BC’s tuna trollers are building a high-end reputation for a fish that only a few years ago could be found in the bargain bin at your local grocery.
“We’ve made a conscious effort in the last couple of years to elevate tuna out of the can,” said Lorne Clayton, executive director of Canadian Albacore Tuna, a foundation that promotes B.C.’s fifth largest single species finish fishery.
Every June, 110 internationally licensed vessels make the run from the northern border of California to Haida Gwaii in search of the Pacific Coast’s sought-after albacore tuna.
Last year, B.C. fishermen pulled 14 million pounds of tuna out of the deep-green waters off the coast.
That haul sports an annual wholesale value between $25 million and $30 million, Clayton said, an amount that’s increased in recent years as the fishery has marketed albacore as a premium product.
“Fifteen years ago, 90% of our tuna went into a can,” Clayton said. “Now it’s less than 10%, so we’re really focusing on the loin or meat part of the tuna, and it’s a higher value and better use so the fishery benefits more from it.”
Ian Bryce agreed.
The Port Alberni fisherman started pulling tuna out of the water in the mid-1990s after more than two decades spent as a salmon fisherman.
Before that, B.C.’s tuna fishery was little more than a passing hobby for most anglers.
“What forced it to get off the ground was a lot of us who were former salmon trollers were starting to suffer pretty badly with the decline in fish and fishing opportunities with salmon,” said Bryce. “So a lot of us got squeezed into it.”
The switch over was difficult but exciting, Bryce said, as veteran anglers banded together to create a fishery that would not only support their families but also carry a reputation for sustainability.
The business plan they came up with was to begin marketing albacore tuna as a premium fish, not your run-of-the-mill canned product.
The industry made headway into the Japanese sushi market, where albacore tuna is now served as sashimi.
Wholesalers also found buyers in Spain and North America as the demand for sushi-style restaurants exploded.
And anglers changed the way they harvested the tuna to earn a sustainable reputation.
Fishermen use artificial lures and barbless hooks to reduce their impact on other sea creatures.
As soon as the albacore is on the boat it’s bled, spiked and immediately put in an ice bath before being blast frozen to maintain the quality of the meat.
“Those fish are solidly frozen within a few hours and they stay frozen until they’re ready to be processed,” said Clayton.
On top of that, fishermen capture only young tuna that have yet to absorb any significant heavy metals that pose health risks.
As a result, the BC Ministry of Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control have upgraded their consumption limits for albacore to “no limits,” meaning that men, women and children can eat as much as they want without serious side effects.
Clayton said the industry has also worked with top chefs to get the word out about their product.
As such, albacore tuna earned a 2011 superior taste award from Belgium’s International Taste and Quality Institute.
The fishery is also Marine Stewardship Council certified and a member of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise conservation program.
Bryce said the changes in the fishery have helped improve market prices for anglers 20% to 25% in the last three years.
A skinless, boneless albacore tuna loin retails for approximately $14 a pound, he said, which more than helps his business stay float.
“There are four families that make some or all of their income fishing on my little 42-foot boat,” Bryce said. “It’s not a get-rich-quick thing, but there’s decent income.”
Still, the industry has one big problem: hardly anyone in B.C. knows about it.
“One of the things we’ve never really been able to accomplish yet is to let people know at home that we even have the fishery,” Clayton said. “And that’s just because, how do you do it? You could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising and people would still walk into the grocery and buy Bumblebee Tuna.”
Fortunately, Bryce and his fellow anglers enjoy enough demand from markets abroad that their industry is unlikely to sink any time soon.
“Let’s just say things look pretty rosy for the albacore tuna fishery,” said Bryce.