‘The seabed is full of them': English fishers enjoy surprise octopus boom
This spring, the cephalopods have been baffling, delighting and enraging fishers in English waters as an unprecedented marine heatwave has led to a surge in their numbers.
The boom in octopus catches began to be seen in March in east Cornwall and Devon – as sea temperatures rose by between 2C and 4C above average spring temperatures.
The hauls have been a boon for fishers. At Brixham market, where most of the catch is sold, tens of tonnes of octopus is being traded every day. Octopus fever has taken over the town; Octavia the octopus, a cephalopod-shaped light usually switched on at Christmas, is being turned on every night; while a nearby cafe has decorated itself with an octopus mural.
Barry Young, the managing director of Brixham Trawler Agents, said 36 tonnes of octopus came through the market on Thursday – compared with about 200kg this time last year.
'It's a financial bonus for the fishermen,' Young said. 'They're grabbing it with two hands while they can. The boats, they fish for certain species, we fish for 'bottom fish', which is called a demersal species. We would catch plaice, dover sole, brills, turbots, anything sort of bottom-dwelling.
'Luckily for us and the fleet that we deal with, the octopus seems to be a bottom-dwelling fish as well.'
Ian Perkes, who has owned a fish merchant in Brixham harbour for 49 years, said it was the first time in his career he had seen the giant molluscs.
'It's down to climate change because it's only this year that they've been here,' he said. 'We've not seen them before, this time last year, they were on the French side of the water and the French were filling up with them.'
Perkes said octopuses were normally caught off the coast of Morocco and Mauritania, where it is a 'massive, massive business' but they have been coming north as the water off the coast of England was much warmer.
The surge in octopus numbers has been a bonus for English fishing because there is no quota and a big market, especially in Spain, fetching £8 a kilogram at auction. The 22-tonne catch brought in on Tuesday would be worth about £170,000, Perkes explains. Approximately 70-80% of the fish and seafood caught is sold abroad.
'They're a shot in the arm for the fishermen, like a massive bonus, because there's no quota. They're making incredibly good money,' Perkes said, adding that the octopuses were being swept up across the industry.
'They're getting caught in all methods of fishing,' he said. 'Caught in cuttlefish pots, in crab pots by trawlers, by the beamers. The seabed is full of them.'
The flip side to the boom in the UK is that the industry is struggling in Spain, where many companies have processing facilities and employ hundreds of people in Morocco and Mauritania.
And not everyone in the UK industry is pleased. There was some tension among fishers specialising in crab and lobster when they discovered the octopuses entering the pots and eating the shellfish inside.
The octopus – which has nine brains and three hearts – uses its beak to break the crab or lobster shell. It then injects enzymes that help dissolve the meat before sucking it out.
'Some of the boats have seen that, where the octopuses are prolific in certain areas, they have seen a dramatic drop off in crab and lobster,' Young said.
The Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (D&S IFCA) enforce a bylaw requiring 'escape gaps' to be fitted to crab and lobster pots to enable undersized shellfish to escape – a conservation measure to protect juvenile crabs and lobsters and allow them to escape.
It is through these escape hatches that the fishers believe the octopuses are entering and leaving after they have eaten the creatures within. The D&S IFCA said the holes could be closed if fishers were trying to catch octopuses only, and it was working on trying to find a long-term solution.
Marine biologists said the spike in marine temperatures this spring was unprecedented. It began in early March and is continuing into the end of May.
As human-induced climate breakdown continues to raise global temperatures, the frequency of marine heatwaves is increasing, with the UK being subjected to spikes in sea temperature more frequently.
According to Dr Marta Marcos, at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Mallorca, Spain, who led a study into marine heatwaves, half of the sea warming since 2000 would not have happened without global heating.
Carli Cocciardi, a marine nature recovery officer at Devon Wildlife Trust, said there had been a surge in octopuses in English waters recorded in the 1900s, the 1950s and briefly in 2022.
'We're unsure why this surge is happening,' she said. 'But the main reason seems to be warmer waters, so climate change, a sea temperature rise. It could be also changes in prey availability or ocean currents.'
Cocciardi said they were medium to large octopuses that could grow up to 1.3 metres in length and were 'very intelligent animals'.
She said there was no quota and as it was a new phenomenon it was uncertain what would happen in terms of management. But she added the authorities would 'make sure it was sustainable' if it became a permanent feature in English waters.
