April to June, also known as bluefin tuna season for fisherfolk, is underway. As the north and south vie to win the title “First Tuna Catch of the Season” a report on Monday announced that a fishing boat from Suao, Yilan may have snagged the honor.
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Four fishercrew members are hard at work, loading bluefin tuna almost as long as they are tall into the boat’s hold. Once done, they race back to port in an all-out battle to win the first tuna catch of the year.
Bluefin tuna season, which runs from April to June, kicked off with some very good news from Suao, Yilan.
Captain Li Chia-hao (李家豪) of fishing vessel 668 shares that he’s very happy but at the time he didn’t realize they had caught a bluefin tuna until it was pulled up.
As workers quickly remove the crushed ice, the scale weighs the enormous fish at nearly 270 kilograms, marking this as not only Suao's first tuna of the year but also Taiwan's.
The competition was fierce between the North’s Suao and the South’s Donggang as they vied for the title “First Tuna Catch of the Season”. While there were some differences in the criteria, the most challenging requirements to win were that the fish must be caught alive and weigh more than 180 kilograms.
30-year-old Captain Li claimed the title of winning Suao's first tuna catch last year. With this year’s win, he has become the first captain in Suao's history to achieve back-to-back victories and earn a "tuna" bragging rights.