Back to news article list

Most Canadian Bluefin Fisherman Still In Port ff

21 July 2003 Canada

Only a handful of Island tuna fishers are out on the waters attempting to land one of the mammoth fish despite the opening of the 2003 season Tuesday, said Don Aldous, a consultant with the United Tuna Fishermen's Association.

Aldous, in a telephone interview Friday afternoon, said most fishers won't head to the tuna grounds until one of the fish has been landed. "Someone will catch one in the next week to 10 days."

There are approximately 360 tuna licenses in the province, 250 of which are actively used annually. "There are a couple of boats that are trying on the North side of the Island, around Rustico," said Aldous. "They are seeing a lot of bait. The anticipation is great. The fishery in St. Margaret's Bay (Nova Scotia) has been huge. The fishery is five days old there and there has been 160 fish caught." Aldous said some fishers who actively looking to catch some of the 180 tons cap for the province have even reported spotting blue fin tuna.

The United Tuna Fishermen's Association met Thursday in Kensington to discuss concerns with the Department's of Fisheries and Oceans management planned and cap announcements for 2003.

Also, at that meeting, Harold McBurnie was appointed interim president following the resignation of the association's president last week.

An annual meeting wills he held sometime following the closure of the 2003 tuna fishery to allow the 200 plus members of the association an opportunity to elect a new president, said Aldous.

At Thursday's meeting, the board of directors set out a series of objectives for the year.

"We are working on reducing the cost of observer coverage while fishing in Southwest Nova and working on reducing the licensing fees.

Fishers are paying $150 for each tag and have to buy two, whether they use it or not," said Aldous. "We will be finding ways of reducing that (cost) and possibly getting a refund for the unused tag." He added the cost of unused tags across Atlantic Canada is "astronomical" at $500,000. "It goes right into the general coopers for whatever the government does with all our money."

One of the prominent concerns of Island tuna fishers is the cap allotted to sword fishing fleets.

Of the entire tuna quota for the region for 2003, 31 tons automatically is taken off that number for the sword fishing fleet.

"People are pretty angry about the waste," said Aldous. "That is a million dollars worth of blue fin tuna that is wasted and cut off." He said the United Tuna Fishermen's Association also takes issue with how DFO calculates the cap for sword fishing fleets. "DFO does an estimate of the discards. The way they calculate the estimate is not accurate. They look at a couple of the observer trips and extrapolate that across the whole fleet," said Aldous. "The discard can vary a lot. Its costs us a lot of quota the next year." He said a prime example is the 31 tons cap given to swordfishers this year compared to seven tonn in 2002. "They don't seem to be taking any steps to reduce the discard," Aldous said about the swordfishers. "There are certain types of hooks they could use, certain areas they could stay out of. But, they just seem to calculate the discard and reduce it from our catch level."

The association's consultant said DFO had attempted to put fleet quotas in place this year.

"The United Tuna Fishermen's membership didn't want that to happen. Our fishery has been on the increase. This wasn't the year to cement it down to a fleet quota," added Aldous. "They were so intent to put fleet quotas in place. We wanted to have another meeting after we killed the fleet quotas to discuss opening and putting aside some of the quota (for later in the season)." He said concerns have been raised regarding New Brunswick herring seiners who are fishing close to the northeastern end of the Island.

"There has been a concern the herring seiners come in and break up the schools of herring. Those are the fish the bluefin are following," added Aldous. "We have been trying to get some sort of agreement with DFO to put a buffer area in or some sort of compromise that would preserve both fisheries. They don't clean out the herring but they are breaking up schools."

Aldous said all indications point to what will be a positive tuna season for Island fishers. He added the Japanese market remains strong and tuna bait is showing up in Island waters. "We anticipate a high catch but a quick season. Under these circumstances, I suspect the fishery will shut down in early September."

Source: The Journal Pioneer