Source: CBC News

Prices for Canadian bluefin tuna caught off P.E.I.’s North Shore last week were poor, and buyers could not be found at all for some fish, leaving fishermen to figure out how to get rid of the catch.

The whole of the quota for the fall fishery was caught in two days last week. The bonanza came just a week after Nova Scotia fishermen raced through their own quota. Both regions compete for the same international market, and the resulting glut has depressed prices.

Walter Bruce, chair of the P.E.I. Tuna Advisory Council, said a few fishermen are getting prices as high as $16 a pound, but most tuna is going for much less.

The council warned Island fishermen there would be a glut of tuna on the market if they caught the entire quota in a few days, Bruce said. The council advised stretching the season over a few weeks.

“A lot of fish was in, and when that happens it’s a buyer’s market,” Bruce said. “We heard a couple that was up in the $15, $16 range — there is a few there — but there’s a lot down on the dollar range.

Some fishermen couldn’t even find buyers for their tuna.

“One fella said he took his out where the coyotes would be,” Bruce said. “So this is actually what they wanted. And if they don’t like it, they really got nobody to blame but themselves.”

He hopes the experience will bring fishermen around to the advisory board’s way of thinking next year.