01-06-2025
Fishermen's fury as 'disaster' octopus invasion destroys their catch thanks to woke rule allowing predators to 'treat them like McDonald's
Fishermen say their livelihoods are under threat from a woke rule that allows invading hordes of octopus to eat their entire catch - just a week after they were sold out by Keir Starmer 's new EU fishing deal.
Conservation rules have meant fishermen in Plymouth, Devon, have to leave small escape gaps in their pots to let undersized lobster and crab to go free.
But unseasonably warm waters have seen thousands of Octopus Vulgaris - a highly efficient predator - head north from the Mediterranean.
They eat all types of shellfish but their favourite meal is crab which has proved devastating for Claire Tapper, owner of family-run Cracking Crab.
She told MailOnline: 'It has been bad, really bad. The worst I've ever seen it.
'We've not seen any crab in two months and we're thinking of packing it all in.
'We run two boats which used to bring in 14 60kg bins full of crab every day, now we're lucky if it's a couple of bins a week.
'The boats haven't gone out today, it's not worth it.'
Once inside the pots the octopus devour all the crab then escape through the exit hole - by comparison Cornish fishermen don't have to leave an exit and can keep and sell the cephalopods which are a popular meal in mainland Europe.
Last week, following mounting pressure, the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (D&S IFCA) clarified that Devon fishermen can close the entrance if they are fishing for octopus which can currently squeeze back out once they've eaten the crab.
But Ms Tapper who has run the business with her husband and children for eight years and supplies local restaurants said the damage may have already been done with predatory octopus killing off juvenile crabs, potentially damaging the industry for years.
'If they have eaten the juveniles, that's it because where do the new stocks come from?' she added.
'It's just another kick in the teeth after the new EU fishing deal last week.
'It's sad to see because this used to be a thriving industry in Plymouth but in a few years this area could all be flats.'
A Plymouth fisherman who didn't want to be named said: 'We are down about 80% on crab because of the octopus which is thousands of pounds every month'
Another Plymouth fisherman who didn't want to be named said: 'We are down about 80% on crab because of the octopus which is thousands of pounds every month.
'In Plymouth we have to have an escape hatch but Cornwall doesn't.
'We don't see a lot of the octopus but you can tell they have been because there is no crab left.'
Fishermen contacted Plymouth City Council's leader, Tudor Evans, urging him to save the city's vital fishing industry.
He said the rule was 'now doing more harm than good' as fishermen in other areas were able to retain and sell the octopus they catch, adding 'but here, our pots are being raided and left empty — and our fishers are left with nothing.'
Plymouth fisherman Brian Tapper said: 'The octopuses are ruining us.
'They're coming in the side hatch – it's like McDonald's for them.
'They are just sitting in there until they're full. They'll go through 50 pots eating lobsters, crabs and even scallops. By the time we come along, there's nothing left.'
Barry Young, of Brixham Trawler Agents, said the octopuses were 'decimating the crab fishery', although boats targeting them were enjoying a bonanza, with more than 27,000kg of the cephalopods landed at Brixham on a single morning last week.
Pot escape hatches are mandatory under a by-law imposed by the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (D&SIFCA). It will consider next month whether permit rules can be eased.
In a statement, the authority said it was aware of 'significant difficulties being experienced by the fishing industry… in respect of predation by octopus'.
It added: 'Fishers are reporting that the entry and exit to pots may be through escape gaps fitted in pots. D&SIFCA is aware that this is having an impact on fishers' catches of shellfish and their livelihoods.'
Last Monday Labour PM Keir Starmer paraded a UK-EU reset deal which included new arrangements over trade, defence and travel.
But fishermen were outraged at a 12-year extension to a post-Brexit agreement that allows boats from EU countries to fish in British waters.
Fishermen accused Starmer of selling them out in order to boost trade and defence ties.
