AN ATLANTIC bluefin tuna measuring 3 metres (9.8ft) long and weighing 140kg (309lb) has been caught by fishermen from Dingle, Co Kerry.
The fish was hauled in as a by-catch by Dingle trawlers fishing for ordinary tuna. They were using seine nets, which are towed between two boats.
The bluefin species has declined by as much as 80 per cent in the past three decades because of the demand for its delicious red flesh for sushi worldwide, but especially in Japan.
High prices are now paid for the endangered fish – which in turn can lead to illegal fishing. Strict quotas are in force to allow the species to recover, with some countries having filled their quotas months ago.
Irish fishermen hunting for albacore tuna are allowed to have bluefin as a tiny part of their catch.
Former fisheries officer and now director of Dingle Ocean World Kevin Flannery said if the Dingle boats – the Fiona K and the Ocean Venture – had caught more than this they would have had to throw it back into the sea.
“As a by-catch they are only allowed 1 per cent bluefin,” he said.
The bluefin will end up in local shops and restaurants in Dingle and elsewhere in Kerry this week – for a fraction of what it would fetch if destined for the Japanese market. This is because the standards for Japanese sushi demand that the fish is frozen to a specific temperature within minutes of it being caught.
A bluefin double the size of the Kerry fish fetched $736,000 earlier this year, but this Kerry fish will only make a couple of hundred euro in the local fish factories.