THE first supermarket has started selling line-caught tuna – straight from Newlyn's fish market.

The fish are being landed by the Nova Spero and Charisma twice weekly with fresh deliveries direct to more than 100 Morrisons stores throughout the country. Matthew Bailey, fish buyer at Morrisons, said: "We know the men who catch these fish, where and how they catch them and even the names of the boats they fish from. This is traceability, quality and freshness at its best."

One of the many challenges the fishing industry faces is the prevention of individual species from being over fished.

As a result, fish stocks are controlled by quota set under management plans guided by scientists and the Cornish fishermen have worked with industry experts to ensure that tuna found in the Bay of Biscay is fished within quota and responsibly. Line-caught means to catch fish by towing a lure or baited hook behind a slow-moving boat. Attached to the end of each line is a lure which is shaped to look like squid and comes in a wide variety of colours. Due to the small number of lines (less than 14) dragged behind the boats, fishermen cannot catch hundreds or even thousands of tuna at a time – even when there are hundreds or thousands in the immediate vicinity of a boat.

The fishermen must catch the tuna one at a time, which automatically restricts harvest rates.

For  more information visit www.cornishtuna.com

article copyright THE CORNISHMAN