I’ve only just started watching Wicked Tuna on the Discovery Channel but am completely hooked already (no pun intended). The North Atlantic conditions these guys work in are insane, and the tuna boats are amazing. I did wonder though; how much does a tuna fishing boat cost, as they can’t be cheap? Here’s what I discovered:
Tuna boats cost anywhere between $20,000 and $300,000. The boats used in the Wicked Tuna TV series will typically cost between $100,000 and $300,000 but that doesn’t take into account customization, gear, and electronics.
There is no real accurate pricing you can give as a one-off tuna boat cost, purely due to how varied they are. However, if you are starting out on a budget, it is possible to fish for tuna on a boat costing as little as $20,000 US dollars.
Get Wicked Tuna Merchandise: Did you know you can buy a wide range of Wicked Tuna gear on Amazon? You can catch up on previous episodes, buy t-shirts, and much more.
You might be able to get something this sized for as little as $20,000 to start tuna fishing.
You can even find used tuna fishing boats for commercial fishing purposes selling for as much as half a million dollars. These boats are over 100-foot in length, compared to the vessels which are around half that size featured in the National Geographic show.
How much does a Wicked Tuna fishing boat cost?
I next looked into the most famous tuna fishing boats from the TV series, to see if I can find any cost information on them.
The best way I found to do this, was to find out what type of vessel each of the Wicked Tuna fishing boats is, then find some rough pricing information on manufacturer websites.
| Wicked Tuna Boat Bame | Boat Type | Guide Price Example |
|---|---|---|
| FV-Tuna.com | 44' Calvin Beal | $70,500 |
| PinWheel | 45’ Provincial Boat Builders | $280,000 |
| The Hot Tuna | 48’ Dixon Series 60 Detroit | $300,000 |
| The Wicked Pissah | Custom designed boat | Unknown |
| The Fish Hawk | Custom designed boat | Unknown |
| The Odysea | 32’ Blue Hill Marine | $118,900 |
| The Falcon | 43’ Torres | $170,200 |
| The Bounty Hunter | 35’ Duffy | $92,000 |
| The Lily | 36’ Northern Bay Harpoon Boat | $200,000 |
| Lisa and Jake | 40’ Young Brothers | $199,000 |
| Christina | Unknown | Unknown |
| Miss Sambvca | 48’ Ocean Motor Yacht | $180,000 |
| Kelly Ann | 35’ Maine Downcast | Unknown |
| Hard Merchandise | 36’ Daniels Head Novi Boat | $125,000 |
Those prices above don’t include any of the gear, electronics or customization made for tuna fishing, so should be used as a very rough guideline on cost.
How much is a tuna boat going to cost annually to run?
The tuna fishing boats you see in the Wicked Tuna TV series tend to be between 32 and 48 feet in length. How much is a tuna boat going to cost you to run at this size?
Let’s look at what the running costs would be for a day’s tuna fishing out at sea.
- A small used tuna boat could cost you around $20,000.
- Radar systems, GPS, and boat electronics will cost around $5,000.
- Tackle for trolling will cost around $5,000.
- Tackle for casting lures will cost around $5,000.
- You will also need to pay for fuel, fishing licenses, insurance, docking etc.
I also found a forum post from a tuna fishing guy who runs charters. He said the real cost of running a tuna boat was:
- 6% of the trip gross goes to the landing.
- 15% goes to the bait company.
- 5% goes to the city authorities for the right to use the harbor.
- Fuel costs $3.51 per gallon with an average of 140 miles per trip.
He went on to say that the cost to fill the tuna boat charter with fuel for a 1.5 and 2.5 day trip was a massive $8,123 dollars. It’s an expensive business!
Related questions
Whilst I was researching how much tuna boat costs, I stumbled across some related questions on this fishing industry, and the Wicked Tuna TV series.
I’ve listed those other questions below, so you can learn more about the topic with what I found out.
#1: What is the price for a boat like the FV Hot Tuna?
The FV-Tuna.com boat is a custom-built 44-foot Calvin Beal. You can see the prices on their website by clicking here.
The total kit price comes in at $70,500.
How much a tuna fishing boat is once fully customized with the gear and electronics, plus any changes required to make it suitable for purpose is not listed.
I would image you can bump that price above up into 6 figures easily.
#2: What is the biggest tuna fishing boat in the world?
I’ve given you tuna boat costs and prices for the types of vessel you might see on Wicked Tuna. But there are even bigger boats out there fishing on a massively commercial scale.
In 2008, Greenpeace followed the Albatun Tres for 5 days across the Pacific Ocean. It’s a Spanish owned vessel coming in at a whopping 115 meters long – that’s 377 feet!
Greenpeace said:
“The Albatun Tres can net 3,000 tonnes of tuna in a single fishing trip. This is almost double the entire annual catch of some Pacific island countries.”
You can see the boat in action in the video clip below.
#3: How much does a tuna boat owner make?
Tuna boat captains will typically make around half of the proceeds from the day’s catch.
The crew members are said to earn around $28,000 dollars a year.
#4: How long are tuna boats out to sea?
This depends on the type of boat. The boats in Wicked Tuna will be out at seas for days at a time.
However, the large commercial fishing vessels can sometimes be out to sea fishing for up to several months at a time before returning back to port.
Facts about the Wicked Tuna TV series
- The show is based on tuna fishermen based in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
- They fish for bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- To date (April 2019) there have been 7 series shown on TV.
- Each boat on the show is paid $2,000 to $3,000 per episode.
- A single prize bluefin tuna can earn them as much as $20,000.
Handy Hint: I researched into how much the guys on Wicked Tuna make in salary. Read that for a guide to their wages.
The last word…
As you can see, it’s not that easy to answer the question “how much does a tuna fishing boat cost” as they are so varied, many of them having extensive customization.
The commercial vessel featured in this article, Albatun Tres no doubt cost millions of dollars.
However, for smaller tuna boats under 40 foot in length, a 6 figure price will be more accurate.
You can start out with a smaller boat too, possibly paying around $20,000 for something on the used boat market. Bear in mind the associated costs that will also be involved for equipment, licenses, fuel, and so on.
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