Applications for bluefin tuna fishing open

Applications for people to recreationally fish Atlantic Bluefin Tuna off Jersey's waters have opened, the Infrastructure and Environment Department has announced.

In March, the government gave the go-ahead for "carefully controlled, sustainable" recreational fishing of the fish and said it would issue up to 25 permits in 2026 at a fee of £500.

The department said the regulations had been approved due to "decades of international conservation work" meaning the fish had made a "remarkable recovery".

It said the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna was previously classified as endangered but had now returned to Channel Islands and that Jersey had "taken a responsible, measured approach to their management".

Since 2021, marine specialists in Jersey have been tagging the tuna to help protect the species and to understand more about their movement and behaviour - over the years it found the species number rise.

The migratory fish can weigh 250kg (551lbs) and reach top speeds of 43mph (69kmh).

The department said: "With the stock internationally recognised as recovered and sustainably managed, and with Jersey formally included in the UK's membership of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, Jersey is able to participate in regulated and internationally monitored fishery."

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