UK Recreational Catch-and-Release Bluefin Tuna: A step closer to opening on 3rd August

Over the last three years, the Angling Trust has worked extensively with the government and other recreational angling bodies to open a recreational catch-and-release bluefin tuna fishery. We are, therefore, delighted to share that on Monday 15th July 2024 the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) began issuing permits for the 2024 English catch-and-release recreational bluefin tuna fishery.  

There has been very high interest in the permits, particularly from private vessels, with the number of applicants exceeding the licenses available. We understand that there will be disappointment from applicants who did not successfully obtain a permit this year. To be clear, Defra and the MMO set the conditions of the recreational fishery and determined the permit cap of 100 licenses, not representatives from the stakeholder groups. In the future, it is the Angling Trust’s ambition to sustainably increase accessibility to the fishery by increasing the number of licenses available. 

Best-Practice Code-of-Conduct Now Live

The Angling Trust has worked alongside the UK Bluefin Tuna Association, the Professional Boatman’s Association and representatives from Defra, the MMO, Cefas and Natural England to develop a voluntary best-practice code of conduct for the English catch-and-release recreational fishery. It is available to view here: https://ukbfta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bluefin-Code-of-Conduct-July-15th-Final-doc.pdf 

The Angling Trust is disappointed that Defra have not made the best-practice code of conduct mandatory. We have made this clear to Defra on many occasions, but this has not been accepted by them.  We will continue to push for this. We believe that in order to have a world-class recreational fishery, the code of practice must also be world-class. The Angling Trust strongly encourages all anglers and skippers licensed to participate in the 2024 fishery read the code of conduct and implement best-practice so that both angler and fish welfare are prioritised. 

Training for License Holders To Be Announced Soon

The Angling Trust has also worked alongside the UK Bluefin Tuna Association and the Professional Boatman’s Association to develop voluntary training with funding support from the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme.  Once again, we are disappointed that Defra did not make the need to complete training a key condition for obtaining a permit. 

The voluntary training will be available before the 2024 bluefin tuna season opens on the 3rd August.  It will consist of a days in-person training with an experienced charter boat skipper who has been part of the scientific CHART programme, supported by video and written information available via the UKBFTA website. 

The training will be free to those skippers who have secured a licence for the 2024 season. We strongly recommend all skippers who are new to fishing for bluefin tuna, both private and charter skippers, take advantage of the training being offered. 

The 2024 season is the first year the recreational catch-and-release fishery will be open. The Angling Trust are determined the fishery upholds the high welfare standards that have been establish under the previous three years of the CHART programme. We will be monitoring the fishery closely and will continue to meet with Defra and the MMO to ensure any lessons from 2024 are learnt and incorporated into the 2025 season.