Bluefin Tuna catch and release fishery to improve and expand in 2025

The UK government’s annual submission to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which sets out what the UK will need to support its bluefin tuna fishery, has been published. While still awaiting formal approval by ICCAT, the plan will see an expansion in the recreational catch and release fishery in 2025.

The number of permits the UK government is seeking to issue has risen from 100 to 180. In the plan they submitted, Defra said it “expects to issue no more than 180 authorisations in 2025. However we will keep this under review and ICCAT will be updated as appropriate.”

This gives room to negotiate to see this number potentially further increase. The Angling Trust and the UK Bluefin Tuna Association feel the science collected to date supports an increase in the number to around 200.

Being able to issue 180 permits means that if the demand for permits in 2025 is similar to the demand we saw in 2024, then nearly all applicants should be successful, subject to meeting the conditions required by the permits.

While the final decision on numbers, permit conditions and selection criteria is the responsibility of Defra and the MMO, the Angling Trust, UK Bluefin Tuna Association and the Professional Boatman’s Association are continuing to work with Defra on the details of the 2025 fishery, including season length, the selection criteria, and the need for effective enforcement. We will continue to reflect the voice of the private boat owners alongside those of charter boats and anglers in our discussions. Building on the lessons learned in 2024, we will be updating the code of conduct for this fishery.

Changes to the UK fishing quota

ICCAT allocated its first quota to the UK in 2021. Of the 48 tonnes available, 10 tonnes were ringfenced to allow the Catch and Release Tag (CHART) programme to commence operation. In 2024, 16 tonnes were set aside for the recreational fishery, 9.15 tonnes was set aside for bycatch in other commercial fisheries and two tonnes was retained for further scientific research and programmes related to CHART. The remaining allocation went to the commercial rod and line fishery (39 tonnes).

In 2025, the size of the quota for the recreational fishery has been reduced to 13 tonnes. While this seems concerning it should still allow for the big increase in permits as the data from the 2024 fishery shows there remains a low mortality rate in the recreational fishery. The bycatch quota for 2025 has been reduced to 7.15 tonnes (a reduction of two tonnes), And the one tonne for research programmes has been removed, but one tonne is still available for further CHART type programmes.

For the small-scale rod and line commercial fishery, the quota has been increased to 45 tonnes, up from 39 tonnes. This will allow the number of licences in this fishery to increase from 13 to 15 boats.

Jersey to open a fishery

The Jersey government, a Crown Dependency, is currently progressing legislation to allow it to become a member of ICCAT under the UK’s umbrella. This will allow it to establish a small-scale catch and release recreational fishery of five permitted boats, following several years of electronic tagging research in their waters.

More details will become available when it is confirmed that Jersey will be able to join ICCAT.

We will continue to push for improvements to this fishery to ensure it remains a high welfare, world-class fishery, known for the high-skills and responsible management of the fishery by those taking part. 

We are pleased that Defra recognises the value of the catch and release recreational fishery and has committed to increase the number of permits available in 2025 to 180. We hope this will meet demand, will see a much greater opportunity for private boats to enter the fishery and will vastly reduce the amount of disappointment that we saw in 2024.