Canadian Tuna 2003 Season: Averaged 700 Lbs Bluefinsff

The tuna season in Canada’s Prince Edward Island is set to open today, Monday, with hundreds of license-holders ready to take to the waters in the hope of catching one of the large and lucrative Bluefin tuna.

At North Lake the average fish in 2003 weighed 700 pounds round, and the largest bluefin weighed more than 1,100 pounds. Walter Bruce, chair of the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association tuna advisory committee, has been chasing tuna in the waters off North Lake since 1969. He said the biggest change this season is the implementation of a fleet quota system. It replaces the fleet sector cap system, which was unpopular with fishers since each fleet was assigned a catch limit but not a precise quota. “We have 181.9 ton and that is all we've got,” said Bruce, who was preparing his boat Friday for the opening of the season. “There is no chance for re-allocation or anything. This is our quota for this year.”
 
The system, announced by former DFO minister Robert Thibault last November, gives 6.7 per cent of the quota to New Brunswick, 13.9 to Newfoundland and 5.5 to Quebec. Nova Scotia would be allocated a total of 47.9 per cent -- 12.2 to Gulf Nova Scotia, 23.5 to Southwest Nova and 12.2 to St. Margaret's Bay. Although P.E.I. holds the majority of licenses it received only 30.52 per cent of the quota or just a little more than 180 tons.

Bruce said if it weren't for the persistence of Island fishers, that quota would have been lower. “The only change from last fall is, under that management plan, we probably would have ended up with 173 tons. But, after a lot of lobbying prior to the election . . . they (DFO) did away with the discard, which was about 35 or 40 ton of fish.”

In November, Thibault had allowed for transfers between regular fleet license-holders and pelagic, long-line license-holders such as sword fishers who often catch bluefin tuna by accident and had to discard them without selling them or bringing them ashore.

Provincial Fisheries Minister Kevin MacAdam, along with those in the industry and the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association, fought earlier this year and won to have 20 to 30 ton dead discard tuna quota allocated back to tuna fishers. “We will have to wait and see if that was a one-year, election type of deal. I have a suspicion it might have been,” Bruce added.

PEIFA communications director Ken Campbell said with the fleet quota system there is no actual end date for the season, adding fishers can remain on the waters until the quota is caught. “At least if they have a fleet quota they can decide when they want to fish it,” said Ken Campbell. “If they find the market conditions are bad or something, if they had an agreement among the fishers, they could stay home for a few days. Whether that will happen or not is another question.” Bruce said it is unlikely those in the industry would opt to stop fishing, whatever the reason. “If we think fish are at too low a price or they shouldn't be caught and wait until the market improves, the tuna-working group has the power to close it down or open it up," he explained. But he said, "I really can't foresee that happening.”
 
Bruce added with the previous cap system there was a chance for re-allocation of quota if fishers in another sector didn't catch its full quota. “It was sort of a race to fish,” said veteran fisher. “This year, there really shouldn't be a race to the fish because we know what we've got and that's all we are going to get.”

In recent years the tuna fishery in P.E.I. has been booming.  The season closed early in 2003 -- on Sept. 5 -- with Island fishers landing the entire 180-ton bluefin tuna quota. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 483 fish were landed by Island fishers while in Southwest Nova Scotia 158 were caught. Island fishers landed only 10 tuna in Area 4WD, near Canso, N.S.

Prices near the end of the season averaged $14 to $15 per pound but some fish were garnering up to $25 per pound. The majority of tuna in 2003 were landed at North Lake, which was once dubbed as the Tuna Capital of the World. The largest tuna caught last year weighed in excess of 1,100 pounds. Eastern fisher Greg Norton landed the most fish at 18.

There are approximately 360 tuna licenses in the province, 250 of which are actively used annually. The season this year is opening 11 days later than in 2003. “Some fishermen wanted it that way because they wanted a bigger gap between lobster and tuna fishing but the market conditions dictate that actually there shouldn't be a later opening,” said Bruce. “We should have been fishing this past week. The market conditions are ripe and prices are good.”

Most tuna landed on Prince Edward Island go to the fresh market in Japan. But, added Bruce, in recent years, the market has been opening up in the United States. He said it is hard to determine now what prices will be until the first few tuna are landed. “There is nothing on the market so it is supply and demand. Prices would be good right now. The prices would stay half decent until the first or second week of August when the other areas start landing fish. Then the price will follow its natural course.”

The season for Quebec tuna fishers began July 15 but few are out on the water. Bruce expects many of Island's license-holders to be out today, Monday. He said that he, like all tuna fishers, is hoping for a good season but added it all depends on bait and the migration of the big fish. “Bait is the big thing. There doesn't look like there is a body of bait here yet,” added Bruce. “Tuna need a lot of bait, need a lot of food. Wherever there is bait is where you'll find the fish.”