Fishermen will put away their tuna gear until October. They decided to split up their annual 138-tonne quota and catch only 40 tonnes in August and leave the rest for October, when the fish would be fatter and fetch a better price. (CBC)

After just four days on the water, P.E.I. tuna fishermen are packing up their gear until October.

P.E.I. is allowed a 138-tonne quota, and the season started Monday. But fishermen voluntarily decided to catch only 40 tonnes in August and leave the rest of the quota for October, when the fish would be fatter and fetch a better price.

That 40 tonnes were caught by Thursday evening.

While low prices were expected in August, they were lower than hoped for.

"I know one fella that got offered $4 a pound, which is not very much when you consider what it costs us to catch a fish," said Joey Gauthier, who runs tuna charters out of North Rustico.

"You've got to put a tag in that fish, for a [$]150 for the tag. You've got to pay the monitor to come, you've got to pay the fella to dress it, you've got to pay yourself, you've got to pay your helper, you've got to pay your fuel, you've got to pay your licence."

While prices were not good, the fish were abundant, with 134 caught. The average weight for one tuna fish was 588 pounds. Some fishermen did better than others at auction, getting prices as high as $13 a pound.