While the frigid Bering sea waters is the greatest threat to the crab fishermen we’ve all become acquainted with in the last three years on Discovery’s Deadliest Catch, the tuna wranglers who ply the much warmer ocean waters off the Southern Australian coast face a danger I have yet to see any commercial fishermen contend with. And that of course, is sharks. It was both shocking to learn and mesmerizing to see that when a shark tears through the massive net containing trapped tuna, a trained fisherman/diver has to actually dive down into the contained tuna area and literally wrestle the shark until said shark decides it’s had enough of this hand to hand combat, and leaves through the same hole it came in. Just how much does that position pay? Pretty interesting stuff.
It looks like the Blue Fin Tuna season runs all year, but the purse seine fishery that we witnessed in the new mini series, Tuna Wranglers, runs from January through March…”The SBT fishing year runs from 1 December to 30 November each year. For the purse seine fishery, fishing for grow out farms occurs from January – March. Longlining for SBT occurs primarily in winter months off Southern NSW and to a lesser extent off southern WA”
While it certainly doesn’t have the depth or excitement of the most excellently developed fan favorite, Deadliest Catch, the first episode of Tuna Wranglers seems promising in that much like the previously mentioned Deadliest Catch, it introduces many of us to a part of this world we’re not so familiar with. Who would have thought really, that fishing for tuna involved not only the actual tuna fishing vessel, but a floating aquarium that basically heads out to deep waters with the sole purpose of throwing baitfish in tuna infested waters to guide them towards the tuna catching boat. And prior to the baiting and rounding up of tuna, a spotter plane flys out to sea and spots the large shadows that tuna schools create. After the tuna is “wrangled” into their initial netting, yet another vessel is on the scene with a permanent caged nettings that is used to haul in the harvest and house them for several months while they are fattened up.
Who would have ever thought tuna fishing was such an interesting and complex process? The premier episode of the 2-part mini series aired August 9th at 1opm eastern and the second episode airs on the 16th. There will be repeats towards the end of this month.
Deadliest Reports 
how much does this position pay? this seems really interesting to me and i have been considering to be one of these when i grow older. i have been fishing since i was 11 and i love fighting bass on my rod. just how they jump out of the water and splash everywhere. it gives you a real big adrenaline rush as you thumb-him and hold him up as a real accomplishment. i also like catching trout to cook them up and eat them later. i don’t mind pan fish either. can any one give me a real good introduction to this position please? it would be very much appreciated, thank you!
Hi Chris. Interesting questions. I’ll have to try and do a little research on this type of tuna fishing. It would be interesting to see a couple more episodes too.
I lived in Western Australia for a year and I can tell you those jobs are very difficult to get. It was commonly said in Perth if you are not Italian (you need to speak it) then you have no chance getting a job on a lobster boat. I would suspect if you are not from the area and don’t know the families who run these businesses you will not work for them. Sad but true, it’s never what you know, it’s who you know. Still it was a really cool series.
hi im very interested in being a tuna wrangler how can i obtain information that will hopfully get me employment im 27yrs old been diving for 10yrs and know how to net mend any info will be appreciated
thanks kyle stevenson
As you can see even my e-mail address is about fishing your show is great.I do alot of fishing off the new jersey coast tuna are around about three months of the year.
I just want to know what the name of the little town was that they brought the tuna into ….. ya know, where they had that little pub and they got their drink on.
Cheers… Right now I´m without a job, sandly i got problems with my papers and it seems i´m going to lose the king crab season with the F/V Bering Sea, and become a tuna wrangler seems fun meanwhile i can go back crabbing. Can you give me more information of the main harbor were those guys do the offload?
There is one good looking man aboard the kingfish .. uh.. I think iyt is called kingfish? He is so hot I saw him today and he was sitting behind a table with others had a green t-shirt on. he had his sunglasses on top of his head and one other time he was cooking? Does anyone know his name or email address?
Hi, I would love to someday work at sea as a tuna wrangler. Watching these guys do what they do looks extremely fun and exciting! I have no idea how to obtain such a position. I love scuba diving, spearfishing and have had years of experience being in the ocean and handling all kinds of marine life. I’m not afraid of sharks and being in the water with a wet suit on and carrying a spear gun would be a dream come true. Especially when you get paid for doing something you love! If I could have some information on how I can apply for a job such as this, or anything that would help me reach this goal that would be greatly appreciated! I bet there are many people who love to have this sort of career but to me it would be a dream come true! Thanks!
im a tuna lover , eat it , fish it . i think what these guys are doing is kinda wrong , i know it makes there living and all but i feel like they get very greedy . does anyone else agree?