'More fat, more flavour': Why P.E.I. tuna is selling at its highest price in decades

About a third of the waythrough Prince Edward Island's bluefin tuna season, fishing crews are reeling in some of the fattiest tunaandhighest prices they've seen in decades.

"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," said Jason Tompkins, owner of TNT Tuna in North Lake, which buys and exports about three-quarters of Canada's bluefin tuna quota.

Tompkins says in a normal season, just "one or two" of the roughly 1,500 tuna caught off the northeast coast of P.E.I.will earn the boat more than $10,000, after being sold on high-end markets around North America, Europeand Japan.

So far this year?

"We've had probably 14 or 15 fish that have returned over $10,000," he said.With each boat getting two or three tags allowing them to catch that number of fish each season, "that's $20,000 or $30,000 for a few days' work. So it's really nice to see returns like that come back."

The key to those high returns? Theall-tuna-can-eat buffet in the waters off Canada's smallest province.

Bluefin tuna feast on herring and mackerel.A couple years ago, facing depleting stocks, Fisheries and Oceans Canada banned commercial bait fishing for herringin the Gulf of St. Lawrence,and for mackerel in waters across Atlantic Canada and off Quebec.

The tuna have taken full advantage.

"For the first two months of the season, we've had some of the only fatty tuna in the world," said Tompkins."Fat is flavour, no different than beef. So the more fat, the more flavour.The more flavour, the higher the price.

"And we've had prettymuch the high price in Japan every night for the last six 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 buyerof P.E.I. tuna, though the COVID-19 pandemiccut into markets for a while.

Finally, Japan's economy and tourism industry are rebounding, along with thedemand for high-quality tuna.

What's behind this year's big-time tuna season in P.E.I.?

21 days ago

Duration 3:01

Island bluefin tuna fishers are on track to have their best season in decades. CBC's Steve Bruce went to North Lake to find out why the quality, demand and prices are all so high this year.

"The Japanese market is helping for sure," Glen Doucetsaid Friday from the wharf in Naufrage,after catching a tuna weighing in at 450 pounds, or 204kilograms.

"Last few years, we sold a lot more domestically, [in]Canada and the U.S. But this year, the Japanese market's a lot better. So it's looking a lot better."

Add it all together, and fishers like Doucetare feeling "very hopeful" they can earn some good money this season.

Doucetlives in New Brunswick most of the year, and fishes lobster in the spring.He travelsto 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 size, the shape, the colour, a little bit of fat in 'er. So everything's going for me.Hopefully she'll pay off, this one," he said.

Tompkins was sure it would.

"It's well marbled all the way down through to the bone. This is triple-A grade top quality, and can go anywhere in the world, whether it be a six-star restaurant in Dubai, or downtown Tokyo," said Tompkins."This is exactly what we've 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 "top quality" some others have seen.

"The expenses fishermen have these days fuel and everything is going up, right? So we need good prices to pay for the expenses we have to put out," said Bell.

Tompkins saidwhile tuna prices and demandtend to soften slightly around back-to-school time, he expects they'll rebound into October and Novemberas the season wraps up.

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

"As of right now, we don't see anything that's going to buck this trend."