Why P.E.I.'s fisheries minister plans to hop aboard tuna boats this year

The tuna fishery is now open on P.E.I. for the season, and some fishermen may have a special visitor on board this year Fisheries Minister Jamie Fox.

P.E.I. currently has 359 tuna fishermen who catch the valuable giant fishboth commercially and using catch-and-release.

"I'm actually quite excited because I received quite a few calls from fishermen that want to come out and show me how this fishery works,"said Fox, who was named to the portfolio May 9. "And I'll be doing that in thenextprobably two or three weeks,"

Fox said he has been visitingfishermen who harvest mussels andoysterssince taking on the role.

"I think overall I need to know as much as possible about our industries, " he said "It's exciting to actually find out what we're actually doing."

The tuna fishery officially opened on Monday, with a quota of 155 tonnes for P.E.I. fishermen this year, up slightly from last year's quota of 143 tonnes according to the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association.

The season will remain open until Dec. 31, or until the quota is caught.

More P.E.I. news