Papa John -- There's Something Fishy About this Photo ... I'm Eating Tuna!

Papa John says the photo taken over the weekend is NOT what it seems, because he was forking a tuna ... not a pizza.

We got this pic of PJ -- aka John Schnatter -- dining at the uber-fancy St. Regis hotel at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. You see pizza on a plate and a fork in his hand.

But John's people tell us, "what you caught was Papa eating tuna, not pizza. John did have a slice of someone else's pizza as an appetizer before you took that picture ... but hands only, and no fork -- never!"

Stay tunad.