Reality shows are reality shows but at least they have to catch the tuna. I do like the show but I hate the constant whining about no money and how much fuel and other things cost to feed their families. In reality they get paid very well by National Geographic. They could catch nothing and still make a good wage.
19 Reviews
Bluefin Tuna Fishing Turns into Competitive Sports
LeDentalPlaque25 December 2014
I've followed along with every season of Wicked Tuna thus far, and it's a decent show. Of course, we are all aware that bluefin tuna is notoriously overfished and its populations are dwindling, but watching this show, you get to learn a lot about the fisheries and the hardships that these fishermen have to go through in order to make a living. It's an eye-opener to a different kind of community, and it's entertaining and emotional for viewers who are foreign to this kind of environment.
National Geographic also does a good job of turning the bluefin fishing into a sort of competition, which kind of pulls audiences in to see how each fishing vessel does by the end of the season. Sometimes, you've got good catches, and other times you fail miserably. It helps quantify the swing of good and bad luck that these fisherman face with each season.
There is obviously a lot of talk about overfishing bluefin and why National Geographic chose to air a show that is about depleting bluefin stock. However, there are regulations for bluefin tuna fishing, and as long as these regulations are met, I don't see why people are complaining about it. The fisherman are doing it for a living, and National Geographic decided to tag along and enjoy the ride. I say it was a good decision to focus on working-class people for once and give them some of the spotlight.
Overall, I find this show to be amusing because of the competition and the different wildlife that these fishermen encounter on a regular basis. It's a good show, and you definitely feel for the captains and their families if they have a bad year.
National Geographic also does a good job of turning the bluefin fishing into a sort of competition, which kind of pulls audiences in to see how each fishing vessel does by the end of the season. Sometimes, you've got good catches, and other times you fail miserably. It helps quantify the swing of good and bad luck that these fisherman face with each season.
There is obviously a lot of talk about overfishing bluefin and why National Geographic chose to air a show that is about depleting bluefin stock. However, there are regulations for bluefin tuna fishing, and as long as these regulations are met, I don't see why people are complaining about it. The fisherman are doing it for a living, and National Geographic decided to tag along and enjoy the ride. I say it was a good decision to focus on working-class people for once and give them some of the spotlight.
Overall, I find this show to be amusing because of the competition and the different wildlife that these fishermen encounter on a regular basis. It's a good show, and you definitely feel for the captains and their families if they have a bad year.
Excellent show without too much ridiculous drama.
bxhanx1 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Wicked Tuna is a great program for people who enjoy the fishing reality shows but don't enjoy all of the b.s. over dramatizations that accompany most of the other shows.
It's easier to keep up with the boats and crews since they are significantly smaller than the other commercial fishing vessels. It seems that you get a more intimate look at the captains and crews and you can feel the rivalry between boats. You also see the amount of respect that the crews have for each other.
The most recent season (2015) had only 4 of the original vessels and one new one but with a repeat captain.
FV - Pin Wheel, Capt. Tyler McLaughlin FV - Hot Tuna, Capt. T.J. Ott FV - Tuna.com, Capt. Dave Carraro FV - Hard Merchandise, Capt. Dave Marciano FV - Kelly Ann, Capt. Paul Hebert
Capt. Hebert has been on the show all of the seasons but he changes boats since he tends to wear out his welcome quickly. He's hard headed, arrogant and makes poor decisions. He's season totals are evidence of his many problems.
The crews seem to be made up mostly of family members and don't tend to be more than one captain and 2 or 3 crew members. The Pin Wheel started out with the captain and 2 crew but is now down to Tyler and one deckhand as is the Hard Merchandise. FV - Tuna.com has Capt. Carraro and usually 2 or 3 deckhands. The Hot Tuna with T.J. Ott has 3 deckhands. One is his father, another is his brother and then there is a third member.
You will have to watch it to learn more about the crews.
Overall, you get up close and personal with the crews. You feel the competition, you enjoy the sport of it and you learn a good deal about the state of the tuna fishery.
When they take their tuna in to sell, they get weighed and they examined. Then the offer is made. Anywhere from $12 per pound to well over $20 per pound. It's fun to try and guess how much they are going to be offered for their fish. I'm usually off by about $2 per pound.
The one thing you do see is how much the crews really do respect each other. They are all good people and have a good time. You feel their aggravation when they've been fighting a tuna for an hour and the hook pulls close to the boat or when they hook up and get the fish to the boat just to find out that it is a shark.
And, the best part about this show is that it is family friendly. There is some bleeping out but not like on other fishing reality shows. There are also teaching points along the way and you can keep your children interested.
Basically, it is a great family friendly show, with solid competition and makes for an enjoyable hour of family viewing.
It's easier to keep up with the boats and crews since they are significantly smaller than the other commercial fishing vessels. It seems that you get a more intimate look at the captains and crews and you can feel the rivalry between boats. You also see the amount of respect that the crews have for each other.
The most recent season (2015) had only 4 of the original vessels and one new one but with a repeat captain.
FV - Pin Wheel, Capt. Tyler McLaughlin FV - Hot Tuna, Capt. T.J. Ott FV - Tuna.com, Capt. Dave Carraro FV - Hard Merchandise, Capt. Dave Marciano FV - Kelly Ann, Capt. Paul Hebert
Capt. Hebert has been on the show all of the seasons but he changes boats since he tends to wear out his welcome quickly. He's hard headed, arrogant and makes poor decisions. He's season totals are evidence of his many problems.
The crews seem to be made up mostly of family members and don't tend to be more than one captain and 2 or 3 crew members. The Pin Wheel started out with the captain and 2 crew but is now down to Tyler and one deckhand as is the Hard Merchandise. FV - Tuna.com has Capt. Carraro and usually 2 or 3 deckhands. The Hot Tuna with T.J. Ott has 3 deckhands. One is his father, another is his brother and then there is a third member.
You will have to watch it to learn more about the crews.
Overall, you get up close and personal with the crews. You feel the competition, you enjoy the sport of it and you learn a good deal about the state of the tuna fishery.
When they take their tuna in to sell, they get weighed and they examined. Then the offer is made. Anywhere from $12 per pound to well over $20 per pound. It's fun to try and guess how much they are going to be offered for their fish. I'm usually off by about $2 per pound.
The one thing you do see is how much the crews really do respect each other. They are all good people and have a good time. You feel their aggravation when they've been fighting a tuna for an hour and the hook pulls close to the boat or when they hook up and get the fish to the boat just to find out that it is a shark.
And, the best part about this show is that it is family friendly. There is some bleeping out but not like on other fishing reality shows. There are also teaching points along the way and you can keep your children interested.
Basically, it is a great family friendly show, with solid competition and makes for an enjoyable hour of family viewing.
Nothing About Fishing
Tak0058 June 2020
Very entertaining and addictive TV show following some fantastic fishermen!
ChanieceTaylor4 October 2017
Wicked tuna is a fantastic show that can be enjoyed by all the family with or without prior fishing knowledge! I have never been fishing myself so did wonder if I would enjoy this program but boy was I wrong! It caters for everyone, the wonderful fishermen explain everything they are doing and why and you really feel involved with life on their boats! They are very hard working men (and the odd woman) and you get emotionally attached to your favourite crews, personally I am always rooting for Hard Merchandise, Dave is a fantastic captain. I have watched all but one series and have enjoyed every single one and cannot wait for the next one. I have watched the North vs South series but do not enjoy them as much as I like to follow the original fishing boats.
Tuna become endangered.
Dpbwmk18 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This is the reason that bluefin tuna become endangered species. Their fertility rate is very slow than other tuna species. But nowadays it's still normal to catch bluefin tuna while they're now endangered species. I don't know why national geographic channel start this kinds of shows on their channel????
Except Animals Planet and BBC Earth channel others are experts to support wrong and bad things....
Except Animals Planet and BBC Earth channel others are experts to support wrong and bad things....
Addicting!
darehaircs17 September 2020
I've almost burned through all the seasons on Disney +. I love this show! It's only been a few weeks since I started watching and I just never want it to end. I never thought I'd care so much about the captains and crews of tuna fishermen/women.
Extraordinary Show!
dptiki10 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I love Wicked Tuna!!! My ultimate favorite show. It has drama, action, comedy, and adventure. Its for the whole family, and its enjoyable to watch with a tub of popcorn. Very thrilling show and cast members. I love Season 6, my favorite. Superb cast members. I can relate to each and every boat. I love Captain Paul Hebert, Captain Dave Marciano, Captain Brad Krasowski, Captain Tyler McLaughlin, and Captain TJ Ott. However, my ultimate favorite Captain is Paul Hebert, I love his laughs - I love Paulie, (spoiler alert) because he's always saying "that's a big bastard". I love everything about the show. There is never ever a dull season, or a dull episode. All the episodes are fun and exciting to watch. I highly recommend this show to everyone, the kids will love the action pack scenes. My kids love Wicked Tuna. It is so awesome the show continues to succeed, because I want to see a lot more seasons in the future. I don't want to see Wicked Tuna end. It's a show I will never get bored of watching. I love the competition, and it breaks my heart when the season isn't as the Captain expects it to be. The hardships of fishing and to keep everything positive is not an easy task. Ultimately hands down, I love everything about the show. 10 Stars
Another cheap reality show exploiting nature
knifemagnet17 March 2017
What's to see here? Some guys that are gung-ho about fishing blue fin to extinction? 'In November 2012, 48 countries meeting in Morocco for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas voted to keep strict fishing limits, saying the species' population is still fragile. The quota will rise only slightly, from 12,900 metric tons a year to 13,500. The decision will be reviewed in 2014.' Dated info - but really, what better way to save a species than to kill enough of them to collectively weigh in at 13,000 metric tons. That is the equivalent of killing 65,000 individuals if they were to weigh on average 400 pounds.
The truth is, nobody knows how many of any specific thing swims, or crawls, in the ocean. There is no manner to accurately arrive at a figure. And here we have yet another show glorifying wanton greed, again, in the troubled oceans.
How and why National Geographic considered this worthwhile, especially from this perspective (exploiting the ocean for money), and for six seasons is beyond me. Six seasons lacking any conscious awakening on behalf of Nat Geo upper management.
The truth is, nobody knows how many of any specific thing swims, or crawls, in the ocean. There is no manner to accurately arrive at a figure. And here we have yet another show glorifying wanton greed, again, in the troubled oceans.
How and why National Geographic considered this worthwhile, especially from this perspective (exploiting the ocean for money), and for six seasons is beyond me. Six seasons lacking any conscious awakening on behalf of Nat Geo upper management.
Best documentary type series I've seen!
bocky-054817 August 2021
This season 2020 is horrible.
iondon9 March 2020
Wicked entertainment.
georgiekiz10 January 2019
Love this show, easily outclasses all other fishing shows. Wish one of our local channels would pick it up and show it in a decent time slot. At the moment it is occasionally on anywhere between lunch and 2 AM, not happy Jan. Hopefully it will come out on DVD soon ( in a format that we Aussies can watch) Impatiently waiting.
Go Dave Marciano and crew.
Go Dave Marciano and crew.
WHAT??????????
randbark-225 June 2018
i do not approve
rick-09019-0180520 June 2022
I do not approve of this type of reality sport. How the hell hs season 11 got this far they are not doing it to feed their familys they are doing it to gain popularity
yes we need to eat and these type of tv programs are nothing ner to reality ..
Sick
staloynp31 July 2023
It is unfortunate and it is disgraceful for national geographic to promote the brutal killing of tunas in the name of profit and economic gain. As a viewer It is disturbing to watch as the animal is slaughtered and then cut to show the "quality " of the meat..gross and sickening. It isthe frankly unethical for those fishing just watching their attitude and disrespect for the tuna, as if taking from the ocean is their right... its a shame as well as for the show for continuing this , like nobody knows nothing about the emptying of the oceans from overfishing.
Please stop it, please stop this sick show, show people promoting the environment and take steps to save the marine life stop overfishing and overconsuming. Stop the demand to stop the supply of this kind of shows as well most people are awaken and understand whats happening.
Please stop it, please stop this sick show, show people promoting the environment and take steps to save the marine life stop overfishing and overconsuming. Stop the demand to stop the supply of this kind of shows as well most people are awaken and understand whats happening.
This show is rigged.
aturner-287 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Wicked Tuna used to be entertaining. Now the results are always predictable. Dave is the biggest problem. One word. Entitlement. This show ran its course several years ago. If you can't sleep this is the show for you. Zzzzzzzz. It is so funny how many times Dave has won at the end of the season. The fix is in. He is not even the best fisherman on the show. I am trying to find something good to say about it lately but I come up with nothing. Maybe it will end soon. I am sure Dave will end up winning the last season as well. Whenever that will be. I don't really know what else to say. Best of luck to all the other competitors.
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