The first phase of a project aimed at determining the viability of a catch-and-release sport fishery for Atlantic bluefin tuna in Island waters is now complete.
As of Tuesday the program has tagged 25 tuna in waters off Tignish. It will now pause until next week when an additional 25 tuna will be caught in waters off the eastern end of the Island.
It's a good start for a project that could one day provide an important source of income for Islanders, said Pat O'Neill, a development consultant working for the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association.
"Hopefully, depending on how the data comes out, the two fisheries (commercial and sport) could exist side by side and it would be another source of income for fishermen," said O'Neill.
The study is receiving support from the provincial government to the tune of more than $140,000 and by the federal government with more than $300,000. The P.E.I. Atlantic Shrimp Corporation Inc. (PEIASC) contributed $15,000 to the project as well.
The tuna are being caught just as they would be during the commercial fishery except when (using a barbless hook) a fish is brought up alongside the boat a scientist will take blood samples and attach a small satellite tag before releasing the fish. The data collected by the tags will be analyzed over the coming weeks and the findings should be tabulated within two months.
Joey Gauthier of Rusticoville has been fishing tuna for more than 30 years and is a strong supporter of building a strong sport fishery here. He and other fishers have been running a limited catch and release sport fishery for a few years, but it has been kept small because they are only allowed to catch one tuna per day. But if a catch and release system is implemented this would no longer be the case.
Gauthier is confident the results of the study will show tuna stocks are healthy enough here to support the added pressure of a larger sport fishery and that released fish survive their encounters with fishermen.
And if his experience this week fishing for the study is any indication, then the results should be favourable, said Gauthier.
"It went very well, there's lots of fish around," he said.
He added that so far all the tagged fish swam away with plenty of energy and appeared unfazed by the experience.
"A lot of the fish left us a souvenir, usually they give a splash of their tail and soak everybody," he chuckled.
