Cornish Line Caught Tuna lands in Newlyn

Most line-caught tuna landed in Cornwall will be tagged similar to line-caught bass and pollack, giving 100 per cent traceability for the buyer to see who caught that fish.

Three boats from Newlyn are now engaged in pole - line - fishing, a profitable method of catching them used by fishermen from the Basque region. It is a well known technique and, as sea temperatures increase, many scientists now suggest that in a decade, tuna may be swimming far closer to the Cornish shores.

Pole fishing not only provides work for large numbers of European fishermen, but also the freshness of the catch underpins countless worldwide fish marketing businesses the South West now has the option of joining.

At the Cornish yard of C Toms & Son in Polruan, the Newlyn netters Nova Spero, skippered by Sean Edwards, and the Charisma, with John Walsh, were fitted with purpose-made tuna poling gear and set sail just over a week ago in unsettled weather to find tuna in the Bay of Biscay.

Together with the Ben Loyal, from which the first small batch of tuna was landed last week, the fleet of three boats continues to have "great help from the Basque boats", said Quentin Knights, a crewman working aboard the Nova Spero.

His website blog - updated daily by satellite - has already drawn much interest, and on Friday it read: "Reporting in from Biscay. Weather, north west winds Force 3 to 4. We had 37 tuna for the day. Tuna fishing is not as easy as it looks, we lost several fish today - crew have got to watch the reels, you can't expect fish to jump aboard by themselves. You've got to play the fish, not just yank it in.

"We immediately put fish in ice water to keep the shine on them. This blog is keeping me from going insane and it's good to talk. Everything else is marvellous - loving it."

Seafood Cornwall, the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation (CFPO), and other bodies support the venture.

"It marks the culmination of a lot of hard work from the skippers, owners and others to develop the sustainable Cornish line-caught tuna fishery," said Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the CFPO.

"Cornish vessels were pioneers of the tuna fishery in the UK and once again are leading the way for more British boats to be engaged in conservation fishery.

"With grant assistance and support form Defra's science challenge fund, we have visited Spain several times and are embarking on what we hope to be a regular seasonal fishery.

"The help and assistance we have received from the Spanish fishermen has been magnificent and they couldn't have helped us more. We are now in contact with some of the Basque boats working in the area and hopefully we will continue to 'get amongst the tuna', a term Quentin repeatedly uses on his blog."

As the WMN went to press, hopes were high that a good run of line-caught tuna, on sale and being cooked at the Newlyn Fish Festival, will allow the public to taste what may soon become a seasonal prime product from local fishmongers.

Many Westcountry wholesalers and processors already have plans to develop fresh tuna markets in the UK, with ideas like smoked tuna already under discussion.

Seafood Cornwall's boss, Nathan de Rozarieux, told the WMN: "Tuna can be sourced from the global marketplace and with the boats only catching relatively small quantities the price they get when landing will ultimately dictate whether the fishery is viable or not.

"It's a bit like the start of the Cornish sardine fishery when it was obvious that the boats wouldn't be viable on prices paid by the main processors.

"Therefore, in the same way we are trying to help develop the fishery as a 'top end' niche product, line-caught quality product with hook-to-plate traceability through a tagging and website scheme.

"And we are now actively marketing the Cornish tuna to top restaurateurs and food writers, including Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver's 15 restaurant."