KENNEBUNKPORT — Five years ago, he was injured ”“ and not for the first time ”“ and so Bruce Hebert thought his days of fishing for bluefin tuna were over. Recovering from spinal reconstruction surgery, he figured it was time to find another niche in the fishing industry ”“ one that allowed him to stay working on the water.

So Hebert started a charter fishing business with his boat, the “Libreti Rose II,” running three trips a day out of his base at the Nonantum Resort, taking parties of up to six people, mostly families, out fishing for striper, bluefish and mackerel. A Waterboro resident, Hebert and his wife Lisa, who have five children, moved here 24 years ago.

“You go where the tuna are,” he said of the family’s move to Maine.

Before the back injury, he made a career out of tuna fishing and shrimping. These days, when he’s not operating the charter, Hebert is a security guard for a defense industry manufacturer.

But tuna fishing is a one of those professions that once you’ve done it, well, it’s hard to let go, especially when it’s one that’s been a family tradition for years; Bruce and his brother Paul fished for tuna, and their father Donald fished for tuna, as his father did before him, homeported in Marshfield, Mass. Three of Bruce and Paul’s other brothers are fishermen, though not currently for tuna, and a fourth is a cabinet maker who fishes part time.

Out there on the water, whether you’re six to eight miles off shore or 12 hours out to sea on George’s Bank, there’s just you and the fish, said Hebert. Everything else ”“ the ocean swells, the engine noise ”“ just fades away.

“You could be in 20 foot seas and forget ”¦ when you’re battling with a bluefin,” the fisherman said. “It’s a fishery you can’t get out of your system.”

Folks in Maine and across the nation can catch a glimpse of what it’s like to fish for the big bluefin tuna by watching Bruce, who serves as first mate, his brother, Capt. Paul, and crewman Kevin Twombly on the “Lisa and Jake,” and a cast of other fishermen in other vessels as they vie for the bluefin tuna on a reality television show called “Wicked Tuna.” The show airs Sunday nights on the National Geographic Channel. Reruns of the show are aired Saturday evenings.

The show is in its second season, and a third will be filmed during the fishing season that begins in the summer and winds down later this year ”“ just when depends on how quickly the quota is reached. According to a June 2012 news story by the Associated Press, the U.S. quota for commercial and recreational fishermen was 950 metric tons last year.

There’s competition among the boats and the fishermen, but make no mistake about it, the fishing is authentic, said Hebert. The fishermen go about their job, being filmed all the while. Their port is Gloucester, Mass.

“What you see is real,” he said.

There’s the banter among crew members, the rush to action when there’s a fish on the line, and the struggle to land it, as evidenced by a recent episode. There’s the fishing lingo ”“ and some salty language covered by the “bleep” of the censor ”“ and the absolute elation when things go well. As to the competition, the crews vie for the biggest fish, and on the “Wicked Tuna” website, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/wicked-tuna, there’s a running total of the value of fish caught by each boat.

Hebert said he believes good things can come from the television show. Wicked Tuna offers the viewing public a chance to see how fishermen work, and Hebert said he hopes the show can somehow lead to more research on the species. He notes the industry is heavily regulated in the United States and believes if other countries followed as strict regulations there would be more fish around.

Bluefin tuna are fish with a lot of fight in them. Caught with a rod and reel mounted at the stern of the boat, and then harpooned, they can give the fishermen a workout.

“Once you catch one of those giants, you’re hooked,” Hebert said Friday from a bench outside the Nonantum, overlooking the sparkling blue ocean.

According to National Geographic, bluefin tuna can swim up to 40 mph and dive 3,000 feet. The fish are highly prized in Japan where they’re used for sushi and sashimi, and increasing in popularity in New York and California, said Hebert. The tuna they catch range from about 300 pounds to 1,100 pounds, but most fall into the 300-500 pound range, he estimated. Hebert should know ”“ back before his injury, he once caught a bluefin that weighed in at 1,111 pounds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries division said the bluefin are the largest of the tuna species with a maximum weight of 2,000 pounds.

Bluefin tuna populations worldwide have come under scrutiny for decades, according to the Associated Press story. They are managed globally by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, a multi-governmental organization based in Spain. NOAA sets quotas for commercial and recreational fishermen in the U.S.

Regulation mandates that a bluefin be a minimum of 73 inches from the fork in the tail to the tip of the lower jaw, said Hebert. He said it’s a regulation that is strictly enforced.

According to the show’s storyline, Paul Hebert, 47, had been first mate on one of the other vessels, but leased the 40-foot “Lisa and Jake” after he was fired, and brought brother Bruce, 55, aboard to help. Bruce on Friday said that was a role reversal, since when he was fishing bluefin before the injury that sidelined him, he was captain and Paul was first mate.

He’s back fishing to help his brother ”“ who plans to buy his own vessel ”“ but also for himself.

“It was the curiosity factor. I wondered if I could still do it, and I proved that I can,” Hebert said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, Ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.