Physical description:

Yellowfin tuna are torpedo-shaped fish, popular because they are large (up to 400 pounds), fight hard and are excellent eating. They are metallic dark blue on the back and upper sides, changing from yellow to silver on the belly. The dorsal and anal fins, and finlets are bright yellow. Tunas species are difficult to distinguish. Bigeye, blackfin, albacore and yellowfin are similar in shape and are often caught together. Characteristics that distinguish the yellowfin from other species are its elongated anal and dorsal fins on large fish, a moderately smooth nonstriated ventral surface of the liver and 26 to 34 gill rakers on the first arch.

Biological description:

Yellowfin tuna inhabit warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and all warm seas except the Mediterranean. In the western Atlantic, the species is found from Massechusetts to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Spawning takes place at sea in the spring and summer, and most fish are capable of reproduction at the age of 2 or 3 years. Yellowfin feed in open ocean waters on fishes and invertebrates associated with Sargassum.

South Atlantic Federal Regulations

(For areas three-200 miles off the coasts of NC, SC, GA, and East Florida)

Yellowfin tuna are managed by the Highly Migratory Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Silver Spring, MD. For more information on federal regulations for Highly Migratory Species (sharks, swordfish, billfish & tunas) call the HMS Automated toll free line at: 1-800/894-5528 or contact NMFS at (301) 713-2347.

Informtation regarding tuna permits can be obtained by calling the NMFS Permits and Landings Report System at 1-888/872-TUNA (8862) or at www.nmfspermits.com.