'We're just going to have to keep an eye on it,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
18 hours ago
- The Guardian
In our first year Labour fixed the foundations – now we must build a stronger economy for a renewed Britain
These past few weeks I have met dozens of businesses from across the United Kingdom. Pub and restaurant owners in Cornwall and Kent. Defence manufacturers in Belfast and Moray. Investment opportunities in Aberdeenshire and Port Talbot. I have seen an economy that has the ingredients for success – a skilled and committed workforce, world-class universities, innovative businesses. You don't hear Reform or the Conservatives talk of this success. They want you to believe the economy is broken. That our best days are behind us and that the path of decline is inevitable. I fundamentally reject that. It is not the country I see around us, and it is not the future I believe in. Britain's economy is not broken, but I know that in recent years it has got stuck. Austerity, a chaotic Brexit and Liz Truss's disastrous mini-budget led to more than a decade of stagnation. Our economy became trapped in a cycle of low growth, repressed investment and stagnant income that weakened our competitiveness on the global stage. The months and weeks before any budget are filled with people speculating about – or claiming to know – what tax and spend decisions I will take or what the Office for Budget Responsibility will conclude. This budget is no different – I get that. I will set out the decisions I take in a responsible manner. But just as my focus over the past 12 months has been about kickstarting economic growth for the benefits of working people, so will my next. Because Britain's productivity problem is not an abstract, technocratic one – it directly affects every working family in Britain who feel they are squeezing every penny to make ends meet. When businesses can't grow, wages stagnate and there is less money in the pockets of working people. When infrastructure is inadequate, costs rise, and opportunities are lost. When skills do not match economic needs, potential goes unfulfilled. With lower productivity, tax revenues go down and our public services face cuts. And with the world changing, Britain has been left too exposed to global shocks. Working people across Britain are striving and grafting, but they haven't had the tools they need for the job. They have not seen their incomes rise as a reward for their hard work. There is that sinking feeling that families and businesses across the country feel at the end of every month that they are working hard, but getting nowhere. There is nothing progressive – nothing Labour – about an economy that is not productive and does not reward those who contribute. Since I became shadow chancellor and then chancellor, I have known that breaking this cycle will require our sustained effort across many fronts. Because if renewal is our mission and productivity is our challenge, then investment and reform are our tools. It's investment into our infrastructure, from the train lines and roads that connect businesses and communities to each other to the building of new houses that working people need to fulfil the dream of owning a home. It's investing in British workers and raising skills in this country, so we end business reliance on cheap migrant workers. We are providing that investment and unblocking the barriers to it too. Breaking down the planning system to get Britain building, cutting the unnecessary red tape that has stifled innovation rather than enabled it, and filling the skills gaps that are leaving businesses unable to expand and working people unable to progress. We are making progress: wages grew faster in our first 10 months in power than the first 10 years of Conservatives, 384,000 more jobs have been created, trade deals now struck with the United States, India and the European Union, the cost of a representative new variable rate mortgage lower than when we were elected, and millions of working people getting a pay rise from a boost to the national minimum wage. But I know there is more to do – and that is what this autumn will be about. Because I do not accept decline as inevitable. If Labour's first year in power was about fixing the foundations, then the second year is about building a stronger economy for a renewed Britain. A renewed economy that works for working people – and rewards working people. That is my priority. That is my mission. That is what I am determined to deliver. Rachel Reeves is chancellor of the exchequer
BBC News
20 hours ago
- BBC News
Thousands set for Red Arrows Falmouth display
Thousands of are readying themselves for the RAF Red Arrows display in Falmouth Bay in said the aerial acrobatic display team was set to begin its display at 18:15 BST to mark Falmouth residents and visitors alike began to line vantage points along Falmouth's seafront including Pendennis Point, Cliff Road and Castle, Gyllyngvase and Swanpool beaches while boat owners took to the Red Arrows have exhibited a diamond nine shape and a combination of close formations, flypasts and precision flying since 1965.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Spain's octopus capital forced to import octopus as numbers dwindle
