Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival on Tap for Aug. 20-27
Above: Samples of bluefin tuna are graded before being shipped to market at the 2021 Wedgeport Tuna Festival and Tournament weigh-in. Kathy Johnson photo
After a scaled back affair for the past two years due to COVID-19, the Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival will be back pre-pandemic style this year.
“We’re excited to finally be planning on having a more normal Tournament and Festival this year,” says Brandon Doucette, president of the Wedgeport Tuna ...
Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival Back on Deck
Above photo: Samples of bluefin tuna are graded before being shipped to market at the Wedgeport Tuna Festival and Tournament weigh-in. Kathy Johnson photos
The fishing was fine at the 17th annual Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival on Aug. 21 to 28 with a total of 69 tuna landed, tipping the scales at a total of 12,255 pounds.
Each of the 16 fishing vessels that took part in this year’s tournament tagged a bluefin tuna (6,981 pounds). A total of 35 big eye (4,731 ...
Annual Tuna Tournament – Important to Scientific Research
A total of 37 tuna were landed during the 15th annual Wedgeport Tuna Tournament and Festival weigh-in on Aug. 18–25, with a 680-pound bluefin caught by the captain (Cory Nickerson) and crew of Keepin’ Busy topping the scale to win the Milton J. Comeau Memorial Cup for heaviest fish.
Sixteen vessels participated in this year’s tournament, catching 16 bluefin, 20 big eye and one albacore. The heaviest bluefin caught in the Hell Hole weighed in at 360 pounds and was caught by the Jasmine ...
On the Waterfront – September 2017
N.L. Fisheries Advisory Council Holds First Meeting
Newfoundland and Labrador’s newly formed Fisheries Advisory Council held its first meeting August 3, beginning its work to maximize the value of available fish resources to the provincial economy through a collaborative stakeholder approach.
The council will focus on both current and emerging strategic fisheries and aquaculture matters, including a new strategic action plan on cod revitalization that focuses on environmental sustainabi...
For Nova Scotia it’s Déjà vu All Over Again
The latest brouhaha between fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia is over shrimp quota allocations.
So what else is new?
Years ago, I remember discussing various fisheries topics with the then-federal Fisheries Minister Romeo LeBlanc. At one point I asked him what was the most difficult part of his job and he quickly replied, “allocations.”
Since the 1970s, a policy known as Last In, First Out (LIFO) has been in effect in Atlantic Canada. In other words, the first ...
Ten-Year-Old Tuna Master Beats Own Record
Koen Norton has another record breaker on his hands.
The 10-year-old, Montague, Prince Edward Island boy set out this past tuna season to set a world record in his age category and by all accounts he succeeded, landing a 486-pound bluefin tuna in early August off Naufrage Harbour in Eastern P.E.I.
Well, Koen wasn’t quite satisfied with his catch, so he and his father Greg set out for one more attempt at an even bigger record catch.
He ended up smashing his own record by reeling in an ...
Healthy Tuna Fishery off Newfoundland’s South Coast
When one thinks of bluefin tuna fishing hotspots in the north Atlantic, the south coast of Newfoundland is probably not the first place that comes to mind.
But over the last few years a brief, but lucrative tuna fishery is taking place in the area of the St. Pierre Banks and Burin-based fisherman Winston Pitcher is one of the Newfoundland harvesters involved.
Pitcher, who has been catching the large, sought after fish for about six years, explained the south coast fishery is a competitive ...
Another Successful Wedgeport Tuna Tournament
From 1935 to the mid 1960s, Wedgeport was once the sport tuna fishing capital of the world.
What attracted the bluefin tuna close to the shores of Wedgeport was the abundance of feed, making the Tusket River and the Tuna Rip excellent tuna fishing grounds.
Rod and reel tuna fishing began in 1935 when Michael Lerner, accompanied by his guide Tommy Gifford, were told there were plenty of tuna off Wedgeport. Many fishermen made fun of him but he managed to convince Évée LeBlanc to bring ...
Are Bluefins Spawning in the Sargasso Sea?
The Sargasso Sea has been the stuff of myth and mystery for years.
It is the only sea on earth without a coastline — located in the mid-Atlantic and forms part of the fabled Bermuda Triangle. And it’s huge, covering about two million square miles. It’s named after a type of seaweed, genus Sargassum.
The sea consists of a gyre created by the Gulf Stream to the west, the North American Current to the north, the Canary Current to the east and the North American Equatorial Current to ...
DFO Increases P.E.I. Tuna Allocation by 20 Per Cent
Tuna fishermen in Prince Edward Island will now have an opportunity to catch more of the highly sought-after fish.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea announced Friday a 30-tonne increase in the Island’s 2015 allocation.
The Island’s allocation last year was 125.86 metric tonnes and the 331 Island boats that participated in the fishery came to within 28.9 kilograms of filling it.
This year, the fleet will be able to fish 155.95 tonnes.
“Our Government was successful in ...
