Image
© ALAMY
A bluefin tuna shoal
A shoal of bluefin tuna potentially worth millions of pounds has appeared off the coast of Cornwall - but local fishermen will not be able to touch a single fish.

The record price for a single tuna on the Japanese market is about £1 million, and the shoal, of around 500 fish, is believed to be the largest sighted off the county in over a century.

Duncan and Hannah Jones, the owners of a tourist cruise company in Penzance who discovered the fish, said it was as though the sea was "exploding".

But EU fishing regulations prevent British boats from catching bluefin tuna. Protection rules mean that only eight countries, including Greece, France and Spain, can land tuna, and even they are restricted to a short season of fishing.

However, the sighting is reported to have prompted foreign crews to raid British waters and cash in on the rare discovery.

A spokesman for Newlyn Fish Company, a fish wholesaler, said: "It is more than a fear, it's a reality. This government enforces quota regulations to the letter which means there is no chance of British fishing organisations cashing in on this shoal.

"Even though the regulations are set by the European Commission, they are so strict in the UK and much more lenient in other countries.

"UK waters have been heaving with foreign vessels this week, according to the men out on the boats.

"It wouldn't be worth any British fisherman's time attempting to catch any of them because their business would be on the line and they wouldn't be able to sell it on."