God’s Will and the Ocean
True Father Speaks on: Tuna Fishing and the Way of Life, page 219-222
July 5, 1984, Morning Garden

Tuna Fishing and the Way of Life

July 5, 1984, Morning Garden

HOW DO YOU FEEL when you look at the ocean? Sometimes it rains and more often the winds blow. Do you have any questions that you would like to ask me? Did you learn how to do things, how to put your bait on the line? Not yet? Did you want to come or did someone tell you to come? Is this your first time here? The days are long, but you will learn how to go beyond the tiredness.

It takes two or two and one-half hours to go to Provincetown where the fishing grounds are. That means fishing begins at five o'clock in the morning. To get there you have to leave at 3:00 a.m. or even 2:00 a.m. You have to be the first boats there and get ready for the tuna guests. That's courtesy. You are ready for everything. The tuna is already here, but not many fishermen are catching them yet. We have to think about that with our common sense. Why are they here, but cannot be caught?

Patterns of Life Within the Ocean

Sand eels migrate and move according to the season. These sand eels, hordes of them, are coming up from the south. The water temperature is still cold, and the lower you go, the colder it gets, although the temperature stays a little warmer on the surface. The sand eels are beginning to gather; the fish are going after these sand eels, but they are not concentrated yet. They are in the area, but they haven't made their home here yet. These sand eels will settle down when the water temperature goes up.

As the summer goes on, the temperature goes up. Then, they will gather in one area, somewhat like a plateau where the depth is only between seventy to about one hundred and twenty feet. Other depths are 200 or 300 feet and are too deep, too cold. The larger fish know where these tiny sand eels are and they all concentrate in the general area to feed upon them. The whales and tuna stay in the deeper area, but in the morning they come up to eat. One can honestly say it is their breakfast time. That breakfast place is where we are now going out and waiting.

Herring, mackerel and cod are smaller fish which tuna also feed upon. They all come around where the temperature is warm and where there is an abundant amount of sand eels. That is the area we are going to. The tuna, when they come in and out of the feeding area, have a certain approach where they tend to go in and out. That is where we want to place our boats. That is usually on the edge of the area, a ledge. Tuna do not like rough things, just like anything normal. So where there is a cliff, the tuna don't want to come there. Rather, they will come where there is a slope. They prefer a gradual slope and come in and out that way.

First you have to study the charts and see what kind of terrain there is, and then you have to go there and try it out. I spent a lot of time investigating this, scientifically and also intuitively. That is one reason why the New Hope has been catching lots of tuna, more than many other boats. Also the boats around New Hope have been able to catch a good number of tuna. For this reason, even people who are not Moonies try to fish close to the New Hope.

You have to know substantially about these things. You have to have an in-depth perception. You might say, "Well, the ocean is the same everywhere and the fish come here and go there and it’s a matter of sheer chance." Not so. Not at all. Chance is not involved. Tuna have a manner of doing things, they have habits. We have to understand their habits. The smaller fish gather together where there is plenty of food, where there is shelter and they can hide and protect themselves.

These small fish move around by schools. You will see some schools that are miles wide and long, and hundreds of feet deep. The tide comes in and out and these schools move around with it. Sometimes the currents are very strong, while other times the currents are weak. The smaller fish go in very large schools for protection, and they are looking for places where they can hide, such as the very big rocks. There are many places like this in certain areas of the ocean and we have to study these kinds of things if we are going to catch the kind of fish we want.

For example, we might want to catch striped bass. Sometimes the schools of very small fish are moving too fast because the currents and tides are pulling them, so the fish in front cannot slow down even if they want to. Instead of being able to hide behind a rock, they collide into it. This leaves them somewhat knocked out, dizzy, just like a man would be if he did the same thing to his head. This is where the striped bass hang around. When the small fish hit the rock and swim slowly about in a dazed manner, they are easier to prey upon. You can find striped bass in places like this. You have to think like the striped bass and then figure out the logical place where they will be.

Tuna fishing is the same. You reason everything out; you have to think everything through. Don't just go somewhere and throw your gear into the ocean and just hope the tuna will somehow get hooked. The small fish go with the currents. There are places along the ledge where the currents slow down. This is where the small fish go and where the larger fish come after them to feed. You have to look at the charts and find these places where there is a drop-off and the depths change sharply.

You have to perceive whether the bottom is a sandy, muddy or rocky bottom. There are different types of worms and small creatures. You have to study about that as well. Some live where there is seaweed and others where it is rocky or sandy. If you are going for the smaller fish, you have to understand what the bottom is like. The weight on the tackle is important in rocky areas. If you just throw the hook down there, it will get snagged. Sometimes you might get your gear back, but most often you have to cut your line. To prevent that, you place your weight about ten feet below your hook and bait. Then, you have to imagine what your tackle will look like down there and be able to feel your weight when it hits the bottom. You have to have some sensitivity about that. And you have to consider the current pulling your hook and bait. If it isn't much, then it won't be ten feet above the weight. It will be more like five feet or just two feet. So, you have to be conscious how your bait will hang on the line and be able to judge from that how high from the bottom it actually is.