An Atlantic bluefin tuna has been legally caught and sold in the UK for the first time in over 70 years – and it’s a whopper 9ft long and over 30 stones in weight.
The historic find was sold by a West Country fisherman to a wholesaler for almost £2,000 – and fillets from the colossal catch are reportedly destined for high-end sushi restaurants in London.
It is the first bluefin tuna – also known as tunny – to be landed under a new pilot project that has seen commercial licences granted to a select number of fishing boats after the species returned in great numbers to British waters.
For the next four months the 10 boat skippers will be allowed to catch up to 39 tons of bluefin tuna using rod and line, which they can sell on.
The once-threatened and protected species making a sensational return to the waters of the south west coast, largely due to rising sea temperatures.
The sea is said to be ‘bubbling’ with the massive fish. Such is the abundance of them that the area is now regarded as a ‘world class’ fishery for bluefin tuna.
Fishing for bluefin tuna was incredibly popular in Britain in the 1930s but stocks eventually dried up in the 1950s after to over-fishing of herring and mackerel depleted their food supply.
But in 2021 the government relaxed laws banning the catching of the protected fish by granting permission for a catch-and-release tagging (CHART) programme.
the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ thrill of catching big game fish they would otherwise have to travel to the Caribbean for.
In its first year about 1,000 fishermen caught and tagged over 700 tuna weighing up to 600lbs each.
Defra has now gone one step further by allowing a small percentage of bluefin tuna to be caught for the table.
Anthony Hills, skipper of the fishing vessel Ladrax out of Mevagissey, Cornwall, has caught the first four tunny under the pilot programme – and expects his fellow fishermen to move in later in the season when the tuna have more fat on them.
He said: ‘I caught the first four, more so to make sure that me and my boat were ready.
‘It is going to be a steep learning curve for us because we are not quite sure how the buyers will want the fish prepared.
‘I landed the tuna in Plymouth and they have all gone to London restaurants, although the buyer said the fat content wasn’t quite there yet.
‘There is no secret that fishing vessels of the south west are struggling but there is such an abundance of bluefin tuna that there is no reason why you can’t make the area a sustainable fishery for them.
‘As long as it is managed properly and limited to one fish per boat per day, with a set quota for the month and once that has been reached then fishing is shut down until the next month.
‘It could be really good news for fishermen.’
It could also be good news for the environment as it could mean the UK relying less on importing tuna from fish farms of Spain and Canada.
Mark Jury, skipper of Plymouth-based vessel Fortuna, said: ‘Currently it is a long time and a long journey from kill to plate.
‘We have the chance to create a product that will be second to none.
‘It is quite exciting. The freshness and the quality of them will give us the chance to sell them for the best possible price to the best sushi restaurants in Britain.
‘We will kill them humanely and treat them with kid gloves. Putting them on a cushioned mat and cooling them down as quickly as possible with ice, not throwing them on the deck.’
Plymouth fish merchant Ian Perkes handled the sale of the first Atlantic bluefin tuna – Thunnus thynnus in Latin.
He said: ‘It is brilliant. They are fine specimens that will end up as sushi and feed a lot of people.
‘The sea is bubbling with them at the moment, there is no shortage of them. There are plenty out there.’
Fisheries Minister Mark Spencer said: ‘We’re committed to the sustainable management of Atlantic bluefin tuna, and this will help deliver this while providing economic and social benefits to communities around our coast.’