In O Carballino, a Spanish town proudly dubbed the 'octopus capital', a curious paradox unfolds. Despite its towering bronze octopus statue, streets lined with traditional 'pulperias', and an annual festival drawing thousands, the century-old octopus factory at its heart hasn't sourced a single animal from local waters in a decade. Inside the humming factory, workers prepare dozens of octopuses for vacuum-sealed bags, destined for restaurants and retailers across Europe, Asia, and the United States. This thriving global appetite, however, contrasts sharply with the mollusc's increasing scarcity in its native waters. Carlos Arcos, export manager of Frigorificos Arcos SL, explains the challenge: "Here in Galicia, octopus has become really, really variable and scarce." He adds, "If you're industrialising a process like we do, you need to guarantee your customers regularity of supply." This necessity has led to a complete shift in sourcing, with 100 per cent of the company's octopus now imported from Mauritania and Morocco. While octopus numbers fluctuate naturally from year to year, scientists and fishers say Spain 's long-term trend is downward and surging international demand is only tightening the squeeze. That's prompted some companies to explore farming the animals in tanks to ensure a long-term supply — a prospect that's drawn pushback from animal welfare groups. Pressure forces closure of Spain's octopus fishery This summer, that pressure reached a breaking point. Spain 's octopus fishery closed for three months — an unusually long pause meant to give it time to recover. 'The population has only just come back, but once the season opens, we'll destroy it all in two weeks,' said Juan Martínez, a fisherman of more than four decades. Beside him, hundreds of octopus traps sat idle, stacked along the dock in his home port of Cangas. 'This used to be a sustainable industry, but now we've broken an entire ecosystem.' Octopus populations in Galicia also depend heavily on nutrient-rich upwelling — deep ocean water rising to the surface and bringing food for octopuses — said Ángel González, a research professor at the Spanish National Research Council. While upwelling naturally fluctuates, climate change is altering wind patterns, ocean stratification and nutrient delivery, making those cycles less predictable and, in some years, less productive. 'When that weakens due to changing oceanographic and atmospheric conditions, numbers drop regardless of fishing.' In response to growing demand and shrinking wild stocks, some companies in Spain are attempting to farm octopus in captivity — a move they say could ease pressure on the oceans. Grupo Profand is developing a research hatchery in Galicia focused on overcoming the biological challenges of breeding octopus. Meanwhile, seafood giant Nueva Pescanova is pursuing a full-scale industrial farm that would raise up to a million octopuses a year for slaughter. Grupo Profand did not respond to an interview request. A spokesperson for Nueva Pescanova declined to comment. Animal welfare groups say octopus shouldn't be farmed Animal welfare groups have condemned the proposed project as inhumane, citing plans to kill octopuses by submerging them in ice slurry and to confine the often-cannibalistic animals at high densities. They also warn it would pollute nearby waters with discharged waste, worsen overfishing of wild fish used for feed and inflict suffering on one of the ocean's most complex creatures. 'Farming wild animals is cruel, but especially with octopuses given their solitary nature and extremely high intelligence,' said Helena Constela, head of communications at Seaspiracy, a group that advocates against industrial fishing. Keeping them confined together in tanks, she said, is 'basically torture in slow motion.' Michael Sealey, senior policy advisor at Oceana Europe, said aquaculture should focus on species with lower environmental costs, such as oysters and mussels, which require no fish feed. 'We recognise that aquaculture has a role to play in feeding the world,' said Michael Sealey, senior policy advisor at Oceana Europe. 'But we need to prioritise low-impact farming — not systems that rely on feeding wild fish to carnivorous species.' Widespread concerns have already prompted action in the United States. Washington became the first state to ban octopus farming in 2024, followed by California, which also outlawed the sale of farmed octopus. Lawmakers in more than half a dozen other states have proposed similar bans, and a bipartisan federal bill to prohibit both farming and imports of farmed octopus is under consideration in Congress. Though no commercial farms currently operate in the U.S., these preemptive measures reflect mounting unease over projects moving ahead in Europe, Asia and parts of Central and South America — unease fueled in part by the 2020 Oscar -winning documentary 'My Octopus Teacher,' which showcased the animals' intelligence and emotional complexity to millions on Netflix. The arguments in favor of farming 'They have a real brain. They're able to do things other animals cannot,' said González of the Spanish National Research Council. 'But please — don't cross the line. It's an animal, it's an invertebrate. We can't extrapolate these kinds of things. Personality is linked to persons.' González, who is working with Grupo Profand on their research hatchery, believes farming could help restore wild stocks by raising juvenile octopuses in captivity for release back into the sea — an approach animal welfare groups argue could pave the way for industrial-scale farming. Javier Ojeda, national aquaculture representative at APROMAR, Spain's aquaculture business association, said aquatic animals can play a key role in food security and may be more efficient to raise than livestock. ' Octopuses grow extremely fast and efficiently — they're not fighting gravity and they don't spend energy heating their bodies," he said. He acknowledged welfare concerns but argued they should not block scientific progress. 'Farming octopus is something that cannot be stopped,' said Ojeda. 'We've been eating them for a long time. Now we need to try to find best practices.'
