‘Success story’ hailed as bluefin tunas caught off Yorkshire for first time since 1960s

A bluefin tuna was caught off the Yorkshire coast for the first time since the 1960s after overfishing and the depletion of herring shoals had rendered the giant fish almost extinct in the North Sea. Photograph: 54 North Maritime training

Researchers have lauded two giant bluefin tunas being caught off the coast of Yorkshire for the first time in more than six decades as a “success story” for marine conservation.

The tunas, which were caught a day apart off the coast of Whitby earlier this week, have mostly been absent along the north-east coast of Britain since the 1960s.