Why PEI tuna is costing its highest possible rate in years

About a 3rd of the method with Prince Edward Island’s bluefin tuna period, angling staffs are drawing in several of the fattiest tuna and highest possible costs they have actually seen in years.

“We’re seeing prices range from $10 or $11 on the low side to $40, $50, $60 a pound on the high side. So these are higher prices than we’ve seen, probably since the early 90s,” stated Jason Tompkins, proprietor of TNT Tuna in North Lake, which gets and exports around three-quarters of Canada’s bluefin tuna allocation.

Tompkins claims in a regular period, simply “one or two” of the approximately 1,500 tuna captured off the northeast shore of P.E.I. will certainly make the watercraft greater than $10,000, after being offered on premium markets around North America, Europe and Japan.

So much this year?

“We’ve had probably 14 or 15 fish that have returned over $10,000,” he stated. With each watercraft obtaining 2 or 3 tags enabling them to capture that variety of fish each period, “that’s $20,000 or $30,000 for a few days’ work. So it’s really nice to see returns like that come back.”

Jason Tompkins, proprietor of TNT Tuna in North Lake, stated angling staffs on P.E.I. are obtaining several of the highest possible costs for their catch they have actually seen in years. (Steve Bruce/ CBC)

The crucial to those high returns? The all-tuna-can-eat buffet in the waters off Canada’s tiniest district.

Bluefin tuna delight in herring and mackerel. A pair years earlier, dealing with diminishing supplies, Fisheries and Oceans Canada outlawed industrial lure angling for herring in the Gulf ofSt Lawrence, and for mackerel in waters throughout Atlantic Canada and off Quebec.

The tuna have actually taken complete benefit.

“For the first two months of the season, we’ve had some of the only fatty tuna in the world,” statedTompkins “Fat is flavour, no different than beef. So the more fat, the more flavour. The more flavour, the higher the price.

“And we have actually had quite a lot the high rate in Japan every evening for the last 6 weeks.”

‘The Japanese market is helping’

Japan is the other key to this season’s success.

That sushi-loving country has long been the biggest buyer of P.E.I. tuna, though the COVID-19 pandemic cut into markets for a while.

Finally, Japan’s economy and tourism industry are rebounding, along with the demand for high-quality tuna.

“The Japanese market is assisting without a doubt,” Glen Doucette said Friday from the wharf in Naufrage, after catching a tuna weighing in at 450 pounds, or 204 kilograms.

“Last couple of years, we offered a whole lot a lot more locally, [in] Canada and the UNITED STATE But this year, the Japanese market’s a whole lot much better. So it’s looking a whole lot much better.”

Add it all together, and fishers like Doucette are feeling ” really confident” they can earn some good money this season.

‘This is really what we’re looking for — well handled, really nice shape… It’s well marbled all the way down through to the bone. This is triple-A grade top quality,’ buyer and exporter Jason Tompkins said of Doucette’s tuna. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

Doucette lives in New Brunswick most of the year, and fishes lobster in the spring. He travels to P.E.I. for tuna season — and so far, that seems to be paying off.  His latest catch is about as good as it gets.

“The dimension, the form, the colour, a bit of fat in ’emergency room. So whatever’s going with me. Hopefully she’ll repay, this set,” he said.

Tompkins was sure it would.

“It’s well marbled right down with to the bone. This is triple-A quality premium, and can go throughout the globe, whether it be a six-star dining establishment in Dubai, or midtown Tokyo,” said Tompkins. “This is precisely what we have actually been seeing.”

High prices, high expenses 

Gregory Bell is hoping for a prize catch with his third and final tuna. His second was decent, though not the ” premium” some others have seen.

< figcaption course=" caption-collapse">Tuna fisher Glen Doucette stands behind his latest 340 pound catch off P.E.I.’s north shore. According to buyer and exporter Jason Tompkins, this tuna is ” premium.”

Tuna fisher Glen Doucette poses with Friday’s catch. ‘Everything’s going for me. Hopefully she’ll pay off, this one,’ he said of the bluefin tuna. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

“The costs anglers have nowadays– gas and whatever is rising, right? So we require excellent costs to spend for the costs we need to produce,” said Bell.

Tompkins said while tuna prices and demand tend to soften slightly around back-to-school time, he expects they’ll rebound into October and November as the season wraps up.

And with no signs of the Japanese market cooling, or Canada’s commercial bait fishery returning, he said all signs point to a bright future ahead for P.E.I.’s 330 tuna fishers.

“As of right currently, we do not see anything that’s mosting likely to throw this fad.”