This season, “Wicked Tuna” is all about the comeback kids. The commercial fishermen hunting bluefin tuna out of Gloucester, Mass., went through the ringer last season, like most of American fishermen. Facing pandemic market pressures that turned most things upside down and sent everything else sideways, last year delivered the whole fleet into rough waters.
This year, the captains seek to get meat back on the deck. With buyers now open seven days a week and dealers bringing back to pre-covid prices, the captains feel the pressure to catch and deliver.
As the fishery sorts itself out and markets stabilize, the captains are working to make up for last year’s low prices the only way they know how — getting back out on the water.
In this clip from the upcoming first episode, “Back On the Hunt,” Captain TJ Ott and the Hot Tuna crew struggle to land their first fish of the season. Ott’s competition on the Fat Tuna also hooks up, and Captain Bob Cook fights to come out on top.
The “Wicked Tuna” 11th season premieres with a 90-minute episode this Sunday, Feb. 27, on National Geographic at 9/8c.
