out tail first- most go head first. Our team worked very hard the first week of the year- getting some film for teams producing TV shows in 2009-helping to raise awareness about bluefin tuna science- tagging a few fish. We recognized in 2009, once again the challenge we face as a team- tagging giants, when the commercial fishery is wide open. I certainly miss the days when all the fish came our way for tagging. The good news is the footage was awesome and hopefully we can share the story of Carolina bluefin with millions of folks across the globe. I enjoyed tagging and releasing three and wish everyone could feel the exhilaration of seeing a fish up close and personal- and the joy of satellite tagging the animal and letting the fish go.

Thanks to Bill and our colleagues- for this wonderful footage and Dr. Randy Kochevar for his nice edit! Barb