Scientists and fishermen are collaborating to learn more about the growing number of Atlantic bluefin tuna in UK waters.
Dr Lucy Hawkes, an ecology professor at the University of Exeter, said the bluefin population collapsed through overfishing by the mid-1960s but is now thriving. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) described the return as "one of the most exciting developments in our fisheries for decades". The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has approved the highest ever quota and number of permits for fishermen to catch them.
Newlyn fisherman Andrew Pascoe said: "I don't see any reason why the permits can't double again in the next three or four years if the science is good and the management says we can catch more."
Hawkes said the bluefin population had collapsed by the mid-1960s because there had been "some really excessive takes, particularly of juvenile bluefin". "Too many were being killed before they ever had a chance to reproduce," she said. She worked on an international research project called Thunnus UK, which tagged tuna to better understand their ecology.
Hawkes said: "One of the reasons a partnership with the fishing industry is really vital is because those are people who are out on the water all the time looking at the tuna. The stories I hear from anglers and skippers in the South West is that the numbers of fish they're seeing are going up dramatically."
Fisherman Pascoe said: "Since we saw the first tuna returned to our waters about 14 years ago now, the numbers have risen double every year, and the last two or three years there's absolutely thousands of them out there and right the way up through the English Channel – not just off here."
This year, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) increased the UK's annual quota for bluefin tuna from 63 tonnes in 2024 and 2025 to 230 tonnes for 2026, 2027 and 2028. The MMO doubled the number of commercial licences it offered from 15 last year to 30 this year, and offered 145 permits to recreational fishers in England in 2026 and six in Jersey.
Defra said UK commercial fishers could land 120 tonnes of bluefin tuna this year, worth an estimated £1.4m based on historic landing prices. A further 26 tonnes have been made available for the commercial-scientific trial fisheries, worth about £300,000 based on historic landing prices, it added.
Andy Wills, the MMO's interim head of future fisheries, described this year's bluefin tuna season as "an important milestone in the development of this emerging fishery as it features more quota and more permits than ever before". A Defra spokesperson also said it was a momentous time. "The return of bluefin tuna to UK waters is one of the most exciting developments in our fisheries for decades, creating new opportunities for commercial fishers, recreational anglers and coastal communities across the UK," they said.
Fishermen across the South West and six in Jersey have been granted bluefin licences. Pascoe said: "All successful licence holders have got 4,000kg [8,820lb] of bluefin tuna for the year, and that's equivalent to about 3,600kg [7,940lb] of landed weight." He said the equipment required to convert to catching tuna included rods, reels, lures and ice bags.
Scientists and Fishermen Welcome Tuna Return