Source: Journal Pioneer
Island tuna boats will get another crack at landing the big ones this week, but it might only be the early birds who get results.
The executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, Ed Frenette, said preliminary numbers as of 2 p.m.
Tuesday suggested P.E.I. fishers had landed 72 per cent of their 100-ton quota since the season resumed Saturday.
He said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will be evaluating the landings this morning and will give fishers at least four hours notice before closing the fishery.
By 4 p.m. Tuesday the Island’s two monitoring companies tracking the fishery were reporting 49 tuna already landed that day, and they were aware of boats still fighting the giant fish. The number does not include Island quota landed out-of-province.
With good results in other tuna fishing zones, Frenette said there are fears prices will fall. “I think a lot of tuna went on consignment,†he suggested.
On consignment, fishers assume the shipping and handling costs and take whatever the market will bear.