Workers cleaning up the BP oil spill outnumber tourists on the beach in Pensacola Beach, Fla., Wednesday. (Dave Martin/Associated Press)

Federal officials met with P.E.I. fisherman Friday to discuss the potential impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Canada's share of the North Atlantic tuna fishery.

Bluefin tuna spawns in the Gulf of Mexico before migrating to Canada, meaning the environmental disaster in the Gulf caused by the blow out of a BP oil well could affect stocks north of the U.S.-Canada border.

P.E.I. fishermen and officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) met Friday in Stanhope, P.E.I.

The meeting was initially called to plan for Canada's share of bluefin tuna stocks in the future, but fisheries scientists are also looking for signs of damage to North Atlantic tuna populations.

There are 350 fishermen on P.E.I. licensed to catch North Atlantic tuna, which could be affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (CBC)

The oil spill, and how it affects tuna, will be a big part of the Atlantic quota negotiations this fall, said Faith Scattolon, DFO's regional director general for the Maritimes.

P.E.I. fishermen will be among the Canadian officials helping to decide quotas later this year at an international conference in Paris.

The BP-leased drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded when an oil well off the coast of Louisiana blew out on April 20, killing 11 crew members and leading to the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

The broken well has so far spewed between 325 million and 640 million litres of oil, according to U.S. government estimates.

Impact goes 'beyond tuna': DFO

Scattolon said federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, the MP for Egmont, P.E.I., is extremely concerned about the spill's impact on Canada's fish and wildlife, which could extend beyond just tuna.

"There are concerns, of course, of migratory birds that migrate from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico," Scattolon said.

Shea is consulting with advisers about what legal recourse Canada might have, Scattolon said.

"At this point, we're investigating what the way forward might be from the Canadian perspective," said Scattolon.

After years of decline, Canada's bluefin tuna are making a comeback, Scattolon said.

"We're quite optimistic that we're continuing to manage this fishery well, and we'll continue to build on the recovery trajectory that we're currently on," she said.

The Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association have discussed filing a claim over the spill. Tuna fishermen rejected suggestions such a claim would be premature.

"We just want to protect ourselves in case down the road, five, six, seven, eight years' time, the tuna's done, the fishery's closed because of this oil spill," said Walter Bruce, speaking for the association.

"What recourse do we have? We just want to be in there with a notice of claim so that if something does happen in the future, our fishermen would be looked after."