Record numbers of huge bluefin tuna fish caught in Sydney

Amateur anglers are cashing in on record numbers of enormous bluefin Tuna
Bluefin tuna is the most expensive fish in the world to eat
A 222-kilogram bluefin tuna sold for $1.8 million in 2013 in Japan
Social media has been flooded with photos of bluefin caught off coast of Sydney

By Daniel Peters For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 07:16 BST, 15 September 2017 | Updated: 11:07 BST, 15 September 2017

Amateur anglers are cashing in on record numbers of enormous bluefin Tuna migrating across the east coast of Australia.

Bluefin tuna is considered to be the most expensive fish in the world to eat after a 222-kilogram tuna sold for $1.8 million in 2013 in Japan.

Social media has been flooded with photographs of anglers reeling in monster tunas just off the coast of Sydney, far later than normal and much closer to shore.

Two anglers pose with their monster bluefin tuna catches. The tuna is considered to be the most expensive fish to eat in the world

Two anglers pose with their monster bluefin tuna catches. The tuna is considered to be the most expensive fish to eat in the world

Social media has been flooded with photographs of anglers reeling in monster tunas just off the coast of Sydney

Social media has been flooded with photographs of anglers reeling in monster tunas just off the coast of Sydney

Bluefin tuna is considered to be the most expensive fish in the world to eat after a 222-kilogram tuna sold for $1.8 million in 2013 in Japan. It is mostly used for sashimi and sushi

Bluefin tuna is considered to be the most expensive fish in the world to eat after a 222-kilogram tuna sold for $1.8 million in 2013 in Japan. It is mostly used for sashimi and sushi

Veteran fisherman and TV presenter AI McGlashan said he had never seen such enormous bluefin tuna swimming so close to shore.

‘The city was still clearly visible in the distance and in bluefin terms that is very close to shore,’ Mr McGlashan wrote for the Daily Telegraph.

‘In fact in all my life I have never seen jumbo-sized bluefin tuna so close in.’

A single tunafish can feed upwards of 50 people, and is typically wanted for use in sashimi and sushi.

Illegal overfishing for southern bluefin tuna in Japan decimated its numbers by 97 per cent in recent decades and all but removed the saltwater fish from NSW waters.

Recent conservation efforts aimed at rebuilding bluefin tuna populations has resulted in what Sydney anglers say is the best fishing season in recent memory.

In NSW there is a bag limit of just one bluefin tuna fish per person on a boat.