This year’s tuna fishing season in Tenerife got off to a spectacular, even if delayed, start with a Los Cristianos fisherman landing some whopping catches.
Alan Gregorio Amaral, popularly known as Goyo in the fishing community in Los Cristianos, arrived back in harbour with three massive specimens of big-eyed tuna (called “patudo” in these parts) which he caught from his little Gran Sol II boat in deep waters off the Canaries.
All three tunas weighed in at over 300 kilos, with the biggest topping the scales at a massive 376 kilos and triggering great interest on Goyo’s arrival back in Los Cristianos, where the giant fish was held up for the customary big-catch photos.
“We were very lucky. Other colleagues didn’t manage to get any of the tuna to bite”, said the proud fisherman, who explained that the tuna season has started quite slowly this year as the fish have only recently entered waters near the Canaries. “Hopefully April and May will prove more productive” he ventured, although adding that the scarcity of suitable bait at present may well hamper the success of the Los Cristianos boats, which are among the 250 authorised to fish for tuna (up to a total legal limit of 537 tonnes) in Canarian waters this year.
Photo: Whatsapp Mercedes Menéndez
