Giant bluefin tuna caught off Yorkshire for first time in 60 years

The two fish were caught for market a day apart, the first bluefin taken commercially from the North Sea since licences were issued in July. At about 320kg (700lb) apiece, they are roughly double the size of the average bluefin encountered off the south coast, a measure of how well the giants are feeding in northern waters.

Why did giant tuna vanish from the North Sea?

Bluefin disappeared from the North Sea in the 1960s, driven out by overfishing and the collapse of the herring shoals they followed north each summer. Their return has been building for a decade as herring and sprat numbers recovered and international quota controls allowed the Mediterranean spawning stock to rebuild.

Rodney Forster, professor at the University of Hull and head of its marine laboratory, called the reappearance a “success story about the management of fisheries”. He said: “They were fished almost to the point of extinction in their spawning grounds in the Mediterranean through the 70s and 80s. But now careful protection of the stock means they’ve increased, even to the point that they’re now spreading back out to their old grounds around the UK and even into the Baltic Sea.”

A sporting heritage reborn

The catches revive a great Yorkshire sporting tradition. Between the wars, Scarborough and Whitby were the home of British big-game fishing, and the British record tuna, a fish of 851lb, was taken off Whitby in 1933 before the fishery collapsed with the herring.

Bryce Stewart, senior research fellow at the Marine Biological Association, said the recovery had seemed unthinkable: “It seemed like an era that had gone for ever. Normally if we lose a large species like this from an area of sea, they don’t come back. This is a really wonderful thing to see.” He credited the international commission that manages tuna quotas, and noted that warmer seas have boosted the herring and sprat the giants feed on.

What happens next?

Scientists expect more giants to follow as the rebuilt stock spreads back into its old range, and the return offers Yorkshire’s charter fleet the prospect of a big-game chapter not seen since the tunny club era. Calum Duncan, principal policy specialist at the Marine Conservation Society, said the return showed “human beings can manage our way out of environmental decline”, adding: “We’ve got a long, long way to go, but it’s really encouraging. We just need to do a lot more of it and need to ramp it up.”

The commercial fishery remains tightly limited by quota, and the full report on the catches can be read in The Guardian’s coverage, linked below